I'm a bit behind the news cycle on this, but what struck me in watching McCain's ">performance in Pennsylvania (as he stumbled all over himself trying to tar Obama by association with John Murtha's "racist" comments) was not so much his Bush-like dyslogia as the moment before. He described Murtha's comments and then paused, with that odd and uncomfortable-looking smile frozen on his face, to soak in the crowd's reaction. And what he got was precisely what his campaign has been aiming for - a chorus of loud and angry jeers, that went on for a disturbingly long time. That to me will be the signature image of McCain 2008: stoking the fires of division and basking in their angry glow ….

A jury of his peers?

Interesting jury for the Ted Trial ... a bit more professional, educated, and law-enforcementish than usual or expected.

Regardless, this is a tough row to hoe for the feds. Ted's got an army of lawyers ready to bring a sh!%storm of motions, and making the feds' top witness - Bill Allen: admitted felon, stroke victim, underage-girl admirer - look bad shouldn't be too much of a stretch. I still predict an acquittal with a Ted victory in November ...

It's Ted Time!

These scandal investigations may end up amounting to something, but the polls showing Ted with low approval ratings? Just so much chin music, I think.

Of course, it has long been an open secret that Senator Ted's fingers are in many tills. The LA Times did some fine reporting a while back on Ted's remarkably lucrative investing relationship with Anchorage property don Jon Rubini of JL Properties and his remarkably lucrative mutual backscratching with lawyer/lobbyist Bill Bittner of Birch, Horton, Bittner & Cherot. Richard Mauer of the Anchorage Daily News also did some good digging into Ted's paternal generosity toward his son Ben (our own George W. Bush), related to Ben's "work" for various fishing concerns (recall that Ted arranged for a lucrative pollack quota to be assigned to a Native Corp. subsidiary that had Li'l Hulk on its board, who then arranged for the quota to be assigned to a company for which he held an ownership option).

This is just the stuff that broke in the last couple of years of a long and highly remunerative Senate career, and does not even involve Veco or Holland America (he arranged a multi-million dollar intermodal transport facility for them a few years back using federal dollars - it's so nice that the local high schoolers rent it out for proms).

People know about this.

People don't care.

See, Ted shares the wealth. Losing him from the Senate will be like losing the oil or tourism industries - he brings hundreds of millions into the Alaska economy each year. Sen. Lisa (R. Who'syerdaddy) held her own in the face of Gov. Dorkowski's (R. "Duh") massive unpopularity and gross nepotism, all because Senator Ted took over.

In short, Ted Stevens will be dragged out of office in a box or in handcuffs (though maybe he will resign if his health takes a turn for the worse). He will never - repeat NEVER - be voted out.

Don Young, though ... now there's an intriguing thought ....

... it was a long time coming ...

After a long, melancholy hiatus, I's back doing this stuff again.

... and glad about it, too

Whew!!

Ah, all that fretting, useless in any event, was groundless as well. Praise be, and all that.

But poor ol' Mr. Frost doesn't have to go home empty-handed. His groundless, muddle-headed anti-tax demagoguery at least helped to kill several significant bond issues. I'm sure he'll sleep better at night knowing that he is in large part responsible for ensuring that our kids remain in sub-standard school facilities, that our parks remain ill-kept, and that our public safety systems remain state of the art, circa 1980. Heckuva job, Frostie!

The Fear

So I cast my ballot today ... and I did so with mounting fear. Fear that the good voters of our fair city may well just be stupid enough to select a vapid sloganeer with no ideas and no clue over an incumbent who has proven he can manage the city in a way that is frugal, focused, and effective.

Then again, this has been proven before.

And if we find ourselves dealing with the inevitable incompetence and croneyism of a Frost administration, I will mostly be wondering what the heck happened to the Begich Campaign over the last several weeks. Why do I hear and see 4 Frost ads to every 1 Begich ad? Why is Begich only answering specific (and demonstrably false) charges with slogans ("we're headed in the right direction!")?

... the Fear ...

The Straw Man

Perhaps the worst thing ... er, scratch that

One of the many awful legacies of the disastrous, failed presidency of GW Bush is his undermining of the potential for moral considerations to play a significant role in US foreign policy. His many apologists (hypocritically) and the bumptiously macho Tom Friedman type rubes who went along with them (moronically) asserted the "Saddam's a bad guy" argument for invading Iraq. Now they assert the asinine "would you rather have Saddam" defense against those who point out the ongoing disaster that the Bushies have made Iraq.

Not to put too fine a point on it, but that is utter bs.

First off, Saddam Hussein is, clearly and unequivocally, evil. There is no other word for a man who looks to Stalin for inspiration on how to run a country. And of course, he certainly wanted WMDs (though he did not have them), and was potentially (though not actually) a danger. All conceded.

None of this, however, answers the question of whether the world (and the Iraqis) are better off now.

Fact is, the right and responsible answer is the one Gerorgie's dad came up with years ago: Better to have a contained and impotent Saddam (which we unequivocally had) than a chaotic, anarchic breeding ground for anti-americanism and terrorism (which we unequivocally have). Granted, what we have wasn't the inevitable result of an invasion. It was, however, the inevitable result of an invasion run by our present gang of irresponsible incompetents.

And by f---ing up so massively, they have probably erased the lesson of Bosnia and Rwanda - that sometimes it is right, necessary, and constructive to confront the bad guys militarily.

... and the world will be paying the price for a long time.