My New Year's Resolutions

First and foremost, to my loyal readers: Have a safe, healthy, and happy new year. May it bring joy to each and every one even if we may disagree in some places politically.

Now for the resolutions:
1. Officially declare a minor in Radio-Television
2. Advertise the Kentucky Democrat better
3. Get good grades
4. Continue establishing Hollywood contacts
5. Continue establishing political contacts
6. Re-write all comedy sketches and stand-up bits
7. Make my stand-up debut (I've made my acting debut already at Bradley)
8. Eat healthy
9. Join an improv troupe
10. Officially decide on a career path and STICK with it

Paying Tribute

We lost several well-known people this year and I pay tribute to them in this entry:
Artie Shaw, a clarinetist and swing era band leader, died December 30, at the age of 94
Jerry Orbach, actor best known for Law & Order, died December 28 at the age of 69.
Susan Sontag, intellectual, died December 28 at the age of 71.
Pierre Berton, Canadian literary icon, died November 30 at the age of 84.
Arthur Hailey, author best known for Airport, died November 25 at the age of 84.
Howard Keel, actor/singer best known for his roles in musicals like Annie Get Your Gun, died November 7 at the age of 85.
Ken Caminiti, all star baseball player, died October 10 at the age of 41.
Christopher Reeve, actor best known for his role as Superman, died October 10 at the age of 52.
Jacques Derrida, founder of deconstructionism, died October 9 at the age of 74.
Rodney Dangerfield, comedian, died October 5 at the age of 82.
Janet Leigh, actress best known for Psycho, died October 3 at the age of 77.
Richard Avedon, photographer, died October 1 at the age of 81.
Geoffrey Beene, fashion designer, died September 28 at the age of 77.
Francoise Sagan, author best known for Bonjour Tristesse, died September 24 at the age of 69.
Russ Meyer, film maker, died September 18 at the age of 82.
Johnny Ramone, founder of the Ramones, died September 15 at the age of 55.
Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, psychiatrist best known for her book on death and dying, died August 24 at the age of 78.
Elmer Bernstein, composer, died August 18 at the age of 82.
Julia Child, chef, died August 13 at the age of 91.
Fay Wray, actress best known for King Kong, died August 8 at the age of 96.
Paul 'Red' Adair, famed oil well fire fighter, died August 7 at the age of 89.
Rick James, musician best known for Super Freak, died August 6 at the age of 56.
Francis Crick, codiscover of the DNA double helix, died July 28 at the age of 88.
Jerry Goldsmith, composer best known for scoring films such as The Omen, Alien, and Chinatown, died July 21 at the age of 75.
Isabel Sanford, actress best known as Louise Jefferson on the tv series The Jeffersons, died July 9 at the age of 86.
Ray Charles, musician, died June 10 at the age of 73.
Ronald Reagan, one time president of the United States, died June 5 at the age of 93.
Brian Linehan, celebrity interviewer, died June 4 at the age of 58.
Tony Randall, actor best known as Felix on the tv series The Odd Couple, died May 17 at the age of 84.
June Taylor, dancer and choreographer best known for the Jackie Gleason show, died May 17 at the age of 86.
Alan King, comedian, died May 9 at the age of 76.
Estee Lauder, cosmetics queen, died April 24 at the age of 97.
Carrie Snodgress, actress best known for Diary of a Mad Housewife, died April 1 at the age of 57.
Alistair Cooke, broadcaster best known in North America as the host of Masterpiece Theater, died March 30 at the age of 95.
Peter Ustinov, actor, died March 28 at the age of 82.
Jan Berry, musician best known as half of Jan & Dean, died March 26 at the age of 62.
Queen Juliana, former queen of the Netherlands, died March 20 at the age of 94.
Robert Pastorelli, actor best known as house painter Eldin on Murphy Brown, died March 8 at the age of 49.
Paul Winfield, actor best known as the father in Sounder, died March 7 at the age of 62.
Spalding Gray, monologist, was found dead March 7 at the age of 62.
Mercedes McCambridge, actress known for films such as Touch of Evil and The Exorcist, died March 2 at the age of 85.
Marge Schott, one time owner of the Cincinnati Reds, died March 2 at the age of 75.
John Randolph, actor known for his Tony award winning performance in Broadway Bound and as Rock Hudson's alter ego in Seconds, died February 24 at the age of 88.
Claude Ryan, Quebec federalist intellectual, died February 9 at the age of 79.
M.M. Kaye, author best known for The Far Pavilions, died January 29 at the age of 95.
Jack Paar, talk show pioneer, died January 27 at the age of 85.
Bob Keeshan, better known as Captain Kangaroo, died January 23 at the age of 76.
LINK.

New Requirements for Schools

This was sent from a cousin and I hope you enjoy it!

sent from a cousin:
In response to President Bush's Federal "No Child Left Behind Act" (NCLB), it is proposed that students will have to pass a test to be promoted to the next grade level.

In the hope that this proposal will be uniformly adopted by all of the states as well as North Carolina, the new test will be called the Federal Arithmetic and Reading Test, or FART.

All students who cannot pass a FART in the second grade will be retested in Grades 3, 4, and 5 until they are capable of passing a FART score of 80%. If a student does not successfully FART by grade 5, that student shall be placed in a separate English program known as the Special Mastery Elective for Learning Language, or SMELL.

If, with this increased SMELL program, the student cannot pass the required FART test, he or she can still graduate to middle school by taking another one-semester course in Comprehensive Reading and Arithmetic Preparation, or CRAP.

If by age fourteen the student cannot FART, SMELL, or CRAP, he or she can earn promotion in an intensive one-week seminar known as the Preparatory Reading for Unprepared Nationally Exempted Students, or PRUNES.

It is the opinion of the Department of Instruction for Public Schools (DIPS) that an intensive week of PRUNES will enable any student to FART, SMELL, or CRAP.

This revised provision of the student component of the House Bill 101 should help "clear the air" as part of the "No School Left Standing" Act.

Law and Order: Trial by Jury Update

IMDB.com is reporting that just like the case with 8 Simple Rules for Dating my Teenage Daughter after the tragic death of John Ritter, the show must go on.

Bosses of crime drama Law & Order: Trial By Jury have vowed to continue the hit show, despite the death of its star Jerry Orbach. The acting veteran, 69, died on Tuesday at New York's Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center during treatment for prostate cancer. The Emmy-nominated actor played Detective Lennie Briscoe in twelve seasons of the original Law & Order series, before leaving to star in spin-off drama Law And Order: Trial By Jury, which airs next year. NBC producers released a statement on Wednesday, saying, "The producers are deeply saddened. While Jerry is irreplaceable, Law And Order: Trial by Jury is an ensemble and will continue in production. A new member will join the company. Announcements will be forthcoming." Six episodes of the show have already been taped, with Orbach starring in half of them.

In other entertainment news, Peoria native Richard Pryor has lossed his voice due to MS according to IMDB.com.

Multiple sclerosis has robbed tragic comedian Richard Pryor of his voice. The funnyman has been suffering the debilitating disease since 1986, but was forced to quit acting after appearing in 1997 movie Lost Highway. Now, on a US television appearance, his sister Jennifer has revealed Pryor, 64, can no longer speak. Jennifer also said the comedian - who appeared with her - tried to kill himself during a film stunt in 1981. Pryor was thought to have set himself on fire accidentally, but Jennifer said, "No, no, it was not an accident. I think Richard wanted to take his life."

If you think you have heard enough about the Simpson family, Jessica Simpson made a promise to her father to stay a virgin her entire life until she got married. She married Nick Lachey in 2002. LINK.

Support the Relief

Yankees want Randy

George Steinbrenner is going to build an all-star team that cannot even win the World Series. He should not even bother picking up Randy Johnson in my opinion.

We Can Work It Out

Like the Beatles reference? Let me know PLEASE!!

Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono are at it again...this time the feud is over McCartney's own piece "Yesterday." McCartney wrote the song and she is not allowing him to use it on an album? Sir Paul, I say SUE her! The Chicago Sun-Times reports that

Some old feuds just won't go away. It's no secret that Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono's dislike for each other dates back to the Beatles' heyday, but you'd think -- by this time -- they could have buried the hatchet!

Nope, not happening.

Even though Sir Paul wrote ''Yesterday,'' Ono is refusing to let him put the ballad on a new solo album. John Lennon's widow claims it's not ''appropriate'' because the song was ''a Beatles collaborative effort.''

McCartney calls Ono's refusal to release the track ''petty,'' and adds that ''if John were alive, he would have no problem'' with letting the knighted ex-Beatle use it on his new CD.

Some things just never change. Now that the election season is over, I'm adding entertainment news into the mix.

Life after Politics

National political losers find new life. FROST, CUOMO, DUKAKIS, CARTER, INGLIS.
Democrats at a Crossroads Over Abortion, Activists Won't Compromise. PLEASE TELL THE REPUBLICANS HOW DEMOCRATS TRULY STAND ON THE ISSUE.
Wesley Clark has got brains and experience. A nice article by former South Dakota Senator George McGovern. I met him on October 5, 2004.

I have endorsed Gen. Wesley Clark, partly because he has the necessary intelligence, character, temperament and experience. One flaw: as a young military officer, he voted for Nixon and Reagan. I'm more interested in where he stands today than during the indiscretion of youth.

After all, I grew up as a Republican, and my parents carried that label throughout their lives. Today, Gen. Clark stands in the tradition of Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy, Johnson, Carter, Clinton - and McGovern.

Quick Update

I'm still at my father's office working.

Last night's Law and Order was a rerun featuring Jerry Orbach and they dedicated the show to him.

I'm adding Radio-Television as a minor most likely. NKU makes you minor in something unless you major in a program where there is an exception. When I become a famous actor-comedian or politician, you can say you knew me before I was a star!

Maybe I'll be the next Al Franken!

