Guilt by association...

Powerline (which can do much better than this) quotes at length one of Sen. McCain's top foreign policy advisers, one former CIA Director James Woolsey, on the supposed wrongheadedness of Sen. Obama's intention to return to a more law enforcement-centric method of combating terrorism. That the conservative blog favours McCain's position over Obama's ought to surprise nobody (the merits of both are certainly debatable, and there are plenty of 'experts' supporting each side) but Woolsey appears to be an extraordinarily disreputable source. He was on television the day after Sept. 11 suggesting Iraqi sponsorship of the attacks, and suggested in 2006 that the United States ought to unilaterally bomb Syria.

It ought to also come as no surprise that the Project for the New American Century member may also be a merchant of death, simultaneously supporting the invasion of Iraq (in fact serving on the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq) while also profiting from its prosecution.

Here is Rightweb on Woolsey and his connections: "Former CIA Director James Woolsey is a principal in the Paladin Capital Group, a venture-capital firm that, like [Richard] Perle's Trireme Partners, is soliciting investment for homeland security firms. Woolsey joined consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton as vice president in July 2002. The company had contracts worth more than $680 million in 2002. Woolsey told the Wall Street Journal that he does no lobbying and that none of the companies he has ties to have been discussed during a Defense Policy Board meeting."

If the guilt-by-association standard is to be applied throughout this election - which I generally don't support - let it be done fairly, to both candidates.

Super-Earths discovered in Doradus and Pictor

And the roll call of extrasolar planets grows rather splendidly:

"European researchers said on Monday they discovered a batch of three "super-Earths" orbiting a nearby star, and two other solar systems with small planets as well.

They said their findings, presented at a conference in France, suggest that Earth-like planets may be very common."

Ezra Klein, on the self-perpetuating cycle of discrimination

If anyone can think of a politically acceptable way to solve this, I may write in your name for president.

"The passive workplace discrimination and the passive shifting of personal responsibilities sadly work to reinforce each other. Guys in the workplace don't see why women can't do what they did, and guys at home justify their reduced housework by pointing to their demanding jobs. Conversely, women have more housework and childcare responsibilities, and thus less time to devote to the workplace and less of the scheduling flexibility that's currently required for advancement. So men advance professionally, and justify their personal habits on those grounds, and women pick up the slack, and thus don't advance as far professionally."

Alterman, on the Guantanamo decision

Dr. Alterman 1, Wall Street Journal editorial board 0:

"It is their considered judgment, goes their reasoning insofar as it is intelligible to yours truly, that by insisting on the right to trial, habeas corpus, etc., the justices are treating the Constitution as if it were a suicide pact. And in fact, by allowing these people who have been held now for six or so years without charges the right to trial, the United States is, in fact, committing suicide.

That strikes me as a testable proposition."

Honda rolls out zero-emissions FCX Clarity

About as awesome as it gets. Maybe there's hope after all.

Al Franken wins DFL endorsement and is taken more seriously

Via The Economist --

"AN IMPLAUSIBLE politician has just become somewhat less so. On June 7th Al Franken, a former comedian on “Saturday Night Live”, radio commentator and author of books such as “Lies and the Lying Liars who Tell Them: a Fair and Balanced Look at the Right”, won the endorsement of Minnesota's Democratic-Farmer-Labour party (DFL) for the post of senator. "

I think he's going to win. I hope so, if only for the justice served of him taking over the seat of his late friend Paul Wellstone.

The undeserved 'Maverick' reputation

So much has been written recently about how undeserved is Sen. McCain's reputation as an anti-partisan Maverick that it almost seems like beating a dead dog at this point. Indeed he is not conservative enough for the talk-radio circuit (although one wonders if anybody short of G. Gordon Liddy could be).

Here, though, is Factcheck (via Congressional Quarterly) with the actual numbers on 'Maverick-ism' or the lack thereof: McCain voted with the president's position 95 percent of the time in 2007, and in no year has voted with the president's position less than 77 percent of the time, as in 2005.

Sen. Obama voted with the president's position 40 percent of the time last year, and Sen. Reid of Nevada did so 39 percent of the time. Obama voted with the Democrats 97 percent of the time in 2007.

The Conventional Wisdom on the VP choice

The conventional wisdom of a brief poll of international bloggers seems to be that Sen. Obama will choose Sen. Clinton. Here is the Australian John Quiggin:

"My record tipping elections is not great, though I called the 2007 election for Labor ahead of most pundits. It remains to be seen whether I’ll get even a passing grade on my prediction, in January, of a relatively narrow win for an Obama-Clinton ticket over McCain-Lieberman for the Republicans. I’ve got the nominees right, and Hillary for VP seems like a no-brainer."

