North Star Politics

MDE is just on fire today, with a pair of posts attacking Ford Bell for having some money, yet not enough to self-finance his campaign for U.S. Senate. You can read here and here.

You have to understand that Senate campaigns are really expensive. Now, NSP has no idea how much money Mr. Bell has. The man could have $50 million sitting around and just doesn't want to spend it. But to question Mr. Bell's ability to pay for a Senate campaign on the basis of the value of his house (which may have been in the family for several generations or something like that) just isn't right, isn't smart, isn't fair.

I invite MDE to consider the value of his own home the next time he has any cash flow problems.

NSP has posted about MDE before, most recently here. This stuff continues to lower the bar.

All the political news lately is either Plamegate or Roberts, and while NSP is reasonably solid on both, there's nothing much that I can add.

The only other thing is the House reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act. Not too much to say about this, either, except that it's a damn shame. Defending our country doesn't need to mean ending our civil liberties, a big part of what makes this country worth defending in the first place. We can only hope that the Senate decides to step up, but I'm not holding my breath.

...John Roberts Jr. Let the battle begin!

MRW has a post detailing Gov. Pawlenty's stated refusal to sign any interest group pledges next year.

Can anyone find the logic here? Pawlenty has made it through two bienniums without raising taxes (cough cough), incurring the wrath of just about everyone to the left of wingnuttia, then decides to back out of his pledge in 2006, thus incurring the wrath of the wingnuts, too! What kind of advisors does this man have?

Ohh, Tim...what is Grover going to say?

It's going to be a big day. Pres. Bush is going to announce his nominee for Sandra Day O'Connor's seat on the Supreme Court tonight. Rumors say Edith Brown Clement, but who knows. Other rumors say the timing is due to our old buddy Karl (via AB). Keep an eye on this stuff - it could be a top story for months, depending on whether Senate Dems decide to confirm/reject/filibuster.

UPDATE: Brown Clement is apparently not the President's choice.

...that these are terrorists too. In a way, they're even more despicable than foreign terrorists because we have no one to blame for them but ourselves.

The FBI should be spending more time on people like him, and less time on such serious threats as the ACLU.

I keep an eye on The Worst Blog in the World, just to keep up on how not to think. I see this this evening:

The quality of the reporting on the Joe Wilson/Valerie Plame story has been appalling.

It's so typical, isn't it? Don't blame Rove, and goodness no don't blame the President. Blame that damn liberal media!