Deathwatch

I've removed the HIllary Clinton Campaign Deathwatch widget from the site.

This is because I disagree strongly with any assessment that has her chances above 0%, and because it's essentially run its course-no reason to salt the wound.

Strange music of the day

This is a surprisingly catchy remix of the Bill O'Reilly freakout that's been making the rounds (and my day). I would actually dance to this. Perhaps that's one of the reasons nobody has ever asked me to DJ at their dance club.

NOTE: This is not safe for work. It contains many iterations of the naughty "F" word. Consider yourself warned. And rocked.

The marriage opinion

I'm just as happy as I could possibly be that the Supreme Court of California ruled in favor of equal marriage rights for same-sex couples.

I'm reading through the lengthy opinion and I may have more to say about it later, but for now, one big thing stands out: The Court consistently refers to marriage itself as establishing a family.

Too often, as a result of the social conservatives' influence on our discourse about family issues, we talk about "family" in terms of parents and children. Families are undoubtedly about parents and children, but they are not only about parents and children.

Talking as though they are has allowed the opponents of marriage equality to claim that their opposition has something to do with the inability of same sex couples to procreate. It's a clever argument, but it's wrong and it's a ruse. But the ruse is a clever one because it allows the debate to proceed on grounds that don't call into question the religious motivation of marriage equality opponents.

Being upfront about the fact that they are motivated by religious doctrines (even widely believed religious doctrines) would open social conservatives up to the legitimate counterargument that they are advocating theocracy. Of course they don't want to argue on those grounds because they will lose. I do recognize that some are quite up front about their theocratic preferences and that the old "America is a Christian nation" argument is just a thinly veiled argument for theocracy. But those that are up front about it are marginal figures and the "America is a Christian nation" crowd at least has to dress their theocracy pig in a historical prom dress before dragging its stinky ass into the living room. That shows, if not shame, at least some awareness of the fact that a blunt appeal for theocracy won't work.

But the California Supreme Court, by referring to married, childless couples as families has helped to shut that nonsense up. And I couldn't be happier. The same sex couples I know are no less worthy than my wife and I of the joys, obligations, protections, and pains in the ass a marriage brings. And for that matter, my wife and I are no more or less a family than anybody walking by with their kid in a stroller.

This just in!

President George W. Bush is an a-hole who says foolish, damaging things at inappropriate times!

Stop the presses!

Yeesh, talk about your "dog bites man" stories...

(Also: Joe Lieberman's with W on this one. That's about as surprising as the sun rising in the east.)

Strange Music of the Day

If Ennio Morricone was skydiving and his parachute failed, causing him to land at terminal velocity on the roof of a jeepney carrying Deicide, which then rolled off the road and down a hill, crashing on top of a gamelan troupe on psychedelic mushrooms, Secret Chiefs 3 would result.

Actually, a bloody and noisy catastrophe would result. But if a metaphorical Ennio Morricone was skydiving...

Not to pile on, but...

From Senator Clinton's speech last night:

Thank you, Indiana. Thank you. Not too long ago, my opponent made a prediction. He said I would probably win Pennsylvania. He would win North Carolina, and Indiana would be the tie-breaker. Well, tonight we've come from behind, we’ve broken the tie, and thanks to you, it's full speed on to the White House.

The shorter version? "Joementum!"

Thought for today

From Al Giordano at the Field:

In the coming weeks, Obama will pick up a few more states, and he will lose a few, too (nothing is more annoying these days than the Chicken Little proclamations by some Obama supporters that the sky will fall if he loses, say, Indiana: that has zero basis in reality; the sun will still come up the following day, and he’ll be even closer to the nomination in delegate math). But the overriding dynamic is already bigger than can be affected by the momentum coming out of a particular state, and the movement continues toward Obama.

I share Al's irritation with the "chicken littles." It's about delegate math, and Pennsylvania, while not a win, actually put Obama closer to the nomination by taking the largest remaining pile of delegates and votes off of the table without a huge blowout for Clinton.

Indiana, however it comes out, will likely be the same. Then the next biggest state. Then the next. It's a long, drawn out process, but that's how it works and by not conceding a bunch of states, Obama set himself up to win it. It looks like that plan is working.