Lindsay Lohan on College

"You can always go to college but you can't always make movies."
--Actress LINDSAY LOHAN, 18

Lindsay, everyone should go to college and I hope you do. Take a lesson from the Olsen twins or Jonathan Taylor-Thomas. Take note from Natalie Portman--who is a better actress than you will ever be!

Ousted CEO to recieve millions

Franklin Raines, the former CEO of Fannie Mae is set for life with his new pension. Yahoo reports that the deal is not done yet:

Franklin Raines, who was forced out as Fannie Mae's chief executive after five years, is due to receive a pension of $1.3 million a year for life, according to an agreement with the mortgage lending giant.

In documents filed Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission (news - web sites), Fannie Mae also revealed that Raines has deferred compensation of $8.7 million to be paid out through 2020 and owns more than $5.5 million in the company's stock.

But the deal is not done. Federal regulators have asked Fannie Mae to hold off paying any compensation to Raines until they have time to investigate the package and whether it was appropriate for the federally chartered lender to let Raines retire early rather than be dismissed.

I should note that Franklin Raines was considered to be on the short list for a cabinet position had Senator Kerry won in November.

Celebrities and the recent tsunami

Keep the victims in your thoughts and prayers. IMDB has been reporting some of the latest victims with Hollywood ties.

Jet Li Escapes Tsunamis
Martial arts superstar Jet Li risked death in the Maldives at the weekend when he and his daughter were caught up in the tsunamis that rocked Asia. The Hero star was vacationing when a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck near Sumatra early on Sunday, generating waves of up to 40 feet high, which swamped coastal areas and claimed the lives of more than 52,000. Li and his daughter dashed to safety when a wall of water surged into the hotel where they were staying, according to family friends. The pair dashed to higher ground, where Li called his agent to assure him they were OK.

Attenborough Mourns Granddaughter
British movie legend Lord Richard Attenborough's 14-year-old granddaughter Lucy has been killed by the horrific tsunami that struck Asia on Boxing Day. Oscar winner Attenborough's daughter, Jane Holland, 49, and her mother-in-law, also called Jane Holland, are both missing after the disaster hit the Thailand resort of Phuket where the family were holidaying with Lucy's sister Alice, 17, brother Sam and the children's father Michael Holland. Alice is being treated in hospital, but Michael and Sam escaped unhurt. A statement from the Attenborough family back in England says: "Lord Attenborough and his wife, Sheila, have lost three members of their immediate family in the tidal wave disaster that hit the beaches of Thailand on Boxing Day morning. Their eldest daughter Jane is missing, as is her mother-in-law Jane Holland. The Attenborough's granddaughter Lucy died at the scene. The Holland family left their London home last week for a two- week holiday at the Thai beach resort. Lord Attenborough, his wife, other daughter Charlotte, and son, Michael, together with their families, ask that the news media respect their need for privacy at this terrible time." To date, over 69,000 lives have been claimed by the tsunami in Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and Somalia.

Supermodel Petra Caught Up in Tsunami Hell
Supermodel Petra Nemcova is recovering in hospital in Thailand after being swept away by the tsunamis that killed more than 50,000 people in Asia on December 26. The Czech Republic Victoria's Secret model was holidaying in Phuket with her photographer boyfriend Simon Atlee when waves overwhelmed their beach hut. Nemcova clung to a palm tree for eight hours, according to her New York-based spokesman, and suffered several broken bones, including a suspected broken pelvis. From her hospital bed, Nemcova recalled her recent hell to the New York Post. She said, "Kids were screaming all over the place, screaming, 'Help, help.' And after a few minutes, you didn't hear the kids anymore." British snapper Atlee, who shot the photographs for his girlfriend's new 2005 calendar, is still among those missing.

I dislike natural disasters with a passion!

Rest in Peace: Jerry Orbach

Someone broke the news on Politics1.com in today's comments. Jerry Orbach of "Law and Order" fame has passed away from prostate cancer at the age of 69. It's been a sad week as we lossed Reggie White and Johnny Oates. Obituary below:

By FRAZIER MOORE, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK - Actor Jerry Orbach, who played a sardonic, seen-it-all cop on TV's "Law & Order" and scored on Broadway as a song-and-dance man, has died of prostate cancer at 69, a representative of the show said Wednesday.

Orbach died Tuesday night in Manhattan after several weeks of treatment, Audrey Davis of the public relations agency Lippin Group said.

When his illness was diagnosed, he had begun production on NBC's upcoming spinoff "Law & Order: Trial By Jury," after 12 seasons playing Detective Lennie Briscoe in the original series. His return to the new show had been expected early next year.

On Broadway, the Bronx-born Orbach starred in hit musicals including "Carnival," "Promises, Promises" (for which he won a Tony Award), "Chicago" and "42nd Street."

Earlier, he was in the original cast of the off-off-Broadway hit "The Fantasticks," playing the narrator. The show went on to run for more than 40 years.

Among his film appearances were roles in "Dirty Dancing," "Prince of the City" and "Crimes and Misdemeanors."

Orbach is expected to appear in early episodes of "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," for which he continued as Briscoe in a secondary role, when the series premieres later this season, Davis said.

"I'm immensely saddened by the passing of not only a friend and colleague, but a legendary figure of 20th Century show business," said Dick Wolf, creator and executive producer of the "Law & Order" series, in a statement. "He was one of the most honored performers of his generation. His loss is irreplaceable."

In a 2000 Associated Press interview, Orbach said the role in the acclaimed "Law & Order" brought him "wonderful security" rare in the life of an actor.

"All my life, since I was 16, I've been wondering where that next job was gonna come from," he explained. "Now I take the summer off, relax, and I know that at the end of July we're gonna start another season."

He said he didn't know "where I stop and Lennie starts, really. ... I know he's tougher than me and he carries a gun. And I'm not an alcoholic."

"I know I wouldn't want to be him," Orbach sums up. "I guess THAT'S where I stop and he starts."

In 1987-88, he starred in the series "The Law and Harry McGraw," a spinoff featuring a character he created in "Murder, She Wrote." In 1990, a shot on "The Golden Girls" brought him an Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a comedy series.

"There's a pace in TV I like," he said in a 1993 interview. "I like to work fast. I don't like to dwell all day over one scene as you do in a big feature. Big feature films are another world."

Rest in peace, Mr. Orbach. I hope you get a good trial up there.

Great Performances in 2004

Entertainment Weekly believes Natalie Portman's performance in Garden State was one of the best in 2004! Here's an excerpt:

What a relief it is to see Natalie Portman out of her Star Wars face paint. In Zach Braff's directorial debut, Garden State, the 23-year-old actress returns to her roots. Like the sweet, unadorned faces who beamed through Beautiful Girls and The Professional, her character, Sam, is the film's source of rosy-cheeked innocence. (No slouch off camera, she took a three-week break from her senior-year spring semester at Harvard for the shoot.) Playing a helmet-wearing epileptic in a pink hoodie and braids, Sam is quirky and lovable, prone to breaking out in tap dance or breaking down in pretty tears. In a less skilled actor's hands, the character would be little more than a cute caricature of idealized first love. But Portman gives the dorky, eager young woman an actual heart to hand over to the movie's damaged hero. "When I'm bored, I do a really horrible job," she told EW earlier this year. "I realize that I have to choose stuff where I'm really fascinated by the material in order to do my best work." The actress can ring in the New Year proud of a job well done. She's a Hollywood star who looks best without makeup.

I have the Garden State DVD on my links if you want to get the DVD. I loved the movie and I still have two other Natalie Portman films to see: Closer and Cold Mountain. With me catching the acting bug again, there is some hope that I could be in a movie with her.

Don't count Joe Maxwell Out yet

Lt. Gov. Maxwell is bowing out - but don't count him out. This is the type of guy that can win in a red state as a centrist Democrat.

While he's leaving the spotlight, Maxwell plans to keep a hand in politics. He wants to help rebuild the Missouri Democratic Party so that people know "who we are and what we stand for."

He says "titles mean a lot less" to him than they used to, now that his wife's health problems have changed his priorities. But he doesn't rule out another race for public office if family concerns abate.

"It would still be my goal to someday be a governor of Missouri," Maxwell says.

Sorry for the late update as I have been busy at my dad's office today.

Too good to be true...

According to Political Wire:

"...the people who attacked the United States in New York, shot down the plane over Pennsylvania."
-- Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, quoted by CNN. The Pentagon insists Rumsfeld mispoke, but World Net Daily wonders if it was the truth, "finally being dropped on the public more than three years after the tragedy of the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000?"

Interesting...very interesting.

Sen. Lieberman on US-PA Relations

The Jerusalem Postreports that United States and Palestinian relations have improved since Arafat died.

Yasser Arafat's death has led to an improvement in US-Palestinian ties, but these improved relations are conditional on the Palestinian Authority stopping terror, US Senator Joe Lieberman said Tuesday during a visit to Jerusalem.

"The US and the PA are on the verge of a new and better bilateral relationship, based on a democratic path," said Lieberman, a Democrat from Connecticut. "The nature of that relationship will be affected by the extent that the PA commits itself to fighting terror and using all its power to choose a peaceful path forward."

I'll support a Palestinian state if they agree to peace but Jerusalem is a city for Kings, not murderers.

I finally got "Spaceballs."

A new find

Scrubs star Zach Braff has a blog. In an entry dealing with Star Wars, he points out something I missed when I watched last week and confirms something I thought was true (he's Jewish):

they changed the Ewok's song at the end of the movie!! What?! The Ewok's song was he best part of the entire franchise. My favorite part about it was that there was no Ewokese for the lyric, "celebrate the life". If you go back and listen to the OLD version, the song goes, "Yub, nub, eecheek ee wy-wy celebrate the life, yub -nub!" Classic lyrics. It's like re-writing "Let it Be" or that Celine Dion song from Titanic, it's just not done!

