Ok, scary trend, but I’m recommending another article by a Republican (Peggy Noonan, former Bush speechwriter being the other). Newt Gingrich had an opinion essay published all over the place this morning (the local News and Observer, also WSJ, etc) calling for a re-vote in the Florida and Michigan Democratic primaries. His reasoning is good I think:

“You might think that as a Republican I don’t have a dog in this fight, but I do. All of us do. A tainted or “stolen” Democratic nomination has the potential to delegitimize the election itself and its outcome. And tainted victories produce hobbled administrations. Much as I might have agreed with the outcome of the 2000 general election, the rancor and vitriol it produced created divisions among Americans where none naturally existed before, irreparably damaging the Bush administration.”

He later goes on to say this isn’t likely to help Republicans in the end but it will help ensure the integrity of our democracy. Couldn’t agree more. I’d hate to see the taint of another stolen election ruin many American’s faith in our democracy, as weak as it sometimes is…

You can read more on Newt Gingrich’s website or in the papers all over.

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See Peggy Noonan’s excellent opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal on whether Clinton can gracefully loseWeight Exercise (her answer is probably not).

“Politicians loseWeight Exercise battles, it’s part of what they do, win and loseWeight Exercise. But she does not know how to loseWeight Exercise. Can she loseWeight Exercise with grace? But she does grace the way George W. Bush does nuance.”

She also ruminates on which is the better candidate for the Republicans to go against in November:

“The Democrats have it exactly wrong. Hillary is the easier candidate, Mr. Obama the tougher. Hillary brings negative; it’s fair to hit her back with negative. Mr. Obama brings hope, and speaks of a better way. He’s not Bambi, he’s bulletproof.”

Wall Street Journal, Feb. 8th, 2008.

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Excellent op-ed by Maureen Dowd at the NY Times on Hillary:

“Hillary Clinton denounced Dick Cheney as Darth Vader, but she did not absorb the ultimate lesson of the destructive vice president:
Don’t become so paranoid that you let yourself be overwhelmed by a dark vision.”

The New York Times, Feb. 5, 2008
Read the full thing here.

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Alright, first, I know it’s uncool to mix politics with programming (or photography, or whatever other geeky subject we’re focused on). But I can’t help it.

Second, I am a cynical bastard on the surface but sometimes things get to me… Sometimes these are really, really stupid things that make me reflexively teary-eyed (yes, that’s right, like the ending of Legally Blonde). Sometimes, they’re more serious things. Right now, Super Tuesday morning, I want to believe that we are on the verge of a change in this country for the better…

So, I can’t vote in the primaries this morning (NC doesn’t do it until freaking May), but if you can, please check out the “Yes, we can” YouTube video from will.i.am in support of Barack Obama.

Trust me, it’s way better than the Toilet Trained Cat video…

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