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Nightly Ramble: Busy Day

A busy day of work, today, and me without decent net access, means you get my notes from today all at once in The Ramble:

  • Tony Snow has basically given his two weeks notice [1].  Says cancer isn’t the reason he’s leaving… and I believe him, but the effects of the disease are starting to become visible, along with the strains of being involved with what has got to be the most strenuous job in the White House, itself a very strenuous place.  Tony is an eminently likable person, facing an unfair burden.  Then again, cancer is like that.
  • Today was Karl Rove’s last day.
  • Turns out, John Warner wasn’t quite so stupid as I suggested he might be last evening, he’s not running for the white house so far as I’m aware, he’s retiring.
  • As I predicted here last night, Larry Craig is gone.  Effective 10:30eastern tomorrow morning he will be announcing his resignation, effective September 30th.  The situation turns out to be a win / win for Republicans, given his seat is a fairly safe Republican stronghold in what is probably the reddest state in the nation…. And because the situation will be well behind this from November of 2008.  Also, as we predicted here, Idaho Governor Otter will name lieutenant governor Jim Risch to the slot. [2] The word was, that he was planning on running for the slot in 2008, anyway. Boortz [3] had a wonderful caller this morning who suggested the best thing that could possibly happen for the republicans is that Larry Craig stand up in front of the microphones tomorrow and say that he was switching parties and would now caucus with the Democrats.  What do you suppose they would do in that situation?  It’s an amusing notion, and one that probably should be explored… You know as well as I do that if Craig were Democrat, the party would be going to the mat for himm.  Or, perhaps to the bathroom floor.  The internal fighting that would result from his switching parties would be worth a laugh, watching the fights that would ensue.
  • Is it a tough month for Republicans?  Not particularly.  Look; most of these problems have been going on for some time, and it was a matter of time before they all came to a head.  It’s well that the stuff that dealt with now.  And not then.  Still, as I suggested last evening, it does provide a bit of a distraction for the funding business the democrats of been involved in, recently.  My guess is that stuff is going to peak in about another month.  It probably isn’t going to go way for several months thereafter.  Whereas for all the smoke that the far left has been putting up over the first four items on today’s Ramble , it’s going to be gone before we’re halfway down September. Add the dimension, that the internal report as regards our progress in Iraq is due shortly.  Politics is an area where pendulum tends to swing rather quickly, these days.
  • I see where John Kerry is in some serious trouble [4]in terms of getting reelected.
  • Jon Henke [5]notes that NRO’s Campaign Spot has some interesting numbers up… from The Economist numbers which Jon suggests do not suggest a massive move to the left… I’m of bit reluctant to jump on board without reading of the numbers.  First of all, at first blush the questions as asked do seem a little too general.  I’ll go over those numbers tonight, and make the pronouncement on it tomorrow.
  • Speaking of Neal, he responds to Senator Bill Nelson, the democrat senator from Florida this morning.  The response has to do with the senators OP Ed in Useless Toady. [6] The senator argues that the voting rights act guarantees every U.S. citizen in equal right to vote in Federal actions.  Neal responds that that’s not the case; saying there isn’t a right to vote in the Federal action under the constitution.  And the voting rights act to which the senator refers, only sets forth criteria that cannot be used to deny certain people the vote if and when the state decides there actually going to hold an election.  I wonder about the law of unforeseen consequences, here.  Is this a move to federalize state elections?  Even if that isn’t the intent, the way people such as Nelson read the law (or, dare I say this, misread the law) we’ll certainly end up in that situation.
  • Oh; it did I forget to mention that Fred Thompson is supposed [7] to be entering the race next week? I suppose it’s probably going to be the best timing he could manage. on that basis I suggest he will probably do it.
  • As we mentioned last night, less than half of all published scientists, endorsed the theory of global warming… and only a small subset of that, think man has anything to do with it.  Here’s the report from the senate committee on environment and public works.
  • Billy Beck [8]notes Dalrymple, [9] and both of them are wondering about the amount of time and emotional investments into the death of Lady Di. Investments, which agreed are being driven to the greatest of extents by the mainstream media. Billy goes on to quote Hitch [10], who in his turn, suggests that what we’re really dealing with is the fusion of feudalism, which after all the royal family is on the upper end of, and celebrity culture. That may be a valid point , but I don’t think it’s the first instance of this happening.  Anyone here of Bessie Wallis Simpson?  Anyone ever hear of Princess GraceQueen Noor?  All of these and more are royals whose celebrity is only partly born of their being Royal.  A goodly chunk of it has to do with the media.  I’ll tell you the truth, my friends, that trend has been around for a couple of centuries, anyway.  And the power is growing, has the power of the mainstream media has been growing.  If anybody ever doubts again the amount of impact that the mainstream media still has on the populations of the world, we need look no further than the kind of nonsense that has been going on all day today.  Or, perhaps what the MSM did with Princess Grace.  Truth to tell, I felt for the woman as well.  But is it really so slow on News day has to necessitate circling around the grave like vultures?  Maybe it’s easier to do that, then it is to do some serious investigation into Hillary Clinton‘s finances.
  • Speaking of which Norman Hsu turned himself in, [11] today. Who noticed?