Journal of Post-Ralphaelite Thought

Well, I certainly can't fault him for preparing this in the first place. Leaving it where someone can use it to ridicule and generally add insult to injury - now that's a different matter. I am, of course, referring to the premature (by several lifetimes) launch of Team Romney's Transition Website, screen-captured in all its glory by Taegan Goddard and shared on his Political Wire website. See more pages on Political Wire , including a jobs page (you too can join Team Romney!), and Mitt's plans for his inauguration. Taegan Goddard says, "The site was quickly taken down but I saved screenshots ."   I can't thank Taegan enough, no to mention the low level web tech who forgot to take down the site right after Mitt conceded. As a web pro, I don't fault him for creating a site - things like this don't happen overnight. What I do object to is the pompous, arrogant tone, which screams, "You people have had your fun - the grownups are here...

Back when I was in college, a couple of my hippie friends decided they'd vote in the Republican primary, with the intention of boosting the prospects of the Republican candidate they felt would be least electable in the general election. They pulled the lever for former California governor Ronald Reagan. Whoops. In the 2000 election, a number of "progressive" voters (my dear wife among them) turned up their collective noses at Al Gore and voted for Ralph Nader. Enough of them did in Florida to usher in 8 years of George W Bush. Whoops. Despite years of voting primarily for Democrats (with a few notable exceptions ) I found Gary Johnson, Libertarian presidential candidate intriguing - fiscal conservative, socially progressive, and to all appearances, not a bad sort. I reasoned that since Obama had a snowball's chance in hell of carrying Texas, it didn't really matter if I abandoned him to vote for Johnson. Besides, I found myself somewhat incensed at seve...

Suppose that when it was first built, the Interstate Highway System had companies built the roads (paying the companies large amounts of money to built them to their specifications) and then leased the roads from the companies. Toll roads, right? Remember - the official title for the Interstate Highway System is the  Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways .  The justification for building the Interstate system (replacing the patchwork of numbered US highways that were then in place) was national defense - how to move troops and equipment quickly in times of national emergency. Although this network of "Superhighways" had been under discussion since the 1920's, it took the Cold War to finally get this in place. The government pays large amounts of money to the  Super Toll Road  providers. The government paid for all the research on how best construct the roads, paid the cost of construction, and then pays to use...

The word "anniversary" doesn't feel right - anniversaries are something I associate with joy. I don't feel qualified to make any profound observations or pontificate on the significance of today. I'll leave that to others. Instead, let me point you to a piece in the New York Times entitled " Mom's Last Lesson, " written by a friend who lost his brother at the Pentagon that day. Today's Doonesbury pretty much nailed it, too. For the record, I'm leaving my TV off today, too. I rewatched that horrible footage way more than was healthy when it first aired.

A while back I texted youngest son and asked "Should I come for Family Weekend or not?" He replied back "Either way is fine." I took that as the closest I would ever get to an affirmative and made my travel arrangements. The main event on Friday (arguably for the whole weekend) was Mason Madness -- the fall rite that officially kicks off basketball practice for the upcoming George Mason basketball season.  Unlike Texas, where football is the state religion, the eastern seaboard worships (to a much greater extent) at the altar of basketball. And George Mason (which won the 2006 Eastern Regional NCAA Championship) is no exception. The five days preceding my trip I ran a low grade fever, hacking and coughing like death. By that Friday my fever had broken but I was but a shadow of my usual self. Note to the savvy traveler: if you've been under the weather, expecting to make it to the airport to catch a 7:00 AM flight is wildly optimistic. After only one miss...

Okay -- if you accused me of link-whoring I'd be hard-pressed to deny it. Ron Paul, anointed as one of the few worthies amongst my erstwhile Libertarian drinking buddies, was on Jon Stewart last night to promote his new book. Despite his rock star status within the ranks of the Libertarians, Representative Paul is technically a House Republican. I'll say I can tolerate his brand of Republicanism a little more than some of the other flavors. Jon Stewart did a pretty good interview,although it seemed (to me anyway) there were times the Representative from Houston was clearly thinking, "What the fuck?" I'll let you decide for yourself why. As Stewart would say, "Here's your moment of Zen..." The Daily Show With Jon Stewart Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c Ron Paul www.thedailyshow.com Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

I don't have time for a long post (trying to get out of town -- to Washington, ironically) when I learned that Edward Kennedy, a true lion of the Senate, passed away at the age of 77. Yahoo's Reuter feed has more , but I dare say you'll find tons of stories all over the 'net. I'll try to write more later.

Well, the great Whitehouse beer bash is over. Obama, the " bartender-in-chief ," had a Bud Light and Crowley, the arresting officer, had a Blue Moon.  Henry Gates initially asked for a Jamaica Red Stripe but switched to a Sam Adams . Joe Biden (designated driver) went with a non-alcoholic Buckler. In a written statement , Obama thanked Gates and Crowley for "joining me at the White House this evening for a friendly, thoughtful conversation." Predictably, Fox News criticized the president's choice of beer.

It would appear the blow up over Black Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr .'s recent arrest by Cambridge police for disorderly conduct is about to settle down . Exact details of the incident seem to depend on who is recounting them, but most agree on the following: Gates was hauled off in handcuffs after bitching out cops who showed up when he broke into his own home. Several black writers have suggested Gate's outrage over his arrest may have been fueled as much by social stature as race. Regardless, given the fact that 58 year old Henry Gates is a diminutive figure-- hardly threatening, the charge of " disorderly conduct " seems overstated at best. His offense was more likely that unwritten law, "contempt of cop." Gates was later released without being charged and the Cambridge police department termed the episode "regrettable" (a non-apology apology if I ever heard one). During Obama's recent health care press conference, a reporter aske...

