Which, famously, describes our current President–and, I’m afraid, also describes Senator Obama. Too much hubris, not enough policy details. Or even any. Granted, the left-wing version of the current Administration would be an improvement over the last seven years, but unless McCain picks Huckabee as his running mate and frightens everyone, I think we may be looking at a Republican landslide.

I’m not a huge fan of its author, but this is a good piece.

I am, however, extremely fond of Mr. Krugman.

Everywhere I went on Super Tuesday, I ran into Obama supporters, who were literally running around in circles and screaming “Yes, we can!” with glazed looks in their eyes. At best, it was embarrassing, but it also felt–deranged. I would love to be inspired by a candidate, and feel wildly excited and so forth–but, not to the point of losing reason. Surely, there is something to be said for dignity? Call me crazy, but I want an adult to run the country. A sensible one. In any case, I feel as though lately, life has been one demoralizing defeat after another. (I will not discuss–now or ever–what happened to a team which will go unmentioned until next season. But, I took it hard. There might even have been a bit of weeping involved.)

Apropos of nothing in particular, she continues to be a mysterious, somewhat perplexing figure.

My friend Barbara sent me a very funny card from this site. If you have the right kind of slightly sick sense of humor, I highly recommend it.

For those of us who like photography, this is kind of neat. They’re starting their second series of 100 on Monday.

And, if you were very kindly making up a gift list for me–which is always a delightful idea–please put this at the top. I did not know, until I became a bit of a photography wonk, that one can lust for gear. I am currently saving up for a 300mm 2.8 lens–and expect to be able to afford one in no more than two or three years. Sigh.

If you are sensible enough to be a Battlestar Galactica fan, you will enjoy this. Dark is good. And, I don’t care what anyone says–Anders is wicked handsome.

This makes life worth living.

[Note from the Webmaster: I've closed comments on this one for ease of discussion. Please head on over to the Politics thread on the MB.  Since I'm about to go out of town for the weekend, I've temporarily reconfigured the board so that administrator approval is not required. Everybody have a great weekend and play nice! ]

It’s hard to take the Iowa Caucus seriously, because it’s so random and idiosyncratic. A victory probably only means something, if the candidate comes out of nowhere–which seems highly unlikely in this perpetually media-saturated election cycle. Huckabee is a possbility, but at this point, that doesn’t seem that unexpected anymore. (Novak says,Huckabee ‘clearly departs from the mainstream of the conservative movement in his confusion of “growth” with “greed,”‘ which makes me wonder whether he’s more worried about his stock portfolio than anything else.) I love politics–but, I have to admit, I’m getting sort of tired of this endless horse race. Even this news made me say, okay, whatever, it’s about time.

But, this article–and the show itself–both made me giggle. The whole thing was, for lack of a better phrase, pointlessness-squared. This, however, made me sad–and, like many of us, I wasted some time mired in what-might-have-been. (Personally, I think Lower Manhattan would still be intact.) In any case, this article–while quite long, and probably very old news–is still well worth reading, and the follow-up is, too.

I’m not sure if this should have offended me–but, it did.

On a more cheery note, the Patriots hung on for a tough win yesterday. Which is good, because NFL games shouldn’t be easy.

Razor finally aired this weekend, but alas, it will be many months before we will be able to see another new Battlestar episode. Until then, I will have to speculate and natter on, with others of my kind, at this entertaining site.

Sometimes, I think I would very much like to pursue another career, so this caught my attention. I wonder if British citizenship is required.

In fact, if he were running for President, I would probably be in Iowa (nah, more likely, New Hampshire–to try and get a little early season skiing in, too) at this very moment. 

 I was thinking about this because yesterday, oddly, when I mentioned that I was from Atlanta orginally, someone gave me a grim look and asked if that meant I was a Southern conservative.  This befuddled me, and I said, well, my positions line up almost identically with Russ Feingold’s, if that helps you.  Which it didn’t.  (The Senator likes guns more than I do, but that may be the difference between living in an urban area and a rural one.)

I wish Feingold had thrown his little hat in the ring, but I suppose–since he makes so damn much sense–that he wouldn’t have had a chance. 

For some reason, that area of the country produces some unusually interesting politicians, mostly notably Paul Wellstone–who left us far too soon, alas.  (Hubert Humphrey and Eugene McCarthy also hailed from that neck of the woods, although dare a former Southerner like me mention such a thing?)

