Biden and Palin on Gay Marriage

In case you missed it, here's the part of the debate where Biden and Palin talked about gay marriage. A few points:

1) Realizing that straight people are in the majority in this country it still rankles when I hear them talk -- as Sarah does -- about "tolerating" us gays. I guess tolerate us like a skin rash that will eventually go away.
2) She implies "some of my best friends are gay." I wonder.
3) Biden pinned her down at the end as supporting full and equal civil rights for same sex couples as couples, the same as straight people get. Let's see how long that stands.

It's 3 A.M. and It's Biden on Your Phone

At least in a text message.

In delicious irony the Obama campaign apparently scrambled to get out the word that the pick was Biden after it leaked to the media -- sending out their much anticipated text message announcement at 3 a.m.

You remember 3 a.m.? Hillary does.

I'm happy with the pick -- Biden struck me as a pragmatist on Iraq and seems to have his eyes fixed on U.S. security interests in the region. I've been arguing to my Republican friends (and yes, I have them) that Obama is a pragmatist. The Biden pick reconfirms that.

Biden, the Senator from Delaware, commutes from home to DC on Amtrak. I've seen him on the Metroliner. I like that.

But what's up with Yahoo? The headline on the Yahoo email login page this morning was "Biden pick a sign of weakness." Add that to my growing list of reasons to abandon my Yahoo email account.

Democrats Dither as Bush Pushes On

Dana Milbank has a good story in today's WashPo about the multitude of proposals coming from Democrats as alternative to Bush's surge gambit. Quote of note:

If anything, the competing proposals could strengthen Bush's hand. Though largely united in opposition to Bush's plan, members of Congress, carved up by the presidential ambitions of Clinton, Obama, Dodd, Biden and others, can't unite around an alternative.

And so it goes. Since the run-up to the second Gulf War, Bush has been able to win the argument due to a lack of a unified, serious opposition willing to offer plausible plans to deal with real threats.

With one exception: I actually think a plausible plan is Sen. Joe Biden's idea, to partition Iraq into a loose confederacy sharing oil revenue, but having three distinct regions for Kurds, Shi'ites and Sunni Iraqis, who largely control their own destinies within their areas.

The sectional hatred is too deep for a political fusion (other than one seared together by tyranny, as has mostly been the case in Iraq's history) to occur. Work with other powers in the region, like the Saudis and even the Syrians and Iranians if need be to broker this deal. The U.S. military ensures a peaceful transition and keeps Iraq's neighbors from mischief along the borders.

Meanwhile, return the focus to Afghanistan, where there may be a chance of securing what Bush initially claimed he wanted -- a stable Democratic society in the Middle East.

But, the Dems won't rally around Biden's plan, because they're too busy running for President. The eventual nominee will hopefully rally the party around a unified opposition Iraq policy. By spring 2008. Which means we're in for another year of Bush running Iraq as blindly as a Dick Cheney hunting party.

And so it goes.