My new year's resolutions:
Forgo all exercise (including walking),
Learn to smoke (something thin like Capri's),
Take my loved one's for granted,
Stop washing my hands after twosies,
Laugh at babies who are late walkers,
Pull leaves off trees that appear to be flourishing,
Name the yet to be named voices in my head (something tough like Carl or Kyle)
Be less kind to bunnies,
Floss everything but my teeth,
Travel (but only around my yard and with a light carry-on)
Stop and smell the Rosens. (They're a wonderful family and absolutely compulsive about showering.)

Thank you all for your tremendous support this year. As my people say, "Shalom." It means, hello, goodbye and peace. It's like the swiss-army knife of words. It also means, "Doctor, it still itches even with the ointment." But only in context.

Garden State comes out today. I'll get that link up soon!

Cox annouces run in GA

Thanks to the Ringmaster, I have learned the following:

Christian Cox, centrist Dem GA Sec of State, announced her candidacy yesterday for Governor in O6. A popular politician that has shown she can draw suppport from both Dems and GOP, she has the potential to begin a reversal of fortune for Democrats in the state that brought us Zell "The Red Dem" Miller.

It is important for us to win back the Governor's office in Georgia. LINK

Can somebody help me on this?

In the summer of 2003, after the death of comedic legend, Bob Hope, I checked out "Don't Shoot, It's Only Me" from the library. It was an autobiography of Mr. Hope. It was then that I started contemplating a career in comedy rather than politics. I started writing down comedy bits and whatnot after that. Regardless, I still applied to be the campus coordinator at Bradley for Sen. Lieberman's presidential campaign. However, there was basicially no political presence on campus of either the College Democrats or College Republicans so I had my work cut out and couldn't really do anything!

It was during parents weekend at Bradley University that I discovered that there was an improv troupe on campus by the name of Barbeque Kitten. It was that weekend that I decided to officially quit politics and enter the world of Jewish comics. Sadly, while rehearsing very hard all year, I did not make the troupe at all for any performance. I did, however, take a theatre practicum class which required me to partipate in two productions. One had to be a mainstage production; the other could be a lab production. I decided to sign up for 24-hour theatre and that was officially the longest day of my life! I was cast in the minor role of playing a movie studio executive (how ironic?). Many of my friends said that I had proved them wrong with my comedic timing and my performance.

After transferring closer to home, I auditioned for a new improv group that was starting on campus. However, the lead guy decided to quit school and move to Cleveland--so much for trying to get back into comedy and acting! There is still a chance of heading in theacting/comedy direction as NKU has an improv class (and the theatre department is one of the best in the state), just a matter of finding time to fit it in my schedule.

Anyway, it was when I stayed at my cousin's apartment while my brother had his orientation during the week of President Reagan's funeral coverage that I decided to get back into planning for a career in law and politics.

I have plans to stay in politics for the forseeable future but lately have considered getting back on the improv/sketch comedy circuit. Should I consider going back into the entertainment field and I am contemplating this, I will have to do my best to avoid the "Hollywood liberal" label.

Any comedy writers out there read this or anyone from Hollywood in general?

open thread

discuss amongst yourselves...

Ashley Olsen takes a what?

Drama déjà vu
Those all-too-famous Olsen twins started acting before they were out of diapers. But even so, Ashley Olsen feels there is still much to learn.

According to the New York Post, the 18-year-old college freshman has signed up for acting classes. For $295 a month, she's being taught spontaneity and improvisation two days a week at New York's prestigious William Esper Studio.

Here's a link as I could not find the original link. I've done some improv in the past.

Speaking of sitcoms, the NY Post reports that General Wes Clark is writing a sitcom.

FORMER Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark is planning a new chapter of his career: He’s working on a sitcom.
Clark, a former U.S. Army general who lost in the Democratic primaries, is writing a television show based on his experiences.

It’s about a retired general who is reintegrating to civilian life after many years in the army.

"It’s going to be about what it’s like to be back in the real world," said a source.

Characters in the sitcom are going to be based on Clark’s real-life friends and acquaintances.

Clark, who is also mulling over a run for governor of Arkansas, has met with two writers and a producer who have traveled to his home in Little Rock to see him.

"They’re trying to keep it very hushhush," said a friend.

His son, Wesley Clark Jr., a Los Angeles screenwriter, is also involved with the venture as a consultant of sorts.

The Clark team aims to have the sitcom ready to pitch to major networks next year.

This is important

VERY IMPORTANT !!

Please Open the Website Bellow & Click "NO" Under The Word "POLL" .

Vote "NO" in the
on-line poll.

My cousin received this e-mail & thought it was important.
The Christian Science Monitor is conducting an on-line poll about whether or not churches should divest of companies that do business with Israel. It is important for companies to not divest from Israel.

Please forward this message to others.

UPDATE: Pipeline of Hatred: Anti-Semitism and Islamic expansionism. This presentation is a real good one and shows why anti-Zionism is now included in the definition of anti-Semitism. It is a must watch!

Worth reprinting

Thanks to Greg for the following article, in which I have chosen to place here:

Joe Lieberman was a non-factor in the Democratic primaries early this year, politely tolerated for his service as Al Gore's understudy in 2000 but not much more. In a year in which Democrats were seized with anti-Bush and anti-war fervor, he was clearly the crazy aunt.
There's nothing like a lost election to trigger a turning of the fashion worm. Democratic eyes are falling increasingly on Simon Rosenberg as a potential new leader of the Democratic National Committee. He's currently head of the New Democrat Network, which Mr. Lieberman founded and co-chaired along with retiring Sen. John Breaux. Mr. Rosenberg's elevation would be a clear and welcome vindication of Liebermanism.

It doesn't hurt that his group was relatively low-profile in the recent Kerry loss. NDN had originally expected to play a bigger role thanks to the McCain-Feingold reform that shut off the Democrats' soft money spigot. But it was rapidly outshone by the sudden arrival of MoveOn.org and the Media Fund, which raised millions for "independent" advertising in support of the Kerry campaign. Those efforts (especially MoveOn.org's) are now being second-guessed by Democrats as having done more harm than good with their Bush-bashing and conspicuous overtone of Hollywood arrogance.

A campaign aide to Bill Clinton, Mr. Rosenberg created his PAC in 2000 to battle paleolibs in raising money for "New Democrats" who adhered to modern positions on economics and national security. He's increasingly seen as a palatable alternative to Howard Dean (too liberal because of his antiwar stance) and former Rep. Tim Roemer (too conservative because of his anti-abortion beliefs). Speaking at a cattle call in Orlando earlier this month, Mr. Rosenberg talked intelligently about the need to groom new Democratic candidates and operatives who are more in touch with mainstream America. "Republicans are winning with growing regions and groups," he pointed out. "They won in 97 of the fastest growing 100 counties; most of the so called red states are gaining population, the blues ones losing."

Unfortunately, Mr. Rosenberg's biggest obstacle may be memories of NDN's first big battle, in which the group raised millions in corporate dollars to support and defend Democrats who voted in favor of liberalized trade with China. That's exactly the kind of responsible position-taking the NDN was created to encourage and reward -- and which the party's protectionists and union bosses are not likely to forgive or forget.
--Holman W. Jenkins Jr.

Greg notes that it is "more than a little overblown, but still good for comic relief to the dozen or so of us committed Joe fans from the past campaign." I support Senator Lieberman. I waited until Senator Lieberman decided to run before I decided who I was backing. I even have my "Liberals for Lieberman" button that I got in the mail.

Post-Election Myths

This site claims to be the most in-depth, conservative, honest news, and commetary. Richard Davis makes an attempt to debunk eight post-election myths. You can read the debunking there but I'm going to list the eight he has.

Myth #1. The Great Campaign
Myth #2. We Liberals Almost Won
Myth #3. The New Theocracy
Myth #4. Reds and Blues
Myth #5. The CBS Truth Squad
Myth #6. The Banana Republic
Myth #7. Minorities Matter More
Myth #8. Liberals Are Leaving

Also, for those that missed Crossfire last Friday, you missed something important from the Crossfire Political Alert:

TUCKER CARLSON: The presidential election has come and gone, but let's say you can't get over it, can't accept the outcome. Then choosetheblue.com is for you. This new Web site divides corporations and the products they make into red and blue. Companies that donated to Democrats and those that donated to the dreaded, evil Republican party.
According to the site, good liberals should shop at Costco, not Wal-Mart or Target, both of which are dreadfully right-wing. Cuervo, Tequila, and Gallo jug wine get the liberal seal of approval. Budweiser and Michelob do not. If you're left and you smoke, you'll be saddened to learn that Camels, Marlboros and just about any other cigarette you'd actually want to light are forbidden. Instead, your options are pretty much confined to--and this will make you want to quit--Eve (ph), the girl cigarettes.
Not all of recommendations make sense. According to the site, liberals should ignore the Bravo channel, which airs "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy," and instead watch the Fox News Channel, whose parent company, News Corporation, gives 61 percent of its donations to Democrats. On the other hand, it might just be easier to ignore this Web site entirely and buy some much-needed psychotherapy.
PAUL BEGALA: I think it's great for people to put their money where their values are. Particularly...
CARLSON: Should they watch Fox?
BEGALA: Particularly the Jose Cuervo, that's the kind of therapy -- you know, the tequila therapy...
CARLSON: Should...
BEGALA: At the Jose Cuervo Institute.
CARLSON: Do you watch Fox? News Corp gives most of its ...
BEGALA: I enjoy fiction as much as facts, yes, once in a while.
CARLSON: It's a liberal network! It's a liberal company! I would say you'd be supporting it.
BEGALA: A little variety once in a while.
CARLSON: With your viewing habits.

I make a habit of watching Crossfire daily. The December 24th show each year is one of the best as political impersonator Jim Morris visits annually on that day.

