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Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category

Congratulations to Barack Obama, on becoming the 44th President of the United States of America! And to his family – the new First Family of the United States. Best wishes on a successful presidency.

Wow, check it out – it’s already the 20th of the month. This has been a long, busy month at work, and it’s only getting more so. But it’s a good busy. But it means I haven’t had a lot of energy for blogging. I cook and take pictures, but they don’t always make it into the blogosphere. This one did, though!

This is definitely not one of my favorite dishes, but Dan loves a good split-pea soup when the weather gets cold, so baby, this one’s for you – all of it

One of our exchange students, Josi from Berlin, gave me Alton Brown’s “I’m Just Here for the Food” for my birthday a couple of years ago. This recipe is from that book, and it’s probably one of the easiest recipes I know of. Here goes:

Alton Brown’s Split-Pea Soup

18 oz. dried split peas
1 finger-sized piece of salt pork (Dan likes porky goodness, but this is optional)
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce
1/2 cup each chopped carrots, onions and celery
2 quarts chicken broth
1-1/2 tbsp. miso paste

Combine all the ingredients in a slow cooker and set it to high. Cook for 6 to 8 hours until the peas have softened. Really, that’s it.

And here’s the delicious (according to Dan) but not real appetizing-looking (to me) result, garnished with a little sliced green onion:

This is my entry in No Croutons Required, hosted by Lisa’s Kitchen.

I just have to acknowledge witnessing history tonight. Barack Obama is the first African-American to be nominated for President of the United States of America by a major political party.

He is an impressive man and I believe he will make an excellent president.

Some interesting fallout from the Bush administration’s illegal activities over the last several years:

• European and American rights groups file torture complaint against Rumsfeld
• What Lies Beneath: Alberto Gonzales’ legal troubles may just be beginning

So our former secretary of defense is accused of torture and our former attorney general is accused of perjury, among other crimes. I wonder what other former, and possibly current, administration officials might be guilty of?

As George Allen concedes defeat to Sen.-elect James Webb, I raise my glass to the newly powerful Democratic Party. I’m looking forward to the oversight hearings the Democrats are sure to have. At last, the president and his staff will have to answer for their catastrophic mistakes.

They say now that impeachment is off the table. We’ll see after some of the Bush administration’s tactics come to light.

Taking back one house of Congress for the Democrats is huge, and it’s still possible to take the Senate, too.

I have one word for you: Oversight.

I did – bright and early. There was actually a line forming when I left. Great to see that

Portsmouth still has almost all optical scanning voting machines, which I really appreciate. Considering all the problems there have been with electronic voting machines, I just can’t believe the government rushed states into buying them. Here’s hoping it’s such a wipeout for the Democrats that recounts won’t be needed.

Because really, what kind of meaningful recount can be done with an electronic machine – a computer, essentially – that doesn’t print out votes as they are cast? You tell it to print out the results again – the same results it already printed. What’s the point?

I think that unfortunately, the billions spent on new voting machines in the last few years will have to be re-spent, on machines that really work. Like this.

Next Tuesday, Virginians will vote on whether or not to enshrine in the state Constitution the removal of the right of unmarried people to make contracts with each other. This is being sold as the “gay marriage ban,” but that’s not really what it will do.

Here’s what the first sentence of the proposed amendment says:

That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions.

It’s already illegal in Virginia for gays to marry, and Virginia is not exactly a hotbed of so-called “activist judges” that would overturn it. So this provision wouldn’t accomplish anything new.

The real problem, though, is the rest of the proposed amendment:

This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage. Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage.

Take a close look at that second sentence. Do you know anyone who is not married and has dependent children? Do they have wills and custody agreements with anyone else specifying what will happen to their children and property if something should happen to them?

As “benefits” or “effects” of marriage, these agreements and wills could very well be invalidated if challenged. Is this what Republicans mean when they say government should stay out of our private lives?

I just have to say, I’m immensely proud to be a constituent of Congressman Bobby Scott of the third district of Virginia. Here are his remarks last summer on the House floor regarding the war in Iraq.

An excerpt: “Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition to the resolution on the Iraqi war.

Mr. Speaker, as we discuss what to do now, we must first acknowledge the fact that we cannot discuss an exit strategy for leaving Iraq without first stating what the entry strategy was, and then stating what we are trying to accomplish now.

We were originally told that we invaded Iraq because they had weapons of mass destruction; that turned out not to be true. We were then told we invaded Iraq because the Iraqi leaders were connected with the 9/11 attacks; that turned out not to be true. The rationale that Iraq posed an imminent threat to the United States was exposed as untrue even before the invasion. A letter from the Director of the CIA to the Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, dated October 7, 2002, specifically stated that the CIA believed that Iraq and Saddam Hussein did not pose a terrorist threat to the United States, and would not be
expected to pose such a threat, unless we attacked Iraq.”

Of course, we attacked Iraq and it is now the nexus of terrorism in the world.

He repeated most of this speech in a local radio interview last week. Here’s hoping the Dems take back at least one house of Congress in this election and are able to start hearings to finally exercise some oversight of the power-mad Republicans.

Disappointing a lot of people, Mark Warner Wonkette, a political commentator in D.C., inspired some really funny comments on