75,000 people

This is amazing.

Edwards takes the high road

The buzz around Chapel Hill has been that John would not endorse either Obama or Clinton, leaving the door open for snaggling a cabinet position, no matter which candidate wins.

I've never agreed with this. First, any Democrat in the White House would be foolish not to ask Edwards to serve in the Cabinet. And if Edwards is content with his teaching at UNC, launching anti-poverty programs, and staying near Elizabeth and the kids, it would be perfectly understandable. But I sure am glad he has made his decision for Obama, at a strategically ideal time. (Watching TV now -- the background music is Springsteen's great song "The Rising," and there are big smiles on a lot of faces.)

Speaking of Elizabeth, MSNBC noted that she did not come to Grand Rapids with John for the announcement of the endorsement. They speculated that because Elizabeth has praised Hillary's health plan, that he was actually going to endorse her. I find this most improbable. It is just as likely that she simply didn't feel like travelling. Elizabeth and I are both being treated at the UNC Cancer Center, and I am here to tell you that cancer patients (even those who are doing well) suffer from "cancer fatigue," or just feel plain lousy some days and are perfectly happy to stay at home.

By the way, I really really like John Edwards, which is why I haven't taken his picture down from my blog. (See left column.) He makes me proud to be a Tar Heel, albeit a recent immigrant.

Einstein's wisdom

I finally got around to finding out what all the buzz about StumpleUpon is about. Within two minutes, I found a wonderful collection of quotes from Albert Einstein:


Collected Quotes from Albert Einstein

* "Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
* "Imagination is more important than knowledge."
* "Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."
* "I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."
* "The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."
* "Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."
* "The only real valuable thing is intuition."
* "A person starts to live when he can live outside himself."
* "I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."
* "God is subtle but he is not malicious."
* "Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."
* "I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."
* "The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."
* "Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."
* "Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
* "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
* "Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
* "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
* "Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
* "Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."
* "The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
* "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."
* "God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically."
* "The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."
* "Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."
* "Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."
* "The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."
* "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."
* "Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."
* "The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

A Tar Heel T-shirt

Between the Democratic primary and Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina is sure making headlines these days. I'm sorely tempted to buy this T-shirt.

Back to business

I've suspended blogging for a whole year, while I fought a pitched battle with cancer. I'm in remission now, and ready to start recording random thoughts again. Still, mostly about politics.

That said, I'd like to share with you the text (well, most of the text) of a note to a NC super-delegate whom I know fairly well.

"As smart and as determined as Hillary Clinton is, it pains me to say that she is, in my considered opinion, dishonest. The Bosnia incident is only one example; she knew she was lying for political advantage (one doesn't forget whether or not one is under sniper fire). She "fessed up" only after video showing her and Chelsea strolling along, in perfect safety, surfaced.

More distressing to me is her position on this ostensible gas tax holiday. Saving families somewhere between $18 and $30 over the course of the summer is a lovely idea. But it's not lovely to contemplate the interruption of critical work on our disintegrating roads and bridges and the dire effect this will have on construction workers. Mrs. Clinton has tried to justify her position, contradicted by every expert in the field, by pretending that the tax losses can be covered by windfall profits taxes on US oil companies. She knows perfectly well that the passage of such a tax law through Congress will be a long and contentious process and that the chances she can deliver on this promise are slim indeed. There is also wide speculation that oil companies will simply raise their prices in response to the tax holiday and that lower gas prices will motivate people to drive more, thus driving up demand and prices.

Barack Obama, to his credit, has not signed on to this fantasy, pointing out the serious economic consequences of a gas tax "holiday" and has proposed a $1000 tax credit to help people through hard times. More important, he stresses sensible, long term, innovative solutions to our energy problems. His is a complex message that addresses a complex situation. It is a message that many people do not want to hear. But it is the only honest and thoughtful response.


The Washington Post | May 01, 2008

Ms. Clinton proposes a windfall profits tax on U.S. oil companies to recapture the revenue forfeited by her proposal. Similar ideas have failed in the Senate because of oil-state objections; this one undoubtedly would, too. We have to agree with Sen. Barack Obama, the only candidate who has refused to play this game. "It's not an idea to get you through the summer," he said. "It's an idea to get them through an election." His opponents no doubt hope that Mr. Obama's stand will prove to be political suicide. We think it qualifies as political courage.

Mrs. Clinton's exploitation of the rising price of oil is nothing more than political pandering of the worst sort. We deserve better from the flag bearer of the Democratic party.

I have another concern about the prospect of Hillary Clinton as President, and it is one which is not "politically correct" and - in part - offends my principles as a feminist. I'm sure you are aware of her widely publicized statement that we can "obliterate" Iran.

The International Herald Tribune

TEHRAN: Iran has lodged a formal protest at the United Nations about comments by Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton that the United States would "totally obliterate" Iran if it attacked Israel with nuclear weapons, the state-run IRNA news agency reported Thursday.

However much Mrs. Clinton wants to emphasize her commitment to Israel, this remark is intemperate, inflammatory, and unwise.. The delicacy of our relationship with Iran and its obviously insane, yet dangerous, leader presents a situation that will require the utmost in diplomacy. The hard reality of our world ia that the Middle East will continue to ba a tinderbox, and engaging in dialog in this part of the world will require a calm disposition, wisdom and patience. This is not the time for a Presidential candidate to be perceived as a "fighter." And Hillary is not Golda Meir, who knew when to be tough and when to be sensibly restrained.

Added to Mrs. Clinton's personality is the simple fact that she is female. In the parts of the world that are of greatest concern to the security of the US, women are - sad to say - not taken seriously. This is true, not only in Iraq, but also in the oil emirates and other MidEast countries. Leaving the delicate balance of our international relations to Mrs. Clinton, who will be widely perceived as shrill, combative, and - in the end - inconsequential, is sheer folly.

What we need now is a thoughtful and courageous peacemaker, with a calm and dignified disposition, and Senator Obama has these qualities in abundance. Obama thinks before he speaks, and when he speaks, it's with a broad personal and intellectual perspective. I agree with the Washington Post, which says:

In campaign appearances, Obama regularly mentions his time living and attending school in Indonesia, and the fact that his paternal grandfather, a Kenyan farmer, was a Muslim. Obama invokes these facts as part of his case that he is prepared to handle foreign policy, despite having been in the Senate for only three years, and that he would literally bring a new face to parts of the world where the United States is not popular.

The Democratic party could do no better than to nominate Barack Obama as its candidate for president."