Mazel Tov, Peyton!

Peyton Manning broke Dan Marino's record for single-season touchdowns at the end of regulation yesterday. Mike Vanderjact has to be the best kicker out there. He is very accurate and kicked the game-winning field go to win the game for the Indianapolis Colts.

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports that Senator Mitch McConnell has made a bet with the two Idaho Senators--evidently, Sen. Jim Bunning does not gamble on sports as he does not want Pete Rose in the Hall of Fame. The wager?

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a University of Louisville fan, has put a bit of a wager on the football team's New Year's Eve showdown with Boise State in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl in Memphis.

McConnell has offered a Kentucky Fried Chicken dinner to Republican Sens. Larry Craig and Mike Crapo if the Broncos win. The Idahoans have countered with a dinner of Idaho trout and baked potatoes if the Cardinals triumph.

Someone will be having trout and potatoes for dinner soon and that person will not be me! GO BRONCOS!

Thanks to retiring Congressman Ken Lucas, the new NKU policy institute will be getting funding. I hope that this place opens soon as I really need an on-campus job badly! I have met Congressman Lucas more times than my own Congresswoman. However, I have met both former Reps. Mazzoli and Ward.

The institute will perform the kind of work being done by Paul Coomes, a professor and research at the University of Louisville who often performs public policy studies for the state of Kentucky.

Coomes' most recent work was widely quoted by elected and business leaders. It showed a disparity in the tax revenue generated by the state's urban areas, including Northern Kentucky, and the amount of money the areas receive back from Frankfort.

The institute will also provide a venue and outlet for difficult public policy debates that aren't always tackled in the political environments of local governments.

Must be a weekday

because it looks like it is bash Tim Roemer at MyDD. I thought our party was better than that. We aren't supposed to stoop to Republicans' level!

Peyton Manning does it!

Peyton Manning, the Indianapolis Colts' quarterback, has tied Dan Marino with 48 touchdowns in a single season! You can thank Todd Helton of the Colorado Rockies for really starting Peyton's career with the Tennessee Volunteers. Helton injured his arm as QB and that paved the way for Peyton Manning to break through at the college level.

In other football news, the Green Bay Packers and Phidelphia Eagles have lost a football great. Reggie White died of a heart attack today within a week of celebrating his 43rd birthday.

Mayor Abramson voted for Northup

Both Newsweek and the Louisville Courier-Journal are reporting that Mayor for Life Jerry Abramson supported Tony Miller for Congress financial but voted for Congresswoman Anne Northup instead. I admit that I voted for Tony but he ran a very poor campaign. We could have won this year with our 2002 candidate, Jack Conway, instead!

Abramson cast his vote for Northup, not Miller
He campaigned for the Democratic congressional candidate and gave money to his race, but Louisville Metro Mayor Jerry Abramson, a Democrat, did not vote for Tony Miller last month.

Abramson cast his vote for Rep. Anne Northup, R-3rd District.

How do we know? The mayor's spokesman admitted it after a short line about it appeared in a story in the latest Newsweek.

"Obviously, if you look at the election results, like a lot of Democrats he voted for a Republican who happens to be an influential member of the (House) Appropriations Committee who's been able to bring a lot of dollars for a lot of important needs for the community," Abramson spokesman Chad Carlton said.

The mayor felt "we had two good choices," Carlton said.

"It's a question of ... whether to give up the ability to have such an important role in funding the many needs in our community," Carlton said. "The mayor has had a strong working relationship with Representative Northup, and I think he himself has made it clear he doesn't let party labels stand in the way of doing what's right for Louisville and Kentucky."

Carlton said Abramson voted for Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry and is proud of being a Democrat, "but he works very hard at not letting that be a litmus test for doing what he thinks is right for his community."

Northup won re-election handily. Her chief of staff, Terry Carmack, said, "We certainly appreciate the mayor's support.

As to Tony Miller's reaction, he's not talking to Mayor Abramson at all.

`Very disappointing'
Abramson's vote "doesn't surprise me any," Miller said in an interview. "He didn't help me at all."

Yes, the mayor "showed up at a couple of events I had," the Jefferson County CircuitCourt clerk said. But Miller said the only contributions Abramson made were from his mayoral political action committee, and that amounted to about $1,000 for the primary and $1,000 for the general election.

"When I asked him for help, they were always busy," Miller said.

Miller called Abramson's vote, which he had heard about, "very disappointing."

"My family and I have been very supportive of him from day one," Miller said, adding that he helped to raise about $50,000 for the mayor's PAC with a fund-raiser at his home several years ago.

Abramson called Miller "a few days after the election," according to Miller, to say how sorry he was that Miller lost.

"I told him, `It's a little late to be calling now,'" Miller said. "I haven't talked to him since, and I have no plans to talk to him."

Why the Kentucky Democrat?

Now, for some unanswered questions.

Why did I choose to call my blog "The Kentucky Democrat" or myself "Kentucky Democrat?"

I chose that name because I live in Kentucky and I am a Democrat...so I figured "Kentucky Democrat" will do. Plus, I was already using that name on the blogosphere when I had registered on Blogger.

Rumblings and Grumblings from Frankfort

BlueGrassRoots has the latest list of those seeking the Kentucky Democratic Party chairmanship.

There are a bunch of guys vying for the top spot of the Kentucky Democratic Party. There's Louisvillian Jack Conway, Kerry/Edwards State Chairperson. And Fred Cowan, Kerry/Edwards National Finance Co-Chair. Joe Graviss, who faced off against Julian Carroll in the 7th Senate District primary, wants the job, as does Bill Ryan of the Jefferson County and State Central Executive Committees. Jerry Lundergan, a former KDP Chairperson in the 80s, wants the job again.

They point out that no woman are actively vying for the job. They recommend Betsy Nowland-Curry and Diane Lawless. Andy says that Kentucky Young Democrats President Jean-Marie Lawson's name has been floated around.
If Jack gets the chairmanship, does that put him out of the running for Congress in 2006? If so, can we run Mayor Abramson simultaneously?

Over the long weekend...

A lot of things happened over the long weekend.

Kerry's E-Mail List a Valuable Resource
according to the Washington Post. What makes it valuable? There were Democrats and Republicans that signed up for it.

The former Democratic presidential candidate built, over the course of his two-year campaign, one of the biggest e-mail lists in his party. More than 2.7 million supporters signed up to receive his campaign e-mails, which his advisers have said were critical to its fundraising success. Now, as Democrats survey the post-election landscape, some are wondering what Kerry might do with all those e-mail addresses.

Renember how the Deaniacs seem large and how MoveOn says they own the party? This gets interesting immediately.

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean, who has held on to the list he developed during his presidential campaign, has since used it to raise money for other candidates. Most recently, his organization, Democracy for America, raised $250,000 to help pay for the recount in Washington's gubernatorial contest. His spokeswoman attributed those donations to solicitations e-mailed to 600,000 of the group's supporters.

Kerry spokesman David Wade said the senator's list stands at 2.7 million, which would mean it dwarfs Dean's and rivals some of the largest lists that Democrats have created. The Democratic National Committee, for example, said it has 4 million addresses. MoveOn.org boasts 2.9 million. America Coming Together, a liberal 527 organization (so called for the section of the tax code that covers it), has 400,000. There is some overlap among the lists, because some people signed up for more than one. It could not be determined whether the DNC and Kerry have shared addresses.

That means that there are 2.1 million people in the DNC list that are not in the MoveOn list. Kerry has a much bigger list than Gov. Howard Dean's folks. I signed up for DFA 2.0 for the mailing list and they never sent me ANYTHING!

The Indianapolis Star reports that for Mayor Bart Peterson is making his wave.After term of ripples, mayor making waves. There is still hope in Indiana for another prominent Democrat to win statewide office. However, I don't think anyone can beat Senator Dick Lugar.

Until this past election, Peterson had the benefit of not only a Democratic administration in the governor's office but also an administration with close ties to one of his mentors, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh.

From 1989 to 1995, Peterson was a member of the former governor's administration, first as an environmental aide and then as Bayh's chief of staff.

Peterson developed a Bayh-like reputation as a careful, behind-the-scenes leader who doesn't negotiate in public. Now, Peterson is in the unusual position of watching lawmakers and ordinary residents line up to speak loudly against his ideas.

"I just say to myself, 'Well, maybe they're right, and maybe this won't be successful,' " Peterson said.

"But if you believe in something and you have a clear vision of the goal, in this city you can be successful, because this city accomplishes the impossible."

Governor Mitch Daniels has yet to name a single minority in his administration according to The Indianapolis Star.

Last week, Gov.-elect Mitch Daniels named five more men to key positions, including inspector general, Indiana State Police superintendent and Department of Environmental Management commissioner. He's made at least 20 top appointments, and so far, none has been black or Hispanic. A few have been women.

This shall be interesting.

Home-grown leaders ready for challenges. This article by Jay Hein predicts that

Over the next four years, I predict that U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh will rewrite his party's policy platform, and Mitch Daniels will gain status as the nation's most innovative reform governor.

The latest from MyDD.com is dealing with all these supporters of Gov. Dean runnning for state party chairmanships.

Maryland, Terry Lierman, National Finance Co-Chair for Governor Howard Dean's 2004 Presidential Campaign, has replaced Ike Leggett as State Party Chair. In Washington State, Greg Rodriguez, who was backing Dean as far back as I was in the Spring of 2002, is running for the State Party Chair, challenging state party Chairman Paul Berendt; and in Connecticut, Dean-backer Aldon Hynes is considering running for state Party Chair.

I wish them all the best in their pursuit if they decide to run. I wonder who is running in Kentucky or will Interim Chairman Kerry Morgan get re-elected?

source code

Due to a technical difficulty, the sidebar and footer were down most of the afternoon but all of the links have been restored.

