So, I was just watching a bit of "Obama Visits Republican-land", and I've just got to say that I'd give whatever you'd like to have a leader just half as smart for Canada. We're stuck with a guy who makes the average Republican look like...well...Obama. And, given that the Republicans who stepped up to the plate at this dinner had all the intellectual power of the undoubtedly overcooked chicken on their plates, that's saying something.

It strikes me that America's got something amazing sitting there in Washington. Obama seems to be a guy who's willing to gamble his second term on actually getting good things done for the citizens of America, and bringing civilisation back into American politics. I'm really hoping America will sit up and take notice. After eight years of Reagan's nitwittery, eight years of something unrecognisable as intellectually defensible policies during the Bush administration, not to mention the hell of Rove-ian "politics", America's finally got a guy in power who doesn't care about getting re-hired. He cares about governing. About being responsible to the citizens of his country. About trying to fix the things that are broken, and enhance the things that work. Get behind him, people!

Yep, accidental relevance strikes again. There seems to be a certain amount of rot at the root of the Obama administration. "Indefinite confinement"?!? That's "indefinite confinement" without the actual commission of a crime, without formal charges, without trial, without, um, well, anything, really. And, if you happen to be the "confinee"? Feel you've been wrongly incarcerated? Bummer, man.

Now, normally, as a person convicted wrongly of a crime (or, at least, you feel you've been wrongly convicted), you could appeal your conviction. You could, for example, ask for DNA testing to be done in cases in which that sort of evidence might be relevant. You could, alternatively, claim that your trial was unfair - prejudiced jury, or judge, or suppression of evidence by the prosectution, etc. Or you could claim that you had an inept defence attorney. All sorts of things are grounds for appeal for a wrongful conviction. Of course, if there's never been a trial, let alone a conviction, let alone an actual crime....well, you are, as the saying goes, royally fucked.

Now, some folks might be willing to give Bary (or is that "Bury"?) a break on this 'cause he's so obviously such a good guy. Big mistake, of course. Because, once Bary gets away with it, even if he only wields such awesome power for the good, he will have established this power for his successors. Are you in any way confident that they, too, will wield it only for the good? Are you totally fucking retarded?!? Did you miss Nixon? Did you miss Bush/Cheney?

The power Bary is seeking essentially allows him to lock up anyone he wants. Or, to be more accurate, will allow the President (whoever he/she might ultimately be) to lock up anyone he/she wants. Anyone. Just in case you missed that - ANYONE. So, who do you think John Boehner would lock up? Newt Gingrich? Rush Limbaugh?

I'm really hoping Americans are inundating Bary with emails, actual letters, phone calls...whatever, indicating their extreme displeasure with this turn of events. What he is proposing is very, very bad.

Another accidentally appropriate shot. Obama - turning on the Tap o' Truth. Orrrrrr.......maybe not. Dan Choi - "I'm gay". Obama - "You're fired. Yes, I know I said that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was bullshit, but, well, that was, ummmmm....bullshit."

Or, "I'm gonna close down Guantanamo and try those poor suckers in real, actual courts of law," "Kidding!"

"Torture. I hate it and I'm going to get to the bottom of it and tell the American people about it." Orrrrr, "What? Sorry, what? I, I can't hear you. No. Did I say that? No, I don't think so."

I'm getting depressed, frankly.

One of the Big Things Obama might just get accomplished during his Presidency is universal healthcare. America would be the last country in the developed world to have it. To that end, this is a good thing to read.

If you're one of the folks from America who reads this little blog, when "that day" comes, to borrow from Spike Lee, do the right thing.

O.K., this isn't likely to be pretty. K & S? Turn away. S? Same. Anybody else of a halfway intelligent, liberal bent in America, listen the fuck up (does that give you a clue?).

