And you thought that facial hair died in the 40s.

Not sure what Robert Mugabe is going for here. But when I see that type of mustache, I only think one thing and it's not kitler.

Let's go buy some guns!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/27/AR2008062702864.html

An Early Breakdown

Here is the BBC take on early election polls and the states to watch. I think they might be right about a dam breaking late and there are going to be a few surprises later on. Remember the key early primary issue was the Iraq war but that has seemed fade from the American consciousness . In spite of this or maybe because of it, I feel that it is a bad way to elect a president because currently this country's main problem is its lack of long term thinking.

Shameless

At least now she's just explicitly asking people to pay off her debt.

http://www.hillaryclinton.com/feature/specialthankyou/?sc=1905&utm_source=1905&utm_medium=e

The "C" Story

Filling sandbags versus moneybags

The differences between McBush and Obama on this matter are interesting.. especially given the other flood McCain spent doing nothing.

re: Is the Hillary campaign really dead?

That's exactly what she's doing. Hillary still has a lot of debt, and she needs to get rid of as much of it as possible before her next senate race.

Choosing to "suspend" rather than "end" her campaign allows it to continue legally accepting donations.

Quickie: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/DN-suspendbox_08pol.ART.State.Edition1.46d8a20.html

Is the Hillary campaign really dead?

Hillary's now defunct (?) campaign sent this email out this afternoon. Touching, yes, but the "Contribute" button at the bottom confused me as it still leads to the Hillary Clinton for President donation form. Is this a sneaky way of saying "Please pay off my debt"?

-----------

Dear Andrew,

Together, you and I changed America forever. We touched so many lives over the course of this campaign, and I can't thank you enough for the support you showed me. I met so many wonderful people out on the trail, and I wanted to share some of those memories with you.

I hope you'll take a moment to view our online album with some favorite photos from the campaign.

Thank you so much -- I'll be in touch soon.

Sincerely,

Hillary Rodham Clinton

Not just a spike

Here's an interview with Fareed Zakaria about why high oil prices are here to stay.

Also, Tim Russert you will be missed.

Answering Dave Chappelle

In his sketch I know black people, Dave Chapelle asked "Why do black people love menthol cigarettes?"
The correct answer was "I don't know".

In it's quest for all things truthy, the New York Times put this
slideshow together to partially answer that question.

If you don't want to waste your time, their argument is that there was a slight preference for menthols by African Americans after WWII that the cigarette companies enhanced by decades of heavy and direct marketing.

Enough about Rezko

Here's a good list of talking points for when someone brings up Tony Rezko again.

http://blogs.chicagotribune.com/news_columnists_ezorn/2008/06/reality-check-t.html

Our Debt Culture

David Brooks has an interesting piece in today's NYT about the preponderance of debt in modern American culture. It's something I had a tacit feeling for, but no solid understanding of. I haven't read the Institute for American Values's report, but ties nicely to a This American Life episode (Act Two) I heard on the radio a few weeks ago.

Sexism didn't defeat hillary

So, Hillary's "i lost because of sexism" argument drives me nuts. She lost because of her inferior election strategy, management and execution. I think maureen dowd has is about right in her piece.

Got some free time to kill?

I thought I would pass along the following site:

bloggingheads.tv

It's a fairly good site offering dialogues on various topics, though most center on politics. There's a pretty good one with Ruy Teixeira (of the Brookings Institution, as well as the Salon article I blogged about earlier, who specializes in demographics and voting trends) and Reihan Salam (a conservative who blogs at The American Scene).

Anyway, it's a nice way to not work and still feel like you're being productive and/or learning something.

the michelle obama "whitey" tape

Folks, our greatest fears confirmed.