Thanks for understanding!

Haloscan commenting and trackback have been added to this blog.

No Place Else to Go

So today, for the Jews, it's No Place Else to Go Day as every place was closed--not to mention since it was Shabbat today--and most of the services were cancelled due to the weather.

My family drove across town to the other theatre instead of the one close by to get together with my mom's sister's family. They told us that they were seeing the 1:20 showing of Meet the Fockers. I found out when I called her that they saw the 12:50 instead. Nobody had their cell phones on and all the answering machines were on.

When I called my grandmother, she had no idea what was going on. Turns out that she was "playing the game" and acting very confused.

I called my aunt after she called my mom. This was around 4ish or so today. When I called her, she did not exactly hang up the cell phone. She did not want to get together with us at all today and did not even say it to our faces. One could say I "eavesdropped" on the conversation after her not hanging up the phone. She intentionally lied about their plans while on the phone.

I was looking forward to getting together with them today when everyplace was closed. Now, they will suffer the consequences of their actions. Lying is not right. I don't like being lied to at all.

We made the effort of driving across town to get together. Thursday night, plans were still on schedule. What happened between then and today? I don't know but I would like them to explain.

You might be wondering was to why am I mentioning this on a political blog, right? Family values was a big part of the campaign season and the GOP attacked Democrats for the lack thereof. I might as well mention that they hardly ever go to synagogue for the High Holidays and did not want to celebrate together in the past for the High Holidays--always breaking the fast during lunch time and not staying for the memorial services. I can go on and on--such as WORKING on Rosh HaShanah or Yom Kippur.

Trip to the Movies: $22
Finding out your aunt lied while she doesn't hang up her cell phone: PRICELESS

open thread

here's something from Tim Tagaris: My ATM Pin Number - Or Fundraising On-line for your reading pleasure. Interesting article indeed.

i'll be back after Shabbas...

Goodbye Johnny Oates

Former Texas rangers and Baltimore Orioles manager Johnny Oates passed away this morning after being diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2001. He was 58. Oates was born on January 21, 1946, in Sylvia, North Carolina.

He resigned his position has Texas Rangers manager on May 2, 2001. He was considering returning to managing when he was diagnoses with "glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive brain tumor."

His death was confirmed by John Blake, a former Rangers spokesman who worked for the organization when Oates coached in the '90s.

"It was a pretty courageous fight," Blake said.

"He accomplished something no other manager had here. The first division title was certainly a big anvil off everybody's back with this franchise."

Oates also managed the Baltimore Orioles (news) from 1991-94.

He spent six seasons with the Rangers, guiding them to the playoffs in 1996, '98 and '99, and shared the American League Manager of the Year award with New York's Joe Torre in 1996.

Oates resigned in 2001 after the Rangers lost 17 of their first 28 games despite the addition of $252 million free agent shortstop Alex Rodriguez. He compiled a regular season record of 797-746 and got his only postseason victory in 10 tries when the Rangers made their playoff debut, winning 6-2 at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 1, 1996.[...]

Oates and his wife began each morning studying the Bible in the sunroom of their home on Lake Chesdin, about 30 miles from Richmond, and were active in their church. Oates also attended local baseball games periodically, but increasingly needed help to get there after the brain surgery slowly caused the left side of his body to become lame.

"I don't miss baseball one single bit. I enjoy talking about it, but I know I can't do it anymore. I like to watch it on TV," he said in an interview with The Associated Press in March 2003. "I miss the people. I don't miss the stress that went with it, all the decision-making. But now I enjoy being here. I enjoy being lazy."

Oates, a left-handed hitting catcher, played for five teams in his major league career, starting with the Orioles in 1970. It was there that he encountered Cal Ripken Sr., and he later credited Ripken with helping turn him into a big league player.

When he was just starting out, Oates recalled days when Ripken stood on the pitcher's mound with a bucket of balls and a fungo bat, hitting one-hoppers at him.

"He said if I could block them, I could block any pitches," Oates said.[...]

Following his retirement from the Yankees in 1981, Oates managed the Yankees' Double-A Southern League team, winning the championship in his first season.

Among his players that year was Buck Showalter, who later managed the Rangers.

"He's the best I ever played for," Showalter said of Oates. "Just the whole package. ... He's the most ethical, moral man I've ever been around."

We've lost quite a few people this year, haven't we? Too many in my opinion. I've been to Camden Yards and The Ballpark in Arlington. Fun times indeed.

Read the obituary here.

Quote of the Week: A comment at Greg's Opinion

Markos? Childish? Perish the thought!

Remember, this is the guy who effectively banned anyone who wasn't a Dean or Clark Kool-Aid quaffer last winter.

The real issue isn't MeetUp, the Kerry web site or Zach Exley's abilities. It's Markos' "this town ain't big enough for both of us" act. Having decided that the blogosphere is the be-all and end-all of Democratic politics, Kos now feels that he must be the Uberblogger, the unquestioned voice of the online community. Anyone who threatens that status, be they Exley, Kilgore, Kaus, Josh Marshall, Dan Solzman, whoever, must be vaporized.

It's not just childish; since this schmuck seems to have the ear of the DNC and the NDN, it is downright disturbing.

To read the full page, click here.

Romney in 2006, Dean welcomes pro-life crowd

The Boston Globe reports that Republican Governor Mitt Romney is running for re-election in Massachusetts. Keep in mind there is speculation of a 2008 presidential bid and his father did run for President. Could 2008 see the sons of former presidential candidates?

''Plan on it," Romney said yesterday as he attended a ribbon-cutting event in the North End. ''I'm not making an official announcement until the time comes, but plan on me being there."

Earlier this week, Romney told a roundtable of State House reporters that he was ready for the Democrats' challenge. ''They say: 'Oh he's not going to run again. He's not going to run again,' " Romney said. ''Well, I've got some news for them: I am going to run again. So come on in, I'm happy to face them. And if they want to think about whether they're going to face an opponent named Romney in the fall, the answer is, yeah, that's what they should plan for."

But yesterday, Romney sidestepped one critical question: whether he would serve out the full four-year term if reelected. He is seen by pundits and GOP activists to be eyeing a 2008 presidential run.

Unless former Labor Secretary Robert Reich runs for Governor in 2006, you can probably count on Gov. Mitt Romney being elected. According to Issues2000.org, Gov. Romney is "personally against abortion, but pro-choice as governor (March 2002) and for safe, legal abortion since relative's death from illegal (Oct. 1994)."

Former Governor Howard Dean is welcoming the pro-life crowd.

Howard Dean, campaigning two weeks ago in Orlando, Fla., to succeed Terry McAuliffe as Democratic national chairman, drew nods of approval from Democratic state party leaders when he urged the party to embrace Democrats who oppose abortion.

"We ought not turn our back on pro-life people, even though the vast majority of people in this party are pro-choice," Dr. Dean said. "I don't have any objection to someone who is pro-life, if they really dedicated to the welfare of children."

"If somebody is willing to stick with us who is pro-life, that means they are the right kind of pro-life person," said Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont. "What I don't want to do is to have a national message that makes it impossible for you to be a conservative, or to be a progressive who can't win."

This is the same reason that the Kos-world does not want Congressman Roemer to chair the DNC and only time will tell before Mydd.com, Daily Kos, and Atrios start attacking this position from Dean.

The quote of this week will be up soon enough.

Today's News

Took quite a while to take care of the drive way and oy, was it a major pain! I hope no one minded missing the political updates but when Mother Nature makes snow storms...you have to dig your way out!

Graham wrangles with holiday treats on final `workday'.

Graham - who recently published a new book - also said he plans to begin teaching at the Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Graham is a Harvard Law School graduate.[...]

What about Mel Martinez, the Republican elected in November to replace Graham, who was pilloried by some Democrats as right-wing and regressive?

"He's a good person," Graham said. "I think the image that people got of Mel Martinez during the campaign is not the real Mel Martinez. I think he is more pragmatic.

Of his propensity to methodically record each days's events in detail - an ingrained, diary-writing habit that some surmise may have cost him selection as a vice presidential contender - the prolific note taker was unapologetic.

He showed off his tiny blue pad.

"This is a lot easier to carry around than a Palm Pilot," Graham said, "and it doesn't crash."

And how, dare say, would Graham fashion his political epitaph?

"I hope they'll say this is a man who served us faithfully, with a high standard of ethics and integrity."

Bob Graham will definitely be missed from the Senate but I wish him all the best when he teaches at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and in his future endeavors.

Feinstein: Abolish Electoral College. This is major news. I thought this would have been mentioned right after the 2000 campaign but after the 2004 campaign? This does not seem quite right.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein is lending her moderate voice to the fight to abolish the Electoral College, calling it an "anachronism" unsuited to the 21st century and promising to introduce legislation to provide for a popular election of the President and Vice President.

"We need to have a serious, comprehensive debate on reforming the Electoral College," Feinstein said. "My goal is simply to allow the popular will of the American people to be expressed every four years when we elect our President."

According to the Center for Voting and Democracy:
Since its inception as Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution, there have been more than 700 attempts to abolish or amend the Electoral College system. It was modified by the 12th and 23rd Amendments.
In 1950, an amendment to make the electoral vote proportional to the popular vote passed in the Senate, but died in the House of Representatives.
In 1969, a proposal to shift to a direct popular election with a 40 percent threshold or a runoff passed the House, but failed in the Senate due to a filibuster.
In 1979, a proposal to abolish the college failed in the Senate.

Quotes on former Gov. John G. Rowland's plea. Some of the reactions from Democratic Leaders in Connecticut:
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal: "John Rowland has made mistakes, and he will pay for them. This day is historic in the most sad and shameful sense."
Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman: "This is a sad conclusion to a career in which Governor Rowland did many good things for the people of Connecticut. I am personally saddened, because I have always considered him a good friend."
Sen. Christopher J. Dodd: "I can only hope that this action can begin to put this painful matter behind us, so that our state can enter the new year with renewed hope and optimism."