A Canadian Perspective on Obama's VP choice

The blogger Warren Kinsella:

"But she and Bill will be an even bigger handful if they are outside the tent. And the two of them give Obama - an Ivy League Yankee liberal - some much-needed Southland blue Democrat DNA. And her baggage is old news (whilst Obama's is still newsworthy, and is about to be wheeled out to the National Enquirer and Fox News, within days, just wait).

This insane war in Iraq needs to end, and the U.S. economy needs to get back to what it had been under Bill. America needs some hope again."

Iraq looks better, but is nowhere near secure

Via The Economist:

"THOUGH still lacerated by the tragedy of the past five years, Iraq is at last getting better all round. The violence, albeit still ferocious in parts of the country, has subsided dramatically. The American military “surge” that began a year ago has worked better than even the optimists had hoped, helped by ceasefires with Shia militias, by accords with Sunni tribal leaders and by the fact that sectarian cleansing in many areas is sadly complete."

Hilarious

From the woman who also believes that the New Deal was a bad idea and that Joe McCarthy was a great American hero:

"I generally don't write columns about the manifestly obvious, but, yes, the man responsible [For the record: Ms. Coulter is talking about President Bush] for keeping Americans safe from another terrorist attack on American soil for nearly seven years now will go down in history as one of America's greatest presidents."

Here is a survey of hundreds of professional historians (as opposed to professional bloviators, like Ms. Coulter) who disagree:

"Asked to rank the presidency of George W. Bush in comparison to those of the other 41 American presidents, more than 61 percent of the historians concluded that the current presidency is the worst in the nation’s history. Another 35 percent of the historians surveyed rated the Bush presidency in the 31st to 41st category, while only four of the 109 respondents ranked the current presidency as even among the top two-thirds of American administrations."

Timothy John Russert jr.

I don't have much to add regarding the sudden death of the excellent journalist Tim Russert, except that his exceptional interviewing talents will be remembered by friend and foe. My first impulse when something like this happens - an apparently healthy person is just here one day, gone the next - is to really start appreciating the lives of myself and those around me. You never know - you could wake up one day at a surprise party in your honor on Alpha Centauri. And then that feeling of appreciation fades and I once again become one of the tightly wound fools that gets REALLY ANGRY when somebody cuts me off in traffic or the cat pees on one of my shirts.

Life is too short, you know? As the great Warren Zevon put it, enjoy every sandwich.

We ought to resist furiously those who would sully the memories of deceased political enemies, even if those sullyers happen to be political allies. Like any of us, he had dreams, joys, hopes, insecurities, fears, loves, loved ones, hobbies and faults. In short, he was a decent human being. The troglodytes leaving snotty comments on blogs ought to be put well and truly in their places.

Obama's international stature

It's safe to say that the Senator is more popular overseas than at home. Columnists all over the world, like Dr. Sylvester Odion-Akhaine (writing in The Guardian, printed in Lagos), are hanging an awful lot of symbolism on Sen. Obama's candidacy.

"It will applaud the Statue of Liberty and underline U.S. as the bastion of freedom and racial equality despite its abiding contradictions. This is the meaning of Obama's victory. It is left for Americans to choose between 'fear and faith' on one hand and freedom and equality on the other."

There are those, such as Instapundit, who believe that Sen. Obama's international popularity is somehow a sign that he should be unpopular at home. If I live to be a thousand I don't think I will understand that logic.

UPDATE - The link to the Nigerian's column is dead for some reason. I admit I'm something of a neophyte at this. If interested, just google his name along with 'the meaning of Obama's victory' and I'm sure the full story will come up.

A catalyst for change

From The Economist, which correctly points out that high oil prices can have an upside --

"Right now motorists have no substitute for oil. But it is no coincidence that car companies are suddenly accelerating their plans to sell electric hybrids that are far cheaper to run than petrol or diesel cars at these prices. The first two oil shocks banished oil from power generation. How fitting if the third finished the job and began to free transport from oil's century-long monopoly."

I'm dubious about windfall profits taxes

And so is Powerline. Here is John Hinderaker's excellent post on the Senate's blocking cloture vote of the WPT. Sens. Obama, Clinton and McCain were all absent.

"Our oil companies control tiny amounts of petroleum (relative to the world's big players) because they are shackled by Congress, which prohibits them by law from accessing America's abundant petroleum reserves. If you want gasoline prices to come down, write, call and email your Congressman and Senators and tell them to allow the oil companies to do what only they can do: bring us more oil."