It was tough watching Al Gore on Meet the Press yesterday. Here’s an incredibly intelligent, articulate, passionate individual who won the popular vote in 2000 yet had the election stolen from him by an anitiquated election process and Republican thievery. Our country, and the world, would be so much better of if he were president rather than the current halfwit-in-chief.  It’s a sad, sad story.

MY spring quarter grades are in. I got two A’s in American Community Colleges and Adult Psychology and an A- in Higher Education law. I’m a bit disappointed in the A1 because I thought I put enough effort in that class to deserve an A. I’m quite proud of the 19-page paper I wrote for the final.

With my first year of graduate school in the books, I have a 3.856 GPA, which I think is pretty damn good.

Count me in as one of those who is less than impressed with HIllary Clinton’s credentials as a “feminist icon.”  Call me cynical, but I don’t see how she could have gotten where she is without Bill Clinton and the Clinton money-machine in her corner. Just four years ago another woman ran for the democratic nomination and I’m sure we all remember how well she did. If anything, CLinton’s success at getting this far is a reminder of how far women need to go in the political world.

Someone please explain to me why it’s OK for republicans to routinely snuggle up the worst sort of racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-science religious leaders that the Christian right has to offer with nary a whimper from the press yet when an African-American dem candidate has ties to a rabble-rousing African-American with critical things to say about the country that’s a big issue.  I guess the lesson to learn is that bigotry is more of an American value than patriotic dissent. Pathetic…

The American Prospect has a great article on GOP efforts to exaggerate the dangers of voter fraud. While a lot of GOPers run around like chicken littles proocliming the end of the republic, the truth is far different:

Voter fraud is actually less likely to occur than lightning striking a person, according to data compiled by New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice. As Lorraine Minnite, a Columbia University professor, observed in the Project Vote report, The Politics of Voter Fraud, “The claim that voter fraud threatens the integrity of American elections is itself a fraud.” In October 2002, then-Attorney General John Ashcroft launched an intensive “Ballot Access and Voting Integrity Initiative” that required all U.S. attorney offices to coordinate with local officials in combating voter fraud. Yet even after the Justice Department declared the war against voter fraud a “high priority,” only 24 people were convicted of illegal voting in federal elections between 2002 and 2005 — and nobody was even charged by Justice with impersonating another voter. (The Justice Department declined to answer questions about more recent fraud prosecutions.) And despite the anti-immigrant frenzy fueling photo-ID laws, only 14 noncitizens were convicted of illegally voting in federal elections from 2002 through 2005 — mostly because of their ignorance of election law.

Why the beef? It’s part of an organized effort to squash voter turnout, which only helps the prospects of Republicans running for office. Thr fruits of this voter suppresion campaign can be seen in Florida, 2000, where a Republican-leaning company was hired by a Republican state official to wipe Florida’s voting rolls of ex-cons, which led to a large number of perfectly innocent African-Americans being disenfranchised, which allowed them to steal the election.

My grades for Winter, ‘08:

• Social Justice: 4.0
• LEadership in Education: 3.7 (B+)
• Student Development THeory: 3.3 (B+)

My grades were a little bit strange this past quarter… I lucked out with one class and got a bit roughed up by another.

Based on my own calculations, I didn’t deserve a 4.0 in Social Justice. Our group bombed the group project (long story), which cost us enough points to make a 4.0 mathematically impossible. I busted my ass on everything else hoping the professor might cut me some slack… I guess it worked.

As for the Theory class, I’m told I did very poorly on the final which explains the (relatively) poor grade. The final involved writing short essays in class, which is *not* a good fit for my learning style. I do quite well on essays that I have days to work on… but as for sitting down and having an essay question throw at me, that’s tough.

As for this quarter, I’m taking Law and Higher Education, Adult LEarning and Psychology, and a class on American Community Colleges.

You know… it’s funny to listen to Bush talk up the flailing economy in light of the fact that back in 2000 he talked down the CLinton-era economic boon as part of his stategy to win the White House. Obviously, what matters most is Bush’s take on the economy; the real situation is utterly unimportant.

Posting has been slow the past couple of weeks because of a tough school schedule… I should be able to post more during the break.

Geez… we need better wingnuts:

Who on earth votes for these people?

One of the current Yahoo News headlines:

Obama may face grilling on patriotism

The article goes on:

Sen. Barack Obama’s refusal to wear an American flag lapel pin along with a photo of him not putting his hand over his heart during the National Anthem led conservatives on Internet and in the media to question his patriotism.

Now Obama’s wife, Michelle, has drawn their ire, too, for saying recently that she’s really proud of her country for the first time in her adult life.

Conservative consultants say that combined, the cases could be an issue for Obama in the general election if he wins the nomination, especially as he runs against Vietnam war hero Sen. John McCain.

Please… as if up to now the republicans would never ever consider questioning the patriotism of  a democratic candidate. Saying it “could” be an issue is like saying the sun “could” rise tomorrow… of course on both accounts.

Just ask John “Purple Heart” Kerry and Max “triple amputee” Cleland. Ever since 9-11, anyone who dares questions this president’s decisions on the War on Terror is labeled as a unpatriotic, terrorist sympathizer. Of course the republican slime machine is gonna make it an issue…

What’s the next Yahoo headline? Obama may face grilling on tax-and-spend liberalism?

It’s an unfortunate commentary on our society today that I felt obligated to warn my wife about angry republicans on the road who might take offense at the innocuous democratic donkey sticker she put on her car. I suppose it’s only a matter of time before she gets the finger or yelled at by a friendly GOPer.