so as this gonzalez thing gets to be a bigger and bigger deal (as i hope it will), let's sit back and reflect. i think we can all agree on the fact that john ashcroft was a less than ideal attorney general . . . he had a blatent disrespect for our civil liberties - a very bad quality for the top law enforcement office in the country. i know that i, and probably all of you, thought ashcroft was the worst the bush crew could come up with - and he was certainly a great bad guy - but we should have known better. leave it up to bush inc to find someone even worse, someone who didn't just have a disregard for our bill of rights, but had the gall to defend people who took part in disrespecting human beings themselves. gonzalez wrote the legal briefs on getting around the geneva conventions, he justified abu ghraid. he is almost as evil as the devil. abu ghraib not only had a terrible effect on the people directly involved it had an incalcuable effect on the war and our soldiers over there in general. how many insurrengents or terrorists got recruited through those images? how has that bush policy made us any safer? just something to think about . . .

also - i just want to take a moment and thank everyone out there for being who you are and a part of my life. i think it's good to remember every now and then just how lucky we really are to be on this globe.

back in the beltway, back to blogging. hope no one suffered any withdrawls from my vacation away from all things technological (except for the tv and the dvd player of course!), but i'm back in full swing now and expect to keep my blogging fairly frequent to aid in my quest (not resolution, too much pressure) to not take things too seriously.

after being at home for a while i began to appreciate what i really have in DC. I ran into too many people who graduated and now work somewhere like stabucks, or the mall. It's not that these people aren't as talented or ambititous as myself, it's that we have a crap economy thanks to he-who-shall-not-be-named. I was damn lucky to get a job, nonetheless a job in my field where I don't answer the phone all day. So I am trying to be grateful for that - and I am. So i charged in this morning (15 minutes late - but i think that's good for having 3 hour jet lag!) to be greeted with the news of a new, extended 6 day work week complete with extended hours for the whole staff. I am obviously combating this by blogging on the clock. either way - no matter what people throw at me i am bound and determined to be grateful for this opportunity damn it.

the dnc race is in full swing and my boss Simon is in for sure - it's official. This is my attempt to get the chattering class chattering - so there you go - hot DC inside-the-beltway info - spread it around, get excited! but it occurs to me that people may not know what this whole DNC race is all about . . . so not to fear - i will explain it to you!

The DNC Chairman is elected by the 447 voting members of the DNC. Those members are comprised of a fairly random group of party insiders. There are pockets of 2 or 3 from each state, including the state chair, and the people who run the DNC currently (Terry McAuliffe among them) and a big crew that Jesse Jackson appointed in 1988 in his appeasement/please-endorse-dukakis package. Nancy Pelosi is a member but Bill Clinton isn't.

To win the election a candidate must get 221 of these people to vote for them. This is done much like canvassing a precint for the Iowa caucuses. The candidate must travel/call and meet every single DNC member. There are no voting blocks and no individual holds much sway (i.e. it makes no huge difference who Bill Hillary or Kerry endorse). The election is held on February 12th. There are several regional meetings between then and now for nominees to speak to large groups of the voting members.

Other candidates include former Governor Howard Dean, For Texas Rep Martin Frost, son of former DNC Chair Don Fowler, Donnie Fowler, former Mayor of Dallas Ron Kirk, Current DNC treasurer Wellington Webb, and former Indianan congressman Tim Roemer (who is pro-life - ugh) to name a few of the top names.

so there you go - a quick run down of the whole show. i'm off to keep working and hope everyone out there had a happy holiday!