This is a good book, but I resent the fact that liberals now feel compelled to call themselves Progressives.  It offends me that the word “liberal” has suddenly found itself ranked among the worst insults in the world.  (A cheery example I invariably use is, if someone has just offered you some absolutely fabulous homemade ice cream, would you want a liberal serving of it–or a conservative one?  Me, I want the big old liberal serving) 

Although I do prefer pragmatic liberals, to the outraged-to-the-point-of-hysteria version, who never manage to do much more than be annoying and shrill.

Insofar as the South goes, I miss good old-fashioned yellow dog Democrats. 

Joe Biden is still doing extremely well in the debates–entirely under the radar, in my opinion–but I really wish he had risen above the temptation to announce that he spoke to both Musharraf and Bhutto, before the President did.  It may be true, but it was unseemly to toss it into a debate, I thought. 

Then again, the debate–in general–was fairly unseemly, and not wildly interesting.  Hillary had a better night, but I’m still looking for some genuine leadership, and not the calculated caution.  Which doesn’t mean that John McCain shouldn’t be ashamed of himself for allowing this insult to go essentially unremarked.  (Had the woman who made the remark been slightly less smug in her own right, it might not have seemed quite as gratuitous and unpleasant.) 

Iowa polls to the contrary, Barack still seems to be in free-fall, and the debate didn’t help him at all, in my opinion.  This piece has to have Adlai Stevenson rolling over in his grave.   There is no question that both men are smart, but I didn’t find the article at all convincing, in its attempt to paint Barack as Adlai’s ineffectual heir.   

And this latest Beltway story is just odd.  (although, as usual, Senator Obama’s staff handled it poorly–which continues to make me really nervous.  He seems to surround himself with low-level minor league talent, at best–and I don’t know about you, but I’m not looking for that in our next President.  I want the best and brightest minds in the country to fill important positions in the next Administration–in extreme contrast to the current one.)

Ah, enough politics for now.  Except that I am reading this, and recommend it.  I think he is a much more interesting and ambitious novelist than he ever seems to get credit for being–possibly because he has the bad luck to share a last name with a cottage-industry, heavily ghostwritten thriller writer?  Anyway, I’m not always crazy about his courtroom books, but the political ones are nifty, and fun–yet, also well-researched. 

I am not sure whether I want to read this.  Back in college, I would have been eager to grab it immediately.  Now?  Alas, no. 

Saw Razor on 42nd Street this week, and enjoyed it.  (Here is a review with spoilers; click at your own risk.  I liked it better than he did, especially up on the big screen.  Here are some more spoilers)  I was afraid that there would be people in costumes everywhere, but it was an after-work crowd in business clothes.  Total Battlestar addicts–but, comfortingly non-geeky ones.

Sign Mike Lowell, already, Theo!

Stowe opened for the season.  Life is good.

–makes me very dull.  I remember when I used to be a speedy and efficient worker; now, I am plodding and slow.  Or, it may just be some post-Post-Season malaise.  And the other Beloved Team has a bye week right now, so what is one to do?

My pal is dealing with a terrible scandal.  Oh, the horror!

With the strike, it looks as though we’re all going to be watching a lot of re-runs.  Recently, I have found that I need a Mary Cherry fix, and must address that.  Was it a flawed show?  Yes.  But, when it was on its game, it was genuinely hilarious.  It had a certain rhythm and style, which made it a complete giggle to watch.  Unfortunately, by adding a serious plot-thread during the second season, the show doomed itself, and sputtered to a finish.  Too bad.  I really liked it.

I caught my chum in the middle of a Buffy marathon recently, and was very jealous, even though he was–for unknown reasons–plowing through the disaster that was Season Six.  (with the notable exception of the musical, of course.)  I think I want to watch “Hush,” which has my single favorite scene of the entire series, and “Doppelgangland,” and “Passion,” and “Helpless,” and “Prophecy Girl,” and maybe even “Band Candy,” because I enjoy Jane Espenson’s sense of humor.  I do not particularly like Marti Noxon’s writing, but “The Wish” was actually pretty damn excellent. 

I adore Giles in every way–so, why am I Tara in this quiz?

Joss Whedon has a new series coming.  I am tentatively elated.

I think the Democratic Party, such as it is, had a really bad week.  Having major candidates conveniently skip the vote was extremely disappointing.  The next President is going to need to be bold and courageous–in order to try and fix the plethora of problems which s/he will face–and no one currently running seems to fall into that category. 

I don’t agree with her politics, but Peggy Noonan knows how to write.  Unfortunately, so does this guy, albeit not as well.  Luckily, Maureen Dowd does, too–and extremely well, indeed.

As ever, we really do need Laura Roslin to come back soon.  Until then, this will have to suffice.