At last check the temp here in Chicago was two degrees Fahrenheit, thirty below wind chill, which makes it a tad warmer than Richard Perle’s heart. (By the way if you missed him on The Daily Show the other day, that man has some serious bags under his eyes. “That’s were keeps the souls he takes to hell with him.”)

But that’s the report I woke up to. Top local news story, it’s cold. Later on I heard this story:

In a series of complex transactions hidden from state regulators, Peoples Gas transferred or sold natural gas intended to heat Chicagoans' homes to a venture of its parent company and Enron Corp., internal documents show.

As a result, the utility was forced to replenish gas supplies at high prices on the open market, contributing to record heating bills for customers during the brutally cold winter of 2000-2001.

Brrrrr!!!

BUSH KNEW!

Why wasn't this the headline to yesterday's article in The New York Times about the 9/11 commission? Buried in the twelfth paragraph on page A20 is this little tidbit:

The Bush administration officials confirmed news reports last year that a White House intelligence summary presented to Bush shortly before the attacks suggested that terrorists might be planning an attack using passenger planes.

In fact, the article reads as though it was prepped in a cut-and-paste frenzy, with this little paragraph left in by mistake(?) Why isn't the press pressing administration officials, specifically Condo "no one could have imagined this scenario" Rice to respond? This is unbelievable that not one journalist, and I use that term for lack of a more descriptive one, is questioning President PantyWaist about his knowledge, pre-9/11, of potential terrorist attacks—this admission apparently made by his administration. Isn't it somebody's job to ask the hard questions?

I'm nutty!

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Low
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	Low
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Low
Histrionic:	Low
Narcissistic:	Low
Avoidant:	Low
Dependent:	Low
Obsessive-Compulsive:	Low
-- Personality Disorder Test - Take It! --

After several abortive attempts I’ve concluded that I cannot write intelligently about the primaries. So I won’t try. Ezra over at Pandagon has a post that hits on some of the points that I’ve been chewing on over the last week. This paragraph in particular deserved a second look.

I've been thinking a lot about a Kerry candidacy lately. I've always said he'd be the best president of the bunch, but he's the worst campaigner. I no longer think he's the worst, but I'm not convinced that he's particularly good. Regardless, I'm very comfortable with his positions, his character, his intelligence and his understanding of what the presidency requires. I believe he's mentally prepared for the presidency, I think he understands the historical importance of the moment and is determined not to squander it. I've always believed that about him, he's someone whose dreams were larger than he was, but in the aftermath of Iowa he began to grow. I can see John Kerry as president, moreover, I can see him as a successful one.

My feelings on every candidate are still decidedly mixed. And when it looked like Dean was going to be our man I started preparing myself to support him, despite my misgivings. Getting back on the wagon for Kerry feels a little like trying on an outgrown tee shirt. But it’s not hard to visualize him as president. Casa Warren never really stopped being Kerry friendly, due in no small part to Ted Kennedy’s endorsement. We are unabashed Massachusetts Liberals in spirit if not in body.

My problem this entire time is that I’m more likely to compare candidates to Bush than I am to compare them to each other. Go figure. As to the question, “Can Kerry/Dean/Clark/Edwards beat Bush?” I’m tired of hearing it. Whoever wins the nomination, if he loses to Bush it won’t be entirely on his own. It will be because we decided that beating Bush wasn’t enough.

I know where I stand.

Okay I officially give up.

We need to freaking nominate someone before my head explodes. I am tired of primary season. I can’t continue to despise Leiberman, cringe at Dean, ignore Sharpton and Kucinich, waffle on Clark, wonder at Kerry, AND hate Bush. I am missing out on real news!

Exhibit A:
and
Exhibit B:

It would be bitterly ironic that the crimes of this administration went unnoticed due to our preoccupation with getting them out of office.

SOTU (Post mortem)

Hey NBC interviewed Kerry. Not bad.

Oooh and on to Russert. Ick.

I'm going to have bad dreams tonight.

SOTU (We're nearly done)

Nope the troops don't look happy at all.

Aauugghh!! That was Jesse Jackson Jr.'s child! Holy Water quick!

Man if we get this man out of office I will name my firstborn child after the new Democratic President. I promise here and now.

SOTU (I wish I had something better to do)

I don't think the Democrats are listening anymore. I think someone's passing around a Gameboy with Tetris on it and they're having a tournament.

Every time Dubya smirks, an American loses a job.

This wine isn't working. I need tequila.

Cheney's coughing. Quick! Get the defibrillator!

Is Rangel asleep? Wait, no he's reading something. That or getting a kickass score on Tetris.

"Healthy responsible children." Insert Jenna and Barbara joke here.

Why is he talking about steriods? Why is he tougher on steroids than on terrorism? Tom Brady you should be ashamed of yourself!

Defence of marriage, here we go. Santorum has been waiting for this moment all night.

Is this over yet?

SOTU cont'd (I really need to be more drunk than I am)

Yes we will give the military the resources to fight and die but we will not give you health care when you come home. And those three young service people do not look thrilled to be there. They look like, "Yes we'll clap so long as we're on camera."

Bad move mentioning the Kay Report. Reminds people that you haven't found crap.

Yeah standing ovation for all countries we strongarmed into "helping" us. I'm surprised he didn't mention Micronesia

"Death Tax." I never want to hear those two words again.

Bush always sounds slightly guilty when talking about No Child Left Behind. Not because he knows deep down that it's crap, but because he really doesn't care all that much about literacy having never completely mastered the basics.

SOTU (The Porno Begins)

Lie, lie, lie, lie, lie.

Ted Kennedy just shook his head as if to say, "You lying sack of shit."

Confident and strong to the tune of a 50% approval rate.

