Three's a crowd

Young man and girlfriend, both nude,
arrested for traffic violation. He
loses both SUV and girlfriend.

Hillary Clinton won Nevada with 51% of the vote. Barack Obama had 45%. John Edwards had only 4%. This was touted to be a race too close to call for all 3 candidates. So what happened to Edwards? I think after the love-in that substituted for a debate in Nevada, where all 3 candidates swore their love to each other, people realized that as in all love triangles someone has to go. In this case Edwards. Why Edwards? He was the only one of the three that even mentioned any possible differences, and also continued his campaign against the corporations (that all support both Clinton and Obama in one way or another). Edwards must have seen this coming as he complained that the media was ignoring him (which they were). There was little doubt that Edwards would have to go but the suddenness with which it happened was stunning. He has always counted on South Carolina to help him. With a showing this dismal even that now appears to be a longshot. The powers that be don't need any uppity white boys causing trouble. There are complaints about dirty tricks, of course. When are there not? But the complaints mostly surface when one side's dirty tricks outdo the other. Like the warmongering imperialist himself once said, "this is politics, not bean bags." I suspect if Hillary were to somehow win next week in South Carolina it would be pretty much all over. I like Hillary. I think she's actually the best candidate hands down. However, she's DLC, the Brafia wing of the Democratic party. I want Kucinich and, failing that (of course) Obama will have to do.

The Republican contest in South Carolina seems to have gone pretty much as expected with McCain beating Huckabee, but not by much. Even so, it must be the end for Huckabee because if he couldn't win with all the evangelicals there, where can he win? I doubt he has enough funds to go much further. Small loss. It looks like the Brafia candidate will either be McCain or Romney. Put your money on the latter. He'll get so flustered in the Presidential campaign when his lies start to catch up with him it should be at the very least an amusing contest. Much as I might want Obama vs Romney I strongly believe it will ultimately be Clinton vs Romney. Put your money on Clinton, the filly is a strong finisher.

Fred Thompson did the weirdest thing I've ever seen. While the votes were still being counted in South Carolina, and he was not doing too well, he decided to make a speech. He thanked everyone in his campaign, his parents, people from Tennessee, and even his grandchildren. I thought he might think he had won an Oscar. It was so bizarre I turned it off so I didn't learn what it was all about. One might have assumed he was dropping out but I don't think that is what he did. No doubt I'll find out in the morning, someone must have paid attention. I don't follow the Brafia too closely.

My wife is making veal stock. The smell is driving me crazy. Of course we have to import the veal bones from Seattle. No one in Bonners Ferry would even consider eating veal. Our one (kind of) supermarket once featured some veal when it first opened several years ago. That was it. Once. They have never had it again. Once they also had squid. The woman in the checkout line refused to touch it and demanded to know what it was. When I told her I feared she might pass out. The other day, for the very first time, they had a couple of small packages of octopus. My wife bought them, hoping to encourage them. We'll see. Fortunately, we can go to Creston, B.C., thirty miles up the road, and buy all sorts of good things. But true to the best traditions of bureacracy we are unable to bring veal back into the U.S. Mad cow disease, you know. But we know mad cow disease only occurs in animals three years of age or older. So why not veal? Now, to add insult to injury, they changed the rules once again so three-year-old beef cattle can now be imported once again from Canada. Still, no veal. Go figure.

LKBIQ:
"In the presence of the very beautiful, as in the presence of the immensely intelligent, terror contributes to our over-all reaction, and it is as much fright as appreciation which causes the stabbed-by-an-icicle chill that for a moment murders us when a swan swims into view."
Truman Capote