Miscellaneous Bits

Let me begin with Al Franken.  Today, the Minnesota Supreme court in an unanimous decision declared Franken the winner of the Senate seat.  He won in last November's vote but legal wrangling has not allowed him to take his seat.  It is anticipated that he will be sworn in next week.

I was quietly pleased when Franken declared in his speech this afternoon that:

“I know that there's been a lot of talk about the fact that when I'm sworn in I'll be the 60 member of the Democratic caucus. But that's not how I see it. The way I see it, I'm not going to Washington to be the 60th democratic senator, I'm going to Washington to be the second senator from the state of Minnesota and that's how I'm going to do this job.”

To me, that places the emphasis exactly where it should be, representing the people of his state and not merely a member of a caucus.

I'm unable to stop myself from making the observation that Al Franken began as a comedy writer.  He will be taking his place in a body of people who often act like comedians.  Perhaps he will at least bring the body some professionalism.

Today there were celebrations in Iraq as the US troops turned over control of the cities to the Iraqis. People were dancing in the streets.  There were also explosions today, killing 33 in Kirkuk.  I must admit that I believe the next few weeks, no more than 6 probably, are going to be extremely difficult.  There will continue to be violence.  We will continue to have troops in bases that could be used to quell it.  But, the people of Iraq don't want us there, and our people don't want us there.  What will happen if the  Iraq government admits that it does not control even their cities?  Will the US be asked to step back in?  It seems to me that we cannot.  It may be cruel, heartless, and even more negative terms, but I just cannot see the US re-engaging in Iraq.

Lastly, via Eschaton I learned that there is a Personal Democracy Forum Conference occurring.   The link in Ackroyd's post took me to the Data set he is so excited about.  It looks to me as if a person who understands the tools and statistics (Felix?) could become as lost in this library as anyone could in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books.  I think he is right that this kind of data repository and tool set would be very difficult for some future administration to take apart.

The web site for the Forum sure looks interesting.  The speakers are interesting, and there is certainly something, or someone, there for almost everyone.  The breakout sessions sound like they are both broad and deep.

My technical expertise is no longer up to speed, and I know that I would be completely lost in any of the breakouts.  But it sure would be interesting to be able to sit and listen to some of those speakers.

Comments

[Felix Grant]

My reply was again swallowed without being displayed...

I'll reconstruct it an send it otherwise.