The Doomsday Clock, a fixture since the dawn of the nuclear age of the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, has shifted:

We stand at the brink of a second nuclear age. Not since the first atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki has the world faced such perilous choices. North Korea's recent test of a nuclear weapon, Iran's nuclear ambitions, a renewed U.S. emphasis on the military utility of nuclear weapons, the failure to adequately secure nuclear materials, and the continued presence of some 26,000 nuclear weapons in the United States and Russia are symptomatic of a larger failure to solve the problems posed by the most destructive technology on Earth.

As in past deliberations, we have examined other human-made threats to civilization. We have concluded that the dangers posed by climate change are nearly as dire as those posed by nuclear weapons. The effects may be less dramatic in the short term than the destruction that could be wrought by nuclear explosions, but over the next three to four decades climate change could cause drastic harm to the habitats upon which human societies depend for survival.

This deteriorating state of global affairs leads the Board of Directors of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists--in consultation with a Board of Sponsors that includes 18 Nobel laureates--to move the minute hand of the "Doomsday Clock" from seven to five minutes to midnight.

Maybe Joe should look into getting foot reductions so they fit better into his bloviating big mouth.  Hell, the hair plugs haven't worked out that well, have they Joe?

Didn't like his schtick in 88, much less now.  If he lasts till the caucuses on 1/14/08, I'll be really intrigued to see what buffoons show up in his corner.  

And Boo, btw, I don't think he uttered racialist type remarks today, just unadulterated idiocy.  

Darwin was right.

Urban Oasis

Neither do Edwards, Gore, Clark, Kerry or any of the other people running/"not" running for the Dem nomination.

Except Clinton and Obama.

Real talent?

It just stands there as the less talented bounce off of it like birds off of a well washed window.

Poor birdies!!!

They don't even SEE the window.

And then, in full ego flight...

BAM!!!

"WHUT HIT ME!!!???

And y'all wonder why I predict Clinton and Obama will be the only ones left standing after all the foofaraw is over.

It's just an intelligence test.

And those two have the best native political intelligence.

It's a gift.

Short of either running a front man/game show host like Butchie Boy/Ronnie "Bedtime For Bonzo" Reagan or ARRRGHING someone with talent OUT of a race because he threatens the status quo (And REAL talent will NOT be arrrghed. Too subtle.), that's the way it works.

Talent.

"Class tells", say the racetrack guys.

Watch.

AG

P.S. Biden is just another white supremacist in PC clothing. Bet on it. Without the talent to even hide it. He is from Delaware. He is the Senator from MBNA. Delaware is a credit card state. Its only real industry is usury. Ever been in black Wilmington? A NASTY feel. A pre-civil rights feel. What was the quote, again?

"...articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy."

You could feel the breeze as long-suffering black people all over America read THAT one and shook their heads. "Oh Lord. ANOTHER one!!! Peckerwood motherfuckers been saying THAT shit since Frederick DOUGLASS!!!"

Sharpton pinned him.

Good on Sharpton.

Goodness had nothing to do with it, dearie.-Mae West

Or, alternatively:

    "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American. Who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," he said. "I mean, that's a storybook, man."

Let's all jump on the corporate media bandwagon and let's all take Biden's statement in the Worst. Possible. Light.  And let's all take turns beating the shit out of him for something he clearly did not mean.

Al Sharpton, God love him, is not mainstream.  Jesse Jackson is not mainstream.  He'd make a better president than anyone the Republicans have put up in half a century.  But he's not mainstream.  Neither was Carol Mosely Braun.  She was quite possibly the sanest candidate on the stage in any of those debates, but she was not mainstream.  Neither is Dennis Kucinich, for that matter.

Charlie Rangell is mainstream, at least by my yardstick.  John Conyers is mainstream by any definition that I would use for the term.  Colin Powell is mainstream.  He'd make a better president than any other Republican I know of, and better than a few Democrats I can think of.

It is clear enough to me what Biden meant.  Barack Obama is a package.  A very attractive package that includes a whole bunch of attractive qualities, not least that he is a black man who seems to be acceptable to a large swath of white America.  You know, mainstream.  And I take Chris Rock's meaning, but that's not what Biden meant either.  Obama is an orator.  He first caught my attention with that speech at the convention.  I gather he caught a lot of people's attention with that speech.  He's not just well-spoken for a black man.  He's a damned good speaker, a natural at the podium.  

Oh, and he's good looking, too.  Hell, he's prettier than John Edwards.  Put all of that together and it makes a very attractive package.  It's a storybook, man.  He markets well.  The first black man who seems to have all the prerequisites for corporate America to get excited about.  I just wish he had some positions that I could get excited about.

Have I ever told you about my poor memory?

I'm one of those who thinks the Biden quote was misinterpreted. I know that isn't a terribly popular opinion around here now. But I did do one thing that no one else seems to have bothered to do, which is to attempt to transcribe the audio verbatim:

Biden: real story.
Interlocutor: uh-huh
Biden: I mean you got the first ... sorta ... mainstream, African-American
Interlocutor: yeah
Biden: who is articulate and bright and ... and, and clean and a ... nice looking guy
Interlocutor: mmm
Biden: I mean, it's -- that's a storybook, man.
Interlocutor: yeah

Maybe not the best choice of words, but clearly not the blatant racist slur that some have made it out to be.

Have I ever told you about my poor memory?

Steve Clemons points out that Joe Biden will be fielding questions tomorrow that can be emailed to him at ASKJOE@JOEBIDEN.COM. Here's the question I just sent off:

"As a strong supporter of using mycoherbicides to combat the opium harvest in Afghanistan, which effect do you find most appealing; the hardship it would bring to opium farmers......" more

This is what happens when a blow job is an impeachable offense.