Mike's Place

Heard on Countdown this evening...

Representative Michele Bachmann (R-Minn) apparently finds it "interesting" that the last time the United States experienced a swine flu epidemic was in 1976, under the leadership of another Democratic president -- Jimmy Carter. Who, by the way, didn't take office until January 20th, 1977.

Ms. Bachman has apparently also been appointed to some Republican committee on energy. Regarding carbon dioxide, she had this to say...

"...there isn't even one study that can be produced that shows carbon dioxide is a harmful gas. There isn't one such study because carbon dioxide is not a harmful gas, it is a harmless gas. Carbon dioxide is natural. It is not harmful."

My suggestion to Ms. Bachmann: Read more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_dioxide#Toxicity

In general, I love the suggestion that if it's natural, it's harmless. Like funnel web spiders. And botulinum. And Elizabeth Bathory.

Labels: Politics

Saturday, the Rules & Bylaws Committee (RBC) made their decision, halving the Florida and Michigan delegations. A portion of each state was given to Obama, reflecting exit polls and assorted other metrics showing what the spread in the two states would have been, had proper elections been held.

Yet her supporters continue to fight for their candidate, saying she was robbed, that pro-Obama forces "hijacked" the election, and that Clinton should get the nomination as she leads in the popular vote.

Only, popular vote is not how we pick our candidates. Our candidates our chosen by elected delegates, and even discounting the super-delegates, Obama still leads by 116. His lead will grow Tuesday, as he's expected to win Montana and South Dakota.

Further, a lead in the popular vote is a lie the Clinton campaign continues to press. Her supposed popular vote lead discounts Obama supporters in Michigan, who didn't get the opportunity to vote, and Obama supporters in Florida, who didn't bother to vote after having been told their votes wouldn't count.

Further, it discounts Obama's numerous caucus wins, in which individual votes are not tallied.

After Tuesday, I expect Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Jimmy Carter, and even Al Gore, will publicly throw their support behind Obama, who leads in the pledged delegate count. Additional super-delegates will flock to Obama, pushing him over the new 2,118 count required to clinch the nomination, following the RBC decision.

And if Clinton's words hold true, she'll begin to campaign for Obama. It'll be interesting to see if a) this really happens, and b) if her supporters will ignore her request to support Obama in November, to defeat McCain. I'm disgusted by the hard-core supporters of either candidate, who say they'll vote for McCain rather than their candidate's opponent.

And yes, "the" is intentionally misspelled. :)

Labels: Clinton, Election, Obama, Politics