Who's child is that? It doesn't count if a two-year-old applauds.

Ashcroft and Rumsfield shouldn't sit next to each other. It creates a vortex of evil that threatens to engulf the whole room.

Nuclear, nuclear, nuclear

"The people of Iraq are free..." and starving, and poor, and terrified, and angry...

Can't Hastert get a better-fitting suit?

"Our forces are on the look..." and our office on the take.

SOTU, The Walk of Shame
Is that Peggy Noonan who keeps touching him?

Yes hug a Black child.

There is more denial in the smirk than at an entire meeting of the Log Cabin Republicans.

SOTU (Pre-lie-fest thoughts)
Anybody think that he'll mention rape rooms?

Cheney shouldn't smile He always looks more dishonest.

I'm going to need more wine.

Okay comments are back. I have no idea what happened, but let's hope they stick around this time.

On The Daily Show last night, Senator Joe Biden said something that to me really illustrated why the Democrats keep losing. He said that a Democrat has never won and will never win on a platform that isn’t one of hope. Today Paul Krugman writes why that is no longer the case.

What makes Mr. Dean seem radical aren't his policy positions but his willingness — shared, we now know, by General Clark — to take a hard line against the Bush administration. This horrifies some veterans of the Clinton years, who have nostalgic memories of elections that were won by emphasizing the positive.
Indeed, George Bush's handlers have already made it clear that they intend to make his "optimism" — as opposed to the negativism of his angry opponents — a campaign theme. (Money-saving suggestion: let's cut directly to the scene where Mr. Bush dresses up as an astronaut, and skip the rest of his expensive, pointless — but optimistic! — Moon-base program.)
But even Bill Clinton couldn't run a successful Clinton-style campaign this year, for several reasons.

One is that the Democratic candidate, no matter how business-friendly, will not be able to get lots of corporate contributions, as Clinton did. In the Clinton era, a Democrat could still raise a lot of money from business, partly because there really are liberal businessmen, partly because donors wanted to hedge their bets. But these days the Republicans control all three branches of government and exercise that control ruthlessly. Even corporate types who have grave misgivings about the Bush administration — a much larger group than you might think — are afraid to give money to Democrats.

If we learned nothing about GOP ruthlessness during the impeachment, we certainly learned it during the 2000 election. But people like Biden are still playing by outdated rules. To be fair Biden also has a personal relationship with John Kerry so he can’t really be unbiased. It would do him well to remember that Kerry initially got a lot of support because he was questioning Bush and his cronies. The anger of Dean, Clark, and their supporters isn’t belligerent or directionless. It’s constructive and empowering. And the fact is acknowledging that anger has given people hope.

Margaret Cho is one class-act ballsy rock star. When faced with rank, small-minded, hate, it takes a hell of a lot of character to come back with this:

If you say to me that I am an ugly, fat whore, God bless you. I love that you are doing what you want with your little, itty, bitty, teeny, tiny life. I embrace you with my fat whore arms, but don't forget, I want my money up front. I am looking at you lovingly with my chinky eyes.

If you actually believe I am stupid, well, surprise! I am even dumber than you will ever know, so take some satisfaction in that, because you really know how to party because you are super smart. You are so smart you think that this blog is about you.

Big surprise

Apparently, "Who ratted us out?" is a more important question than "Who broke the law and potentially put our national security at risk?"

I'll give Josh Marshall the last word on this.

Number of days between Novak column outing Valerie Plame and announcement of investigation: 74 days.

Number of days between O'Neill 60 Minutes interview and announcement of investigation: 1 day.

Having the administration reveal itself as a gaggle of hypocritcal goons ... priceless.

I remember when Paul O'Neill left my mom and I speculated briefly that he might have pretty hurtful info on theBush administration. Apparently he did. Still it's shocking that he's gone public with these documents. If you missed the 60 Minutes segment there's a rundown of what was said here. The interview was conducted rather badly I thought, but there is some pretty damning stuff out there.

Also the book can be pre-ordered at Amazon. It's already number two on the bestseller list.

What's wrong with this picture? (via Pandagon)

Is it just me or has the artist got his Bushes mixed up?

Does anybody else find the whole Condi-Dubya relationship totally creepy? I read this yesterday in the Times yesterday and—well what do you think?

To the Bushes, Ms. Rice, 49, is almost a surrogate daughter, a charming, reassuring and — in private — sardonic presence who can explain Middle East policy in five digestible bites. She is also, like the president's mother and another influential adviser, Karen P. Hughes, a tough-minded woman brimming with self-confidence.

To Ms. Rice, an only child who has never married and whose parents have died, the Bushes are some of the closest friends she has. Just about the only time she spends away from her job, and the Bushes, is on Sunday afternoons, when Ms. Rice, who trained as a concert pianist, returns from Camp David and practices with a chamber music group.

"We are all in one way or another close to the family, but she is especially close to the family because of the time she spends with the president," said Mr. Powell, who was national security adviser to Ronald Reagan. "This is not unusual, but at the same time, a little unusual."

Now I’m not suggesting that anything inappropriate is going on. But isn’t it a little odd that the National Security Adviser of the United States spends an inordinate amount of time prepping, cajoling, and explaining things to the President? Maybe this is why she can’t seem to get a handle on her job.

In Washington, Ms. Rice has faced increasing criticism that while she has done a good job as the president's friend and cheerleader, she has done a bad job of managing the president's frequently warring foreign policy team.

Her inability to rein in other powerful advisers, critics say, has helped lead to little planning for the occupation in Baghdad, stalled negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, and no success in stopping North Korea from making nuclear weapons.

Jenna? Barbara? I I feel your pain. I see myself as a victim of your daddy's job too.