I was reading the news tonight and one thing really stood out to me, thought should share a graph I made 

make of this what you choose, but I think one thing is very clear and it starts with a D.

Bush Veto a Blow to "Wounded Warriors"
By Maya Schenwar and Matt Renner
t r u t h o u t | Report

Thursday 03 January 2008

The Bush administration's veto of a broad-ranging defense policy bill Monday night will delay a long list of benefits for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Bush did not veto the Defense Authorization Bill of 2008 outright, according to White House spokesman Scott Stanzel. Instead, he used a maneuver called a "pocket veto." Essentially, a pocket veto is a way to kill a piece of legislation while Congress is adjourned. In allowing a bill to expire by refusing to sign or veto it, a president can effectively force Congress to restart its legislative work from the beginning.

House and Senate leaders contend that this attempted pocket veto is illegitimate and that they will act as if Bush had issued a standard veto. According to spokesmen for Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader of the Senate Harry Reid, Congress was not out of session, because the Senate was in "Pro Forma" session and the House had left specific instructions for communications with the executive branch. They plan to hold a veto override vote when the House and Senate convene later this month. This disagreement is key because a pocket veto could delay the bill for much longer than a traditional veto. The bill had overwhelming bipartisan support, and a traditional veto could be overridden quickly.

...[link above to the rest]

On Tuesday, Dec 25th, I called the Radio 8 Ball again with the house full of family: Grampa Dave, Grama Julie, Oma Barbara, Bibi Betsy, Uncle Nick, Trish, Orion, and Jusby. I asked for a song that would have some significance for everyone in the house.

I Wanna Be Your Lover

Lyrics by Bob Dylan

Performed by Yo La Tengo

on the Soundtrack of "I'm Not There: suppositions on a film concerning Dylan"

Well, the rainman comes with his magic wand
And the judge says, "Mona can't have no bond."
And the walls collide, Mona cries,
And the rainman leaves in the wolfman's disguise.

I wanna be your lover, baby, I wanna be your man.
I wanna be your lover, baby,
I don't wanna be hers, I wanna be yours.

Well, the undertaker in his midnight suit
Says to the masked man, "Ain't you cute!"
Well, the mask man he gets up on the shelf
And he says, "You ain't so bad yourself."

I wanna be your lover, baby, I wanna be your man.
I wanna be your lover, baby,
I don't wanna be hers, I wanna be yours.

Well, jumpin' Judy can't go no higher.
She had bullets in her eyes, and they fire.
Rasputin he's so dignified,
He touched the back of her head an' he died.

I wanna be your lover, baby, I wanna be your man.
I wanna be your lover, baby,
I don't wanna be hers, I wanna be yours.

Finally.  We can actually start talking presidential politics.  Soon, the headcases will be gone.  Thompson, Guiliani, Kucinich (sorry, RobW), and the other cellar dwellers will start falling off.  I agree we need choices in politics but if their support is so minute that it doesn't matter, jump.  This is the realist in me talking.

Check your news source of preference for results but Obama and Huckabee win in Iowa.  Obama's lead can be overcome in NH but I don't think Hillary will do well there.  I believe Edwards has a much better chance.  With 91% reporting Edwards leads Clinton by 9 votes for second place.  The way Wolfson's been talking the past few weeks Hillary should have won it outright.  I think she's done.  Had she placed 2nd with a nice margin, maybe, just maybe, she'd win over NH voters.  Will she make it to Nevada and South Carolina?  I believe Obama rolls on from here if he keeps it clean and focused.

Huckabee's winning out over Romney by a 9% margin with 34% of the vote and Thompson picked up a respectable, but all too late, 14% of the vote.  67% of Republican precincts have reported.  Guiliani got spanked!

Disclaimer:  Iowa is largely a Republican state - I'll reserve final judgement after NH.

UPDATE:  With 96% reporting Edwards has a 11 vote lead and McCain has moved from 4th to 3rd but both he and Thompson are at 13%.

Here's the text of an email sent me today by a friend who works in disaster relief and long term recovery efforts. Thought Dave's perspective on what's going on in Lewis County (and other flood areas) is instructive. I witnessed exactly the second disaster thing in the Gulf Coast a few weeks after Hurricane Katrina struck, where entire semi-truck convoys had arrived stuffed with used clothing, at least half of it rags. The "generosity" of others ended up creating an enormous solid waste disposal problem.

In case it hasn't been clear from all the media accounts and press releases over the past couple of weeks, please consider from this point on an absolute embargo, prohibition, ban, whatever on any donations of clothing or household items of any kind, especially to Lewis County.

The donations issue has created a major crisis in Centralia and Chehalis in particular. In the disaster relief/response community, this is typically called the "disaster that follows the disaster." I'm not at liberty to hare all that I know about the extent of the problem politically or among the voluntary agencies in Lewis County, but the bottom line is "no donations, period."

August 2000 @ our Capitol Theater Free Wall.