I was reading Maureen Dowd's column earlier today and you people are beginning to scare me. Badly. You're pissed off 'cause Hillary lost?!? And you might vote for McBush, or not vote at all?!? 'Cause you're peeved?!? 'Cause you're peeved?!? 'Cause poor Hilly lost? Get a grip! No, sorry, make that get a fucking grip! In fact, make that get a fucking grip you self-centred, pitiful moron. She lost because she made mistakes. She was the first to start attacking instead of proposing intelligent ideas. She called Obama an elitist when what he actually said was, to anyone with the wit to read someone's words, obviously not. She voted for the current debacle in Iraq, not Obama. She had no plan for ending it. She, to put it succinctly, fucked up. And I started out as a Hillary supporter, let me tell you.

That anyone, at this juncture in U.S. history, could actually be paying attention to a candidate's skin colour (genetic tan vs. too much time in the sun - something for the truly stupid to consider), weight (you have to be kidding!), or gender (the notion that anyone worries about that is physically painful - Margaret Thatcher? Golda Meir? Need I say more? Really?), in short, anything other than intellect and ethics is stunning. If you care more about how skinny your President is than whether he or she is going to try to make your lives better, and bring honour (I know - a foreign concept to many Americans) back to your country, please, please, please, stay home in November, because you've obviously got the I.Q. of a small soil invertebrate (damn - was that an elitist comment?).

And I won't even start on how incredibly moronic the American fascination with a person's "faith" is. Christian? Which version? Catholic? Baptist (Southern? Northern?), Mormon?, Episcopalian? Not to mention Jew? Muslim? Hindu? Sikh? Buddhist? (I know, I know - most of you don't even consider the notion that there might be more than one religion. It's far too confusing). Of course, atheist is simply inconceivable.

I warned you it wouldn't be pretty. But, really, there's only so much a person can take. Entertaining as America is to the rest of the world (Comedy Central has nothing on the reality of America), really, I've got friends there whose lives I would really like to see made better. No one should be embarrassed by their place of birth. America had a lot going for it, and could again. Put your brain in gear and vote for Obama. Will that work? Who knows? But you're totally fucked if you let the election go to McBush. That's guaranteed.

Who'd'a thunk that my friends regard me as someone with a subtle sense of humour?

Man, I'm not sure I'm a fan of being prescient, but, what did I say yesterday? That it wouldn't surprise me if Obama suddenly seemed less than eager to end the war in Iraq? And... Funnily enough, on this point I'm in agreement with him. The first place I ever saw a sign saying, "If you break it, you've bought it", was in a store in the States. Well, kids, you broke it and you've darn well bought it. You let Dumbya stampede you into a stupid (and, just for emphasis, let me repeat that - STUPID) war and now you're stuck with the moral obligation to re-stabilize what was once a stable (albeit corrupt, dictatorial) country. Yep. You can't go blowing a country to smithereens just because the corrupt dictator you put in power in the first place is no longer cooperative. America (and, therefore, Americans) owe it to the people of Iraq to stay there until the country is safe again. Will that happen anytime soon? Not on your life. Does that mean more Americans will die there? You betcha. Is that the Iraqis' fault? Not really. America fucked up (thanks to the Meatball-in-Chief and his henchmen) big time. And America is morally obligated to put things right. Sad, but true.

These women finished in first and second place, as you see them, in the Category 4 women's bicycle race Tuesday. This is relatively early in the race. By the time it was over, the woman in front was pretty much a lap ahead of her pursuer. Which means she had also totally annihilated the rest of the field (what was left of it after the first lap crash, that is). Just a tad fit.

But, how depressing for the woman in second place. She had hopes, right? (Can you hear it coming?) Absolutely. Just like we all did for Obama. And, just like Ms. Second-place, those hopes have been pretty much dashed. Let's see - Bush: favours death penalty. Barack? Favours death penalty. Bush - favours increasing involvement of religion in government. Barack? Favours increasing involvement of religion in government (memo to Bary: a Founding Principle of democracy - separation of church and state. In case you'd forgotten). Bush - favours wire-tapping Americans' phones. Barack? Favours wire-tapping Americans' phones. I swear, if there's a story in the news tomorrow that says that Bary's decided the Iraq war is O.K. by him, I won't be surprised. Talk about a neck-snapping total turn-around!

