It just doesn't stop...

The Sudanese government has resumed airstrikes in the Darfur region, forcing more survivors to flee the area. This after the UN-African Union joint mission took over in Darfur and the SOFA (Status of Forces Agreement) was signed, clearing the way for the peacekeepers to begin operating.
This may mean that Khartoum is trying to do what damage they can to the rebels (and the rebels' families, and anyone they happen to know, or who happens to be within a 50-mile radius or so) before the peacekeepers get in, while they still have the chance. More disturbingly, the airstrikes could signal that Khartoum does not intend to let these peacekeepers affect its policies any more than the African Union mission did.

If Khartoum continues its abuses in Darfur much longer, it will be interesting to see how the next US president responds. McCain, Clinton, and Obama have all vocally supported action in Darfur in the past, but without any action from the Bush Administration and limited cooperation in Congress, the editorials and letters haven't accomplished much. Regardless of which one of them is in the White House a year from now, it appears that they may well have the opportunity to back up their rhetoric.

Yes. Yes, please.

McCain is now leading in California. Let's hope it sticks for the next few weeks.

And no, I don't have the time to post anything more substantive tonight. Class comes way too early in the morning these days.

For any Ron Paul fans still out there...

I doubt you're reading this site, but if you are, read this article. Then this one. Then decide if you can endorse someone of that moral caliber (hint: low, makes a pellet rifle look like a hand cannon).

For those of you who dislike Dr. Paul, now you have something more to show your friends who support him.

And lastly, if you don't like a presidential candidate, why not confront him or her with real issues? Like this one? I have a hard time imagining FOX leveling these accusations with any real credibility, but that says more about them and their motivation for excluding Dr. Paul from debates than anything else.

Wow.

Okay, so I'm not a fan of Hillary Clinton. But this is pretty impressive. I like her responses to the hecklers involved. Besides, as little as I like the Senator, those guys really deserved anything they had coming. Can't people, you know, attack Clinton on issues of policy? It's not like the issues aren't there...

Oh, wait. It's Hillary Clinton. Who wants to bet that the Clinton 2008 campaign set this one up?

Oh, how I love election years...

The New Hampshire Republican Party is no longer sponsoring the FOX presidential debate, because FOX refuses to include Ron Paul as a candidate. There has been a lot of speculation as to why FOX would dislike Ron Paul, such as the fact that Dr. Paul's views are antithetical to the neocon agenda that FOX tends to promote.

I'm loving this. As little as I like Dr. Paul's candidacy (I would probably rather see any of the three leading Democratic candidates instead of him in the White House), it's always good to see FOX and the Murdoch media machine take a hit--an admittedly minor one, but still.

Even better, the Mitt Romney campaign may be heading for a train wreck, and Giuliani isn't doing much in New Hampshire. McCain is polling ahead of Romney in New Hampshire and will probably win that primary. Since Jerry Falwell isn't around to be tagged an "agent of intolerance" anymore, and nobody really cares about my favorite false prophet, McCain could even do well in South Carolina--we'll see. Hopefully Huckabee doesn't get too much of a boost from the Baptists down there, as he'd be a disaster as anything higher than VP nominee.

I can't believe I'm feeling good about this primary season.

Farm Bill Update

The Farm Bill passed yesterday, 79-14. This is disappointing, but unsurprising. The margin in the Senate shows that the threatened Bush veto would be fruitless, as there are easily enough votes to override there. The president, on the other hand, continues to display his newfound sense of fiscal responsibility in opposition to the Farm Bill. No word on whether Vice President Cheney, as a member of neither the executive nor the legislative branch, will be able to pull anything out of his sleeve.

The FRESH Act was rejected on the 12th, 37-58.

I'm trying to find the names of the senators who opposed the Farm Bill and supported the FRESH Act, but so far all I have is an email from Senator Boxer in response to my email to her. We'll see what happens when my research skills return from wherever they're hiding.

Hmmmm

I realize this isn't an argument, or even a valid point of comparison between the two politicians. They just seem strikingly similar to me in so many ways, and the Romney picture this morning kind of jumped out at me. Funny, huh?

In other news, Oprah is now going to campaign for Barack Obama. Um? This is a recommendation?

And no, I'm not awake enough to post anything substantive at this point in the morning.