Reaction: It's (almost) official: Thompson running

While it was really never a secret, it now is almost an official reality. Fred Thompson, a former Senator from Tennessee and actor extraordinaire, is expected to announce his bid for the Presidency around the 4th of July. I think Thompson will be a good candidate for the Republicans because he carries an image very different from that of Bush. He looks much more like a general than a man who just sits behind his desk and has been using the internet very well up to this point which should help boost his campaign and his popularity with young Republicans. His popularity has exploded since his internet shaming of Michael Moore and it seems like he's been playing the game pretty well up to this point. While he's surely a dark horse, it'll be interesting to see how he will affect and shape the other candidates as we get closer to the primaries.

Reaction: Only six senators read key war report

While everyone knows most members of Congress don't read the majority of reports and bills they vote on, it would be nice to know that they read reports with implications of going to war attached to them. Only six senators, which does not include Hillary Clinton or John McCain, read the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, a 90 page document. You can say all you want about how they have a staff who carefully read, analyze, and report their findings directly to the member of congress, but in my humble opinion, documents this important should be read by the members themselves. I especially feel this way if years down the road you are going to heavily criticize the war you approved without even properly researching.

Reaction: Rev. Jesse Jackson upset African-Americans not dominating MLK memorial contracts

Jesse Jackson is reportedly upset that there are not enough African-American artists being awarded contracts in the construction of the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial. He is particularly upset that a Chinese man has been awarded the contracts to two of the monuments more important sculptures, including the one of MLK himself. Well Jesse, you can't have your cake and eat it too. MLK stood for many things, but reverse-racism was not one of them. If you wanted to be treated as an equal, you have to be willing to treat others as equals. Why is an African-American any more qualified than a Chinese person to create these sculptures? I understand that MLK sought to better the lives of African-Americans the world over, but he also sought to acheive that through tolerance, peace, and understanding. Saying African-Americans should be the ones awarded the contracts is just as bad as saying African-Americans cannot be awarded the contracts.

Update: Arizona lawmaker calls for McCain's resignation

Echoing what I said in a previous post, an Arizona lawmaker is calling for John McCain to resign from his Senator's seat because he's not representing Arizona. McCain has reportedly missed over 50% of the Senate votes since the last election and is making no signs of improving on those numbers. He is getting paid over $150,000 a year and isn't even showing up to work. This is unfair to everyone in Arizona who is counting on him to represent them in the Senate and the fact he can even try to pretend he is representing them and that he does care is most sickening of all.

Reaction: Bush drives without his seatbelt

Big deal! First of all, it looks like he's on his ranch or some other private property in which case the seatbelt laws don't apply. The fact that it kicked off National Seatbelt Week is pretty awesome from a timing perspective, but otherwise there's nothing there. I'm more concerned about the fact he's driving that huge truck around that probably gets 10 mpg and he's not even pulling around dirt bikes or horses or something. As many of the inappropriate (but funny) comments on the YouTube page point out, if you hate Bush so much you shouldn't want him wearing his seatbelt anyways. Bottom line: Don't care, don't care, and don't care.

Reaction: Al Gore piles on the Bush criticism in new book

In Al Gore's new book, The Assault on Reason, he is said to brutally criticize the Bush administration on just about every issue under the sun. According to Daily Kos (via an ABC News article), Gore says Bush and Cheney are "...genuinely unfit to lead our nation." I think this is some pretty harsh criticism from a man who couldn't even beat Bush in the first place. I also think that it's a lot easier to criticize when you haven't been in the situations Bush and his administration have been in. I'd like to make it clear I'm not defending Bush's decisions, but I am saying it's hard to be so overcritical until you've had to make those decisions for yourself. I'd also like to say that I think Gore has done an excellent job remaking his image. Daily Kos is hoping he'll decide to run for President again, I'm hoping he'll decide to stick to his new image as a political watch dog and make his commentaries from outside the political arena. Who knows though, with his new found popularity he may be gung-ho to throw it all away again. If nothing else, at least the book sounds like an interesting read.

Reaction: McCain teaching us all the value of voting

According to the Washington Post, John McCain has missed his 42nd consecutive vote in the Senate. Instead of voting, he's out hitting the campaign trail trying to raise money for his presidential bid. Now I have a few problems with this. First off his campaign has said that it is nearly impossible to vote on all the issues AND run for President. So, let's try on this novel idea for size... don't commit to serving in the Senate before running for President if you can't handle it. What makes me even more upset is this statement by his campaign, "The Senator has not missed a vote where his vote would have affected the outcome, and he will make every effort to be in the Senate on the occasions when it would." So all these years where I've been told by my parents, teachers, and politicians alike that my vote always counts and I should never consider my vote insignificant or unable to change an outcome were apparently flat wrong. If a Senator's vote doesn't count for squat - mine sure as hell shouldn't be missed.