I've filed this photo under the title "lap 1, turn 1". Yep, titling serendipity has struck again, folks. Obama's surely only on lap one and already he's crashed. First he comes out in favour of capital punishment, now he's come out in favour of expanding the role of religion in government. Well, sure, why not? It's worked so well in Iran, Iraq, and Israel. And, hey - Georgie likes it, right? I mean, he started it after all. So, why not replace Dumb George with Baffling Bary?

Is it too late to put in a call to Hillary? "Kidding! Hills! Babe! We were kidding. You're the nominee - honest!"

Oh, and, just in case you give some thought to sending Bary an email expressing your concerns on these matters, don't bother. I sent him one (remember?) regarding capital punishment and all it's gotten me is a pile of spampaign ads asking me to send Bary money. And, yes, I did mention in my email that I'm Canadian and therefore ineligible to vote in the U.S.

Which reminds me - Happy Canada Day, my fellow Canuckleheads!

One thing you've got to give the U.S. Supreme Court, at least four of them are damn consistent. Call them "The Four Cretins of the Apocalypse": Sam Alito, Big Tony
Scalia, Cloddish Clarence Thomas and Jumpin' Johnny Roberts - you can count on them to vote for Big Money, Death and Planetary Pillaging. They love that stuff!

Yes, raping a child (or, let's face it, anyone) is heinous, reprehensible, despicable, etc. Does it merit state-sanctioned murder? Isn't murder illegal? Or is it only illegal when someone does it without the court's permission? I always get confused on this. Can Johnny Roberts bless my murdering someone and make it O.K.?

Sadly, Bary seems to be on the side of the "Kill the Bastards!" faction. Well, that'd kill my vote right away. You're in favour of state sanctioned murder, Bary? O.K. And my vote goes to........nobody, I guess (sure as hell couldn't vote for McBush). Lucky thing I'm Canadian, eh? I guess I'll have to keep my fingers crossed that actually eligible-to-vote Americans will point out to Bary that most of the civilized world regards capital punishment as morally repugnant. I've sent my email. How 'bout you?

Evidently, the Supremes can make environmental destruction on a massive scale O.K. "The skipper's a booze-hound? Come on, give the guy a break! It's a big job running a big ship. A guy's gotta have an outlet, right?" Evidently, 5 Supremes (the usual suspects plus David Souter on a bad day) certainly seem to agree.

I gather Hillary gave a rousing speech today, urging her backers to now get behind Barack. Good for her. Now we just have to keep our fingers crossed and hope that those disappointed millions do, in fact, get behind their party's choice. Hills and Bary were never going to be more than the party's representative in the upcoming race. It's a win for the Democratic Party that counts, not a win for Hills or Bary. So, listen to the woman, O.K.?

And more good news - Al Franken will be the Democrat's candidate for senator from Minnesota. Go, Al, go!

So, is Bary going to open the door to the vice-presidency for Hills? Wouldn't you love to be able to listen in on those discussions? Eeyikes. She pretty much tried to kill him during the campaign. And, she showed herself to be, um, less than, oh - ethical? - calling him "elitist" over remarks that, if anyone actually read them, were clearly not. And accusing Democrats who favoured Bary of doing so out of sexism (Hint to Hills - don't call the people you're trying to get to support you stupid.). On the other hand, half the Democrats in the States wanted her as their candidate. Picking her for VP would pretty much force those folks to vote for Bary. Kind of a conundrum, isn't it?

On the other hand, voting for McBush has just gotten harder, even for die-hard Republicans, I would think. After all, aren't these the people who hate government "interference" in any form? Are they really going to be enthused about a candidate who's keen on tapping their phones?

By the way, all credit to Maureen Dowd for the "McBush" moniker.

On the "bad news" front, looks like I'm going to have to close my secret Swiss bank account. Can't wait to see how this one plays out.