Every July 4 th I wander down the street and watch the Ryan Place parade in the sweltering July heat. It's a neighborhood event that has more patriotism in its pinky finger than anything you'll seen on your HD TV from the comfort of your air-conditioned house. To hell with fireworks -- this is my favorite thing about the 4 th . Neighbors and friends from near and not so near gather for the fun. Differences are put aside and we share the sense of celebration. I love the description "the American Experiment," despite attempts to co-opt the term for narrow partisan purposes. The experiment fails when we stop recognizing that no one person or group has a monopoly on wisdom, virtue , common sense or love of country. Me and my good friend the Whited Sepulchre at the Ryan Place Parade.

Okay, we are fast approaching the middle of May, half a year after the 2008 election, and Minnesota still has only one senator. I seem to recall an election about 8 years ago when the Republicans insisted this electing business needed to be wrapped up quickly. But I guess that was then and this is now. And the defining "now" has Norm Coleman, loser in his 2008 Senatorial race against Al Franken, dragging the results through as many legal challenges as he can manage. Ironically, Coleman's last recount ended up increasing Franken's lead over him. Like Al Franken or not, the evidence remains pretty conclusive that he won the election. Norm: f**king get over it!

Arlen Specter , formerly Pennsylvania's oldest Republican Senator, is now Pennsylvania's newest Democratic Senator. A Democrat in his youth, he joined the Republicans in 1966, back when the phrase "moderate Republican" didn't seem like an oxymoron. At his press conference today, he stated he was, "at odds with the Republican philosophy," and declared himself a Democrat. Alas, as the GOP continues its slow slide towards foaming-at-the-mouth insanity, it has no use for moderates. In his last primary run, the Pennsylvania Republican establishment fielded a conservative opponent to run against Specter, claiming he wasn't conservative enough. This despite the fact he is held in high regard by the Pennsylvania voting population as a whole. Get ready for the flood of sneering, pontificating and general character assassination soon to be heading your way by Fox News and their appointed thugs.

The White House military office thought it would be a good idea to buzz the Statue of Liberty with Air Force 1 and an F-16for a few official photos. Seems no one bothered to tell Mayor Bloomberg. The flyover, near the World Trade Center site, sent New Yorkers in a panic this morning. Not to put too fine a point on it, but what asshole thought this was a good idea ? Inquiring minds want to know. The director of operations for the Office of Citywide Event Coordination and Management, Marc Marc Mugnos, had been notified by the Department of Defense, but must have forgotten to mention it to anyone in the Mayor's office. Methinks there are resumes being updated this evening.

Salon (always good for an interesting read) has an opinion piece called The French are right (again) which points out the irony of the free-market deregulating US bellyaching at the welfare state Europeans to spend more to stimulate the economy. My Libertarian sparring partners will probably not care for the article. I would encourage them to read it before they begin whining.

Having traipsed around Washington, DC for the last couple of days, for our final day we decided to do something different. Part of this was dictated by having a hard stop on our activities, since we had a plane to catch. After some discussion, we ended up heading down to Mount Vernon . Mount Vernon, located south of Alexandria, VA on the banks of the Potomac River is of course George Washington's estate and final resting place. The estate was purchased from Washington's great-grandnephew, John A. Washington, Jr., in 1858 by the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association of the Union. The house and grounds had fallen in to a state of disrepair by that time. During the Civil War, despite fighting all around it, Mount Vernon was treated as neutral ground. See the Wikipedia article for an extended history. I confess, though this was my suggestion, I thought it might end up being a bit of a bore. Not so. The main estate has been thoroughly restored, with lots of information posted throu...

Yesterday was a gorgeous, sunny day in Washington, DC. Today: cold and rainy. We got up and, after much diddling around, finally left the hotel in Fairfax to head back to DC. At the Metro Park and Ride, a "Lot Full"sign greeted us. After much testy negotiation, we drove around until we found Metro station with a Park and Ride lot. Back in DC (at last) we headed back to the Smithsonian Museum of American History and finished viewing the Price of Freedom: America at War , which examines how wars have shaped American culture and society, from the War of Independence to the present. The amazing thing about the Smithsonian is its astonishing collection of miscellaneous objects of enormous historic importance. Things like the coat Marion Anderson wore when she sang at the Lincoln Memorial, security badges worn by workers on the Manhattan Project, the Ruby Red slippers worn by Judy Garland in the Wizard of Oz. On a less serious note, they had the triple portrait of Stephen Colbert s...

Today was the day of our George Mason campus visit. We arrived (late) at the Johnson Center (home of the Admissions department) and joined our tour (already in progress) led by bright enthusiastic student Ambassadors, who answered parent and prospective student's questions. After a walk around the campus where the dorms and major academic buildings were pointed out, we grabbed lunch at the Johnson Center and hit the bookstore for GMU t-shirts and the like. We wandered over to the Volgenau School of Information Technology and Engineering, where we were fortunate enough to catch up with the Associate Chair of the department. She sat and talked with us about the program for a good 30 minutes -- not bad for having no appointment. We left extremely impressed and pleased with our choice of George Mason. All this is beginning to get real for youngest son. As it was only about 2:45, we headed into DC via the Metro. Students can take the free GMU shuttle to the Vienna/Fairfax station but w...