Democratic Leadership Rethinking Abortion. It is about time to clearly define this issue once and for all. Greg writes "The real story here is regarding Tim Roemer's run for the DNC and the reaction it gets due to Roemer's position on abortion. I'll be quite frank here ... I don't give a rat's behind where the DNC chair stands on the issue, but I do care about their ability to discuss it as well as a whole host of other issues lumped in with "value issues." For too long, the party leadership has been tone deaf and 2004 was, in part, the price paid for that. Roemer at least possesses that ability, so credit to him for such. Similarly, his work on the 9/11 Commission plants his other foot firmly in territory the party also needs to be more conversant in."

The party's stance on abortion rights should not be what the DNC solely stands for. There is more to politics than just abortion rights.

After long defining itself as an undisputed defender of abortion rights, the Democratic Party is suddenly locked in an internal struggle over whether to redefine its position to appeal to a broader array of voters.[...]

"We must be able to campaign in 50 states, not just the blue states or 20 states," said Roemer, referring to the most Democratic-leaning states.[...]

Votes will be cast by 447 members of the Democratic National Committee, many of whom are among the party's most liberal members. These members are thought to be friendly to Dean and less receptive to Roemer. But the former Indiana congressman is getting attention amid reports that Pelosi and Reid urged him to run.

Roemer has also highlighted his service on the independent panel investigating the government's response to the Sept. 11 attacks, saying that credential builds his appeal to security-minded voters. He noted that he was an elected official from Indiana, a "red state" where Democrats want to make gains.

A Pelosi spokesman said the House Democratic leader liked Roemer because of his national security credentials. But a senior Democratic congressional aide said Pelosi also thought that Roemer's stance on abortion could be an additional benefit.

"She is pro-choice and very staunchly pro-choice," the aide said of Pelosi. But at the same time, the aide said, "she supports showing that this is a big-tent party."

In the presidential election, Kerry, a Catholic, said he personally opposed abortion but did not believe in imposing that belief on others. He said he would not appoint antiabortion judges to the bench.

But after his election loss, the Massachusetts senator concluded that the party needed to rethink its stance. Addressing supporters at a meeting held by the AFL-CIO, Kerry said he discovered during trips through Pennsylvania that many union members were also abortion opponents and that the party needed to rethink how it could appeal to those voters, Kerry spokesman David Wade said.

I'll side with Senator Kerry on that. I personally am against abortion with the exceptions of rape, incest, and when the mother or child's life is in danger. I would support a partial-birth abortion ban with those exceptions. However, I cannot offer my support to any couples that get drunk and find themselves having intercourse. Maybe we should support a sex contract? We need to redefine what it means to be a Democrat and I truly suggest reading this interview with then-Governor Evan Bayh during the 1996 DNC Convention.

Please consider helping our troops overseas by donating phone cards.

Cabin Fever...I'm snowed in!

In the Kentuckiana area, please stay home unless it is absolutely necessary to leave your house.

No blog updates today as I am going to clear the drive way.

Also, my condolences to Jon Stewart's alma mater as my University of Kentucky Wildcats trounced the William and Mary Colonels with a score of 92-47. The Cats are now 8-1. Kelennna Azubuike led the Cats with 18 points. Chuck Hayes had 17 points.

If I am not back before Shabbas blogging, have a happy holiday!

To the Mailbag!

This was in my inbox:
COWS: Is it just me, or does anyone else find it amazing that our government can track a cow born in Canada almost three years ago, right to the stall where she sleeps in the state of Washington. They also tracked her calves to their stalls ... but they are unable to locate 11 million illegal aliens wandering around our country. Maybe we should give them all a cow.

CONSTITUTION: They keep talking about drafting a Constitution for Iraq. Why don't we just give them ours? It was written by a lot of really smart guys, it's worked for over 200 years and we're not using it anymore.

TEN COMMANDMENTS: The real reason that we can't have the Ten Commandments in a Courthouse ...you cannot post "Thou shalt not steal", "Thou shalt not commit adultery", and "Thou shalt not bear false witness" in a building full of lawyers, judges, and politicians. It creates a hostile work environment!!

Denise Majette to become a judge

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that retiring Congresswoman and 2004 US Senate candidate Denis Majette has accepted a part-time judgeship in DeKalb County.

Chief Magistrate Winston P. Bethel confirmed Tuesday that Majette will be sworn in and begin hearing cases once her term in Congress officially ends Jan. 3. Majette was a longtime DeKalb State Court judge before running for Congress in 2002.

"Of course, the congresswoman brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to this," Bethel said. "I basically came to her because I know of her experience and because of our personal relationship from when she was in the State Court."

She was a potential candidate for Lt. Governor in Georgia but this will mean an end to that rumor. What I do not understand is why, as a one-term incumbent would she seek a Senate seat in a state that is turning red. Not just that, but her running for Senate meant Cynthia McKinney would run for her seat. That was a bad political move in my mind.

Thanks to Dr. Jay for the tip!

Useless Knowledge

Simon Rosenberg or Tim Roemer for DNC Chairman

Russ Feingold Op-Ed

Senator Feingold wrote a nice editorial for Salon.com:

Goin' south
A driving trip through Alabama reminds a U.S. senator from Wisconsin how radical conservatives are robbing hardworking people of the American dream.

I read it with great interest. I think Senator Feingold might be the guy to be the VP nominee in 2008 with Sen. Bayh on the ticket. They will not have a re-election campaign to worry about in 4 years. Sen.-elect Obama would be another great choice but he is too young.

Amazon

I am adding an amazon.com search box and recommended items for your reading pleasure!

There is a locked box?

Well, not the type of locked box that Al Gore wanted for social security but a locked box has been found in a North Carolina building. WTVD-11 is reporting that a locked box was found in a Raleigh building and "the employees of Touch of Color Photography have tried hard to crack since they moved into this Falls of the Neuse building three months ago." Guess who was a former owner of the building?

The building was built back in the 80's and it was a bank with a drive thru window so not only does it have this huge vault, it also has a the locked smaller one as well.

There have been three or four tenants since it was a bank and none of them know anything about the safe or the lock combination.

So who does know the combination? The owner of the building, Senator John Edwards, was never told the combination, and a locksmith said there could be millions of possibilities with a hand dial and a touch pad.

If you guessed retiring Senator John Edwards, you are right on the money!

The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is reporting that Senator Dick Lugar has opened his campaign office and hired a campaign manager for his re-election in 2006. Unless something dramatic happens, expect Dick Lugar to hold on to his seat. Joe Kernan couldn't beat Daniels. He'll have a heck of a time beating Lugar. Will Mayor Bart Peterson of Indianapolis take him on? Time will only tell.

Lugar, 72, is in his fifth six-year term, making him the longest-serving Hoosier senator in the state’s history. He took office in 1977 and ranks ninth in seniority in the 100-member Senate. He is chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee.

He has hired a campaign manager, Nick Weber, and the Lugar re-election campaign operations are opening new offices in Indianapolis. Weber, who is Lugar’s Indiana press secretary, will move from the Senate staff to the campaign operations after Jan. 1.

Since he won his last campaign in 2000, Lugar has raised $2.2 million. Lugar spent $5.2 million on his last campaign; the most recent Indiana Senate race, Democratic Sen. Evan Bayh’s re-election last month, cost $2.9 million.

Sen. Bayh still has a load of money left in the bank from the last campaign.

The Washington Post reports that the latest recount is putting Attorney General Gregoire on top.

The head of the state Democratic Party said late Tuesday that recount results from King County give Democrat Christine Gregoire an eight-vote victory in the closest governor's race in state history.

Any more lawsuits contesting results that I need to know about?

Steven Sisson writes what is next for the Democrats. The progressive Democrat of Virginia even goes as far to make an endorsement for 2008. Who? If you guessed Evan Bayh, you are correct.

Evan Bayh is a good, articulate speaker, an intelligent fellow and a good-looking Democratic candidate.

He's a perfect candidate for the ailing Democrats.

Is everybody looking to Evan Bayh in 2008? All the people I speak with in Kentucky like him.

Augusta Free Press: Warner's eyes on White House prize?It is an interesting article. Governor Warner's take on the matter:

"It's flattering ... and frightening," Warner told The Augusta Free Press.[...]

"The Democratic Party simply can't continue to write off large parts of the country and continue to remain a truly viable national party," Warner said.

One needs to look no further than the results of the '04 presidential election to see that, Warner said.

"We could see that in the past presidential race here in Virginia," Warner said. "For a lot of folks in the Shenandoah Valley and Southwest and Southside, all they needed to know about John Kerry was that he was a Massachusetts senator and that, whether or not you buy into such labels, he was seen by some as being more liberal than Teddy Kennedy.

"Once they knew that, they didn't need to bother to learn anything substantive about his positions on the issues of the day," Warner said.

He has some great advice for the party. We have to run in all 50 states...red, white, and blue! He is focusing on finishing his last year of his term.

Evan Bayh: Responsbible Fatherhood

The following is an excerpt of an excerpt of Father to Son: A Private Life in the Public Eye by Evan Bayh that appeared in the DLC Blueprint magazine in June, 2003:

I always knew that I wanted to have children someday, but until the birth of my twin sons in 1995, parenthood was an abstract idea. That all changed when I first held Nick and Beau in my arms. I'll never forget the overwhelming feeling of joy and the profound sense of responsibility I felt that day -- a responsibility to do right by my sons, to protect and nurture them, to give them the best upbringing I possibly could.

Though I didn't know it at the time, that day also marked the birth of one of my greatest political passions: battling our country's epidemic of fatherlessness.