Last, but not least (at least, not if you're a photographer), there's this little item. Now, get out there and get snapping! If you don't, the terrorists will have won!

In my files, this picture is labelled, "Waiting". Which, as far as the Democrat's nomination for presidential candidate is concerned, is, mercifully, finally over. Now, all you possibly bitter Hillary supporters? Get over it! Do you really want John McBush running your country for the next four years? Have you seen the type of neo-Nazi christian cretin they want to run as VP?!? Get Bary into the White House, now! Please! Your neighbours are begging you. Hillary's young enough to try again later.

Beginning on the "Good News" front, for those of us who are of advanced chronological status, there's this story. To which all I can say is, phew!

And, of course, there's always the age-old question, "Why do they never, ever learn?" Why do politicians insist on kissing up to the religious right? These are the dumbest of the dumb, the world champions of hypocrisy, and yet politicians (O.K., it's mainly an American phenomenon, but that's only because, for whatever reason, America has more religious loonies per square mile than any other country outside of Iran) keep trying to please them. And then the politician acts all surprised when the raving lunatic whose endorsement he or she was trying to get turns out to be...well.....a raving lunatic. Wow! Who'd'a thunk?

Lastly, on the "Let's Keep the Dream Alive" front, Bill seems to be thinking Bary might pick Hilly as his running mate. Well, maybe. But I wouldn't go puttin' a whole lot of money on the idea. Bary, so far, seems to actually have some class (you have no idea how big a concession that is for me to make regarding a politician). Hilly, on the other hand, has shown herself to be rather severely lacking in that quality. Me? I'd love it if he'd pick Al Franken. Which, I suppose, might be complicated by the fact that Mr. Franken is running for the Senate. Well, whichever - he's a smart, good guy. People in Minnesota ought to vote for him next fall.

Hillary! Quit it! Give up, already! It's got nothing to do with sexism or racism. People just like Bary better than you. Get over it. When you lost the first few times, it was because Barack was "black". Now, in a change of story, it's because you're female. Trust me - this sort of continuing stupidity is what's cost you the nomination. Nobody cares anymore about that kind of thing. Nobody under 40, anyway. Nobody under 40 with an I.Q. higher than that of the average small soil invertebrate. And, to tell you the truth, nobody of any age or race who's got at least the brains of a goose cares. In other words, the only people worrying about whether a woman or a man, a white person or a black person, wins the Democratic nomination are Republicans.

By accident, this is sort of a photograph for Hillary Clinton. The sign by the door on the left is the entrance to "The Crying Room", and Hilly ought to just - for the love of god! - give it up, and go have a good cry. The Democrats need to win in November and the sooner they can focus on that instead of flogging the dead horse of the Clinton campaign into the ground, the better their chances will be. So, Hilly, what's it gonna be - you and Bary fighting tooth and nail into, what?, October, thereby sinking the hopes of not just the Democrats but those of a lot of us out here in the rest of the world, or will you stop this nonsense, get behind Bary, and send the Republicans packing off into the hinterlands where they belong?

I'm telling you, serendipity's a magical thing. Like I was saying yesterday, by the time I get to this blog, I've posted the same picture elsewhere, with no thought (usually) given to what I might write here. And, frankly, until about a second and a half ago, I had no idea that this picture might have a connection to what I'd been planning to remark on today. So....

""Mr. Obama's account of his younger self and drugs significantly differs from the recollections of others who do not recall his drug use."
-- New York Times, Feb 10, 2008"

If this isn't a sign that things have changed, I don't know what is. Barack seems to be trying to claim that he did, he did too use drugs when he was young! His old friends are all going, "Barack? Drugs? Naw - no way, man!", which, during each and every presidential election since the sixties is exactly what any candidate would have wanted their old friends to say. Life's just getting too weird.

The tie-in? The view in the picture is one my highschool pals, Bob and Wayne, and I often looked out over (albeit in the middle of the night) from the "Mountain" in Hamilton while wrecked on acid. We did, we did use drugs in our youth!