Each night, more than 17 million kids in the United States go to bed in homes without fathers. Today we lead the world in the percentage of father absence, up 300 percent from just forty years ago. Too many men are bringing children into the world and then just walking away, leaving mothers and taxpayers to pick up the pieces and the bill.

Consider the statistics: children who aren't in contact with their fathers are five times more likely to live in poverty and ten times more likely to live in extreme poverty. They're more likely to bring weapons and drugs into the classroom. Children without fathers are twice as likely to commit crimes and drop out of school. They're more than twice as likely to abuse drugs and alcohol. Children without fathers are also more likely to commit suicide and to become teenage parents. The overwhelming majority of violent criminals -- including 72 percent of adolescent murderers and 70 percent of long-term prison inmates -- are males who grew up without fathers.

Make no mistake about it: father absence hurts children. As governor of Indiana, I'd become all too familiar with its devastating effects as we worked to address a connected web of social problems that have their roots in the breakdown of families. When I came to office in 1989, for example, Indiana was experiencing a corrections crisis. Fueled by a increase in drug-related convictions, our inmate population was exploding. The connection between crime and the breakdown of family structures was driven home to me by Jim Aiken, head of our Department of Corrections.

This is a very good issue to campaign on. Responsible fatherhood is a moral value.

Lawton "Bud" Chiles for Governor 2006

UPI is reporting that Lawton "Bud" Chiles, the son of the late Governor Lawton Chiles will be running for Governor of Florida in 2006.

Chiles is currently a developer. Chiles is a moderate Democrat and possible in the DLC. His dad served 18 years in the US Senate before winning two successful terms as Governor.

"If you're going to run a campaign in 67 counties you can't start a year from the election," the would-be first-time candidate said.

Though he declined to speak in detail about his plans, Chiles did have some harsh words for his party, which has suffered serious reversals in the last decade. Democrats, he said, "have failed to field candidates who can relate and speak to the diverse array of voters" and have have too easily been "negatively pigeonholed" by the Republicans.

U.S. Rep. Jim Davis, state Sen. Rod Smith and Florida Democratic Chairman Scott Maddox are the other names that pop up in the Democratic primary race and neither can match the well-known name recognition that the 51 year old has.

Gov. Jeb Bush is unable to seek a third term under state law.

Bush's Chanukah

I recieved this in my email from two cousins.

Turlington to lead NC Dems

A winter advisory for the Kentuckiana area is out there for tomorrow so drive safely.

Gov. Mike Easley (D-NC) wants Ed Turlington of Raleigh to lead the party.

Ed Turlington, a Raleigh lawyer who was the right-hand man for such Democratic leaders as Jim Hunt, Terry Sanford and John Edwards, has been tapped to lead the North Carolina Democratic Party during the next two years.

Gov. Mike Easley has signaled that Turlington, 47, is his choice to become the new state Demo-cratic Party chairman, succeeding Barbara Allen, who will be stepping down early next year.[...]

The naming of Turlington would put an operative with a national reputation at the head of the state party. He would oversee efforts to keep the General Assembly in Democratic hands in two years, would help push Easley's agenda including a possible state lottery referendum and would ensure the party's coffers are filled.[...]

"It is a unique moment in the state party's history where we have a chance to lead nationally," Turlington said Monday. "Gov. Easley is one of the leading Democratic governors and is already part of an effort to work with the national party leadership. We have David Price as co-chairman of a party commission. You have Mel Watt, who is chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, and we just had John Edwards on the national ticket. North Carolina Democrats can play an important role in national politics."[...]

Turlington said presidential politics should not be read into his choice -- either for Edwards or for Easley. Turlington said he supports Edwards' seeking the presidency in 2008 but said that decision is likely a couple of years away.

He said it would be "a stretch" to view his selection as an effort by Easley to position himself for a presidential run. But he said that Easley, having twice been elected governor in a red state, could provide valuable advice to the national party.[...]

Turlington would be the first North Carolina Democratic chairman in recent memory with extensive experience in presidential politics. He was general chairman of Edwards' presidential campaign and deputy campaign manager for New Jersey Sen. Bill Bradley's 2000 presidential run. Most recently he was state co-chairman of the Kerry-Edwards campaign.

He also has one of the longest political resumes in North Carolina, having served as a key aide to Sanford, Hunt and Lt. Gov. Bob Jordan and as executive director of the state party. Turlington said, however, that his most important qualification might be his involvement in precinct politics since he was a 15-year-old in Sampson County.

I've had the priviledge of corresponding with Mr. Turlington for sometime now. He's a great guy and will do good for the party in North Carolina. Maybe he should consider the DNC Chairmanship?

On the subject of retiring Senator John Edwards, PoliticsNH.com reports that there is no question that Edwards might run in 2008.

The most senior advisor to John Edwards in New Hampshire said he believes Edwards is seriously considering another White House bid.

“I don’t think there is any question,” state Sen. Lou D’Allesandro (D-Manchester) said when asked if Edwards would run for president in 2008. “He knows he has a bright political future ahead of him.”

D’Allesandro served as Edwards’ state campaign chairman in his bid for president.

The Detroit Free Press reports what politicians are doing now that they are retired from Capitol Hill.

Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., is sifting offers. Rep. Jack Quinn, R-N.Y., will join one of Washington's top lobbying firms. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-La., who helped write the prescription drug law that Congress passed last year, will become president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a powerful drug industry trade association.[...]

Among the more famous to make the move in recent years is former Kansas Republican Sen. Bob Dole, who lobbies as Bob Dole Enterprises and is special counsel with Alston & Bird, an Atlanta-based law firm. Dole's former Kansas colleague, longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Glickman, recently landed one of Washington's most prestigious lobbying gigs as president of the Motion Picture Association of America.

That explains why my email to Secretary Glickman bounced back two or three weeks ago.

Here are some very interesting and thoughtful articles:
Homeland Security Losing Its No. 2 Executive, Too

James M. Loy, the department's deputy secretary, plans to stay until March 1 or until a successor is confirmed, the agency said yesterday. Secretary Tom Ridge, who announced his resignation from the Cabinet late last month, plans to leave by Feb. 1 if his replacement has been lined up.

Not a surprise at all.

9/11 Panel Members to Lobby for a Restructured Congress

In the Senate, the Governmental Affairs Committee is being renamed the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, but it is not being given jurisdiction over several of the largest agencies within the Homeland Security Department, which will continue to report to other Senate committees.

There is no shortage of voices calling for powerful and unified Congressional oversight. A report this month by a research group led by Thomas S. Foley, a Democrat and former House speaker, and Warren B. Rudman, a Republican and former senator from New Hampshire, called for streamlined oversight of the Homeland Security Department, joining with the Sept. 11 commission in describing Congressional oversight as dysfunctional.

I thought my mom's family was dysfunctional...this idea sounds interesting.

Monday evening update

First, have a happy first day of winter tomorrow. I've added a few things to my sidebar. Evan Bayh is starting to look like a presidential candidate in 2008. Hotmail is acting up so I cannot do much with regards to reading my emails.
Senator Joe Lieberman's former communications director, Dan Gerstein, wrote an interesting article criticizing the Kerry campaign. You can read the PDF version here. His article was in the Wall Street Journal on November 11, 2004 and it is titled "More Muscle, More G-d, Less Shrum. The criticisms are right on the money! I have added his consulting firm as a link.
Another article of interest that Greg covered the other day is It's time to pass torch, younger Dems say. Very interesting article and several Democrats are quoted.

Simmons, Powers and New York City-based consultant Dan Gerstein have been three of the bluntest commentators. "The party in certain respects is fossilized," says Gerstein, 37. "It's trapped in the last vestiges of the New Deal coalition. That coalition is no longer an electoral majority or even close to it."

A former aide to Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., Gerstein wrote in The Wall Street Journal that Democrats have "fallen right back into the elitist, weak-kneed, brain-dead trap" they thought they'd escaped with Bill Clinton.

He called for more muscle in foreign policy, more respect for religion and "banishing Bob Shrum and his tone-deaf Chardonnay populism" from future presidential campaigns. Shrum, 61, was nominee John Kerry's top adviser.

Gerstein is among the many concerned about the Democrats' image. "We've lost the mantle of reform we had for the whole 20th century after Franklin Roosevelt," says Matt Bennett, 39, a former Clark aide and co-founder of a new group called Third Way. "We are seen as defenders of an old system that no longer meets the needs of the 21st century world we live in."

Kristol Scotches Rumor on Rumsfeld Bashing. Evidently, Scott McClellan was asked if President Bush told Bill Kristol to write the editorial. Here's an excerpt:

Not so, said an amused Kristol, who said someone must have overheard him joking about what he would say when he had his photo taken with the president and first lady Laura Bush later in the party. Kristol said it is not true that there has been "any kind of White House encouragement or back-channel contact."

"I maybe said that if he pats me on the back and says, 'Good op-ed, Bill,' that would indicate something," Kristol said. The editor said he used his few seconds with Bush to thank him for awards he had given his parents, neoconservative writer Irving Kristol and historian Gertrude Himmelfarb. The Rumsfeld article did not come up.

I know someone in the Kristol family.

Schumer Shows Senate Democrats His Way to Re-Election. Took me a while to just get to the article with a hard to remember user name. Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has some great ideas in what I like to call Schumer 101. I saw the Senator speak at a Jews for Kerry rally in October. Sadly, he left before I could get an autograph or a individual photo with him. I'll get it this summer most likely.

Charles E. Schumer, New York's press-savvy senior senator, has made a name in his state with weekly Sunday news conferences, where he chases headlines on a slow news day. Now, his Democratic colleague in Minnesota, Mark Dayton, is doing the same with his re-election in 2006 approaching.[...]

But Democrats say that anyone skeptical about Mr. Schumer's qualifications need only to look at his record in New York, where he has combined a talent for publicity with an eye for issues that have bipartisan appeal and a reputation for exhaustive constituent service. He won re-election with a record 71 percent of the vote in November, including one-third of the Republican vote, much of it in rural and old industrial regions that independent political experts say resemble Midwest swing states like Ohio and Michigan.

Even Republicans say that while it may be tempting to caricature the senator as the sort of Democrat that voters seemed to reject in November - a liberal-leaning Northeasterner - it would be dangerous to underestimate Mr. Schumer, a man so seemingly driven that he met a challenge from a magazine reporter to draw all 62 New York counties freehand.

"You can't outwork him," said Representative Thomas M. Reynolds of western New York, who is the chairman of the Republican Party's re-election committee in the House.[...]

In his mission to revive Democratic prospects in the Senate, he faces the immediate task of helping defend five Democratic senators in states that President Bush carried or did surprisingly well in, analysts say. They are Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Mr. Dayton of Minnesota, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico and Bill Nelson of Florida. One of them, Mr. Dayton, said Mr. Schumer gave him one valuable piece of advice over dinner: hold regular news conferences on Sunday, a ploy Mr. Schumer has long used to avoid competing with major news for the press's attention.[...]

Now Mr. Schumer has turned his attention to helping provide a similar financial edge to his Democratic colleagues, among them Mr. Nelson, a first-term senator in heavily Republican Nebraska.

Recently, for example, Mr. Schumer came up with the idea of getting a prominent Nebraskan now living in New York City to headline a fund-raiser for Mr. Nelson: Bob Kerrey, the New School University president and former senator, who spent months in the national spotlight as one of the more outspoken members of the commission investigating the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

I like the Bob Kerrey idea.

I've added a few more links to my "blogroll."

Open thread

an open thread to talk amongst yourselves

Winter Break Update

I will be working at my father's office during the break so updates will not come until after 5 PM.

Thanks for your understanding.

Bayh on Blitzer

Let us add KYDem to the growing critics of Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld first.
Excerpts from the transcript:

WOLF BLITZER: Senator Bayh, let me begin with you. Is it as bad as it would appear to be today? This situation looks very grisly, but you were just there. Give us your perspective.
SEN. EVAN BAYH (D), INDIANA: Well, Wolf, if you ever wanted a clear demonstration of what separates us from our adversaries, these killings today are it. You know, we want democracy. We want freedom. Clearly they're trying to keep that from happening.
And the heart of the challenge all comes back to a lack of security. We're not going to have successful elections, we won't have a growing Iraqi economy, we won't have stability there without security.
And regrettably, we have our challenges cut out for us there. I had a top U.S. intelligence official tell me -- I asked him directly...
BLITZER: In Baghdad?
BAYH: In Baghdad -- which do you think is growing more rapidly: the insurgency or the Iraqis' capability of handling the insurgency? And he said very directly, the insurgency. That should be troubling.
BLITZER: Why is this insurgency apparently as popular among rank- and-file Iraqis as it seems to be?
BAYH: One of the tragedies here, Wolf, is that we have contributed to our own problems today by sending the Iraqi army home, not the top generals who were in bed with Saddam, but the privates, the corporals, the captains and lieutenants. We're fighting some of those people today. They should have been on our side.
The decision to send all of even the lower-level functionaries of the former government home, most of whom were Sunnis, saying to them, "You have no future in Iraq," they are now opposing us too.
We need to recall those people to give them a stake in the future of Iraq even while we're trying the criminals, the human rights violators. That's one of the ways that we'll re-enlist the Iraqi people in the cause of democracy and free elections.[...]
BLITZER: Is that right?
BAYH: Wolf, the U.S. intelligence official told me, he said there's one thing keeping this country together today: that is the U.S. presence, the U.S. forces. Clearly if we're going to be successful there, which we must, if these elections are going to be successful, which they must, we need to increase the Iraqis' capability of dealing with this violence. Because until we have security, the democracy is not going to take root.
BLITZER: Do you see that happening?
BAYH: Well, we need to do two things or three things.
First, in the short run, I think Steny's right. We've never had enough troops there. If the mission was to go in and remove Saddam, we had enough forces to that. If the mission was to stabilize a country of 26 million people and try and create a democracy where there's no history of one, we've never had enough troops to do that. So, in the short run, more U.S. troops.
In the longer run, though, get the Iraqi army back, get the bureaucracy back, get up their capabilities.[...]
BLITZER: Senator Bayh, you're on the Intelligence Committee. Is that true?
BAYH: Well, we need more intelligence.
We do know that the Syrians are sort of being what I'd call passive-aggressive. I don't think they're doing much to assist the former Baathists, but they're not doing much to dissuade them either.
BAYH: That needs to change.
The Iranians are trying to exert their influence. We do have some intelligence about how they're doing that. But don't forget, Wolf, they're a different ethnic background than most of the Iraqis. I think a lot of the Iraqis look at Iran and say, "You know, we're co- religionists, but that's not the kind of government we want."
So the thing I would focus on today is discouraging foreign involvement, yes, but I think, as Tom Friedman pointed out today, encouraging Iraqi involvement, getting the Sunnis involved in the election. That's the single most important thing we can do.[...]
BLITZER: Is that right, because you're on the Intelligence Committee, that no one envisaged the kind of insurgency that has developed?
BAYH: Well, if they didn't envision it at least as being a possibility, they didn't understand anything about the history of the country or the culture of the country and the divisions that exist there.
Look, you had to anticipate something bad happening.
But another point, Wolf. We make these up-armored Humvees in Indiana. I've been making this point for more than a year, as have some other people.
Where has been the sense of urgency? Where has been the outrage, to say our troops deserve the very best that we have to offer, and what can we do about it, right now?
I haven't gotten that sense of urgency, and frankly, when lives are at risk, that's not acceptable.
CORNYN: Wolf, no member of Congress has been making this argument until this question was asked of Secretary Rumsfeld...
BAYH: Oh, John, that's just not true.
CORNYN: I have not heard this sort of indignation on the part of...
BAYH: In April, before our committee, General Casey came to testify. At that point, they thought that the most we could produce every month was 300. I said to him, General Casey, that's not true, we can make 450 a month.
And in the exchange last week with the secretary, he said, well, we're producing at the most we can make, that we can't produce any more. That also was not accurate. We can make 100 a month more, and we should.[...]
BAYH: Wolf, he should sign the letters. He's going to sign the letters.
But what's most important here is that we do what it takes to minimize the number of letters that have to be sent.
And when you see Andy Card say, "Hey, everything has been great, there have been no mistakes, we don't have to correct anything," you have to wonder what's going on. Look, it's better that wisdom come late than not at all. And we have to learn from these mistakes so that we do better to minimize the number of casualties to win this thing so that we can ultimately come home.
And it's the lack of any introspection that I find to be very troubling.
BLITZER: But I want to just press you on this point. You're a moderate Democrat, well-known.
Do you think he should resign?
BAYH: Well, reluctantly, Wolf, I've concluded that we have to have a different perspective. The commander in chief will be in place for the next four years, so that doesn't leave us many alternatives.
BLITZER: So you want Rumsfeld out?
BAYH: Well, I think that that is the way to go.
But if we don't have different policies, frankly, it will just be a game of musical chairs. What is important here is that we have better policies so that we can be successful in these things.[...]
BLITZER: Senator Bayh, you're on the Intelligence Committee. Michael Scheuer, who was known as "Anonymous," CIA analyst on Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda, tells the new issue of Time magazine, he fears this audio tape suggests that al Qaeda will attempt, in his words, a large attack on the U.S. or U.S. interests in the near future.
Is that the prevailing assessment, that before a major attack, Osama bin Laden gives one of these speeches?
BAYH: Well, I don't recall any warning before 9/11, Wolf, although there is the school of thought that perhaps that's what he has in mind here.
But, look, the potential threat from Osama and al Qaeda is ever present. We have to never let down our guard from that. So I assume that he'll attack us as soon as he can when he has that capability, with or without a warning.
The broader issue here is, what do we do to remove the support, to dry up the swamp where he gets sustenance from? And that is by standing for democracy and freedom in that part of the world.
And that's why we're all dedicated, Democrats and Republicans, to try and be successful in that regard: defend our country by fighting terror in the short run, provide a peaceful alternative to the Islamic world through freedom and democracy in the long-run.
And hopefully, in the meantime, we'll catch him and we won't have to see these sorts of tapes anymore.
BLITZER: Based on information you've received, is there any progress being made in the hunt for Osama bin Laden, as far as you can tell?
BAYH: Well, John and I, Senator Cornyn and I, met with the special forces in Afghanistan who are in charge of -- sorry, in Iraq, who are in charge of the hunt for Zarqawi. They're also in charge of the hunt in Afghanistan. They said they can now put him in a somewhat smaller box.
But, look, it's going to take an intelligence breakthrough of some kind. It could happen tomorrow. It could happen a year from tomorrow. We'll eventually get him. Apparently it's getting a little better.
BLITZER: Better for Zarqawi or better for bin Laden?
BAYH: Better for bin Laden. The box is tightening. And Zarqawi, there have been a couple of times when literally, you know, he's been heading out the back door and we've been going into the front. So it's just a question of time.[...]
BLITZER: What do you think, Senator Bayh?
BAYH: I think it may be the most important position in the government today, after the president and vice president. You know, back in Napoleon's time, he said, a well-placed spy was worth two divisions.
Today, it could help protect two American cities. So this needs to be someone who is not only competent, but as Steny mentioned, has the confidence of the American people.
If there's one thing, God willing, in Washington that shouldn't be politicized, it's the nation's intelligence system, because that is directly dependent -- it provides for our national security today.
BLITZER: Is there a name that jumps out that you like?
BAYH: No, I wouldn't presume to do that. We'll obviously give serious consideration to whatever the president nominates.

Those were all the Evan Bayh excerpts. Well said, Evan, well said!