Hillary Agonistes [Politics]

Hillary Agonistes

Hillary Agonistes

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 13, 2008; 8:49 AM

When the media, in their infinite wisdom, decide that a race is over, the usual course is to ignore the losing candidate until the person fades from public view.

Heard a lot about Fred Thompson lately? Mike Huckabee? Rudy Giuliani? Bill Richardson? Joe Biden? Chris Dodd?

But while journalists are now treating Barack Obama as the nominee-in-waiting--to the point that no one seems to care that he's likely to get creamed in today's West Virginia primary--the Hillary Clinton story is still very much with us.

The media, it seems, just can't let go.

There's the short-term tactical story: Why hasn't she dropped out yet? Doesn't she watch television or read the papers? The news business has decided she's lost. Why prolong the agony?

But more important, I believe, is the psychodrama story: Is Hillary a sore loser? Detached from reality? Determined to weaken Obama so he'll lose and she can run in 2012? The stories get increasingly sharp-edged, increasingly speculative, as we put the senator from New York on the couch.

And, of course, there are the legacy pieces: How did the Clintons lose control of the Democratic Party? How did she fumble away the nomination? How badly did Bill Clinton hurt her? Has their time passed?

Journalists have been in a co-dependent relationship for nearly two decades with the Clintons, who provided endlessly juicy copy, from their capture of the White House to nearly losing it, from Whitewater to Gennifer to Paula to Monica, from the last-minute pardons to Hillary's Senate bid, to the impenetrable mystery of their marriage.

So while there's plenty of media carping about Hillary's refusal to exit the stage, there are plenty of journalists who want to keep her there.

Here's a new theory on the couple's tenacity, courtesy of the New Republic's Michael Crowley:

"The Clintons find themselves victimized and under siege. The presidency is being stolen from them. The press is out to get them. They deride elites and champion the masses. They live in a constant state of emergency. But they will endure any humiliation, ride out any crisis, fight on even when fighting seems hopeless.

"That might sound like a fair summary of how Bill and Hillary Clinton have viewed the past five months. But it also happens to describe what, until now, was the greatest ordeal of the Clintons' almost comically turbulent political careers: impeachment. That baroque saga hardened the Clintonian worldview about politics and helps to explain their approach to this brutal campaign season. The Clintons have been here before, you see. They're being impeached all over again . . .

"Congressional Democrats were the superdelegates of 1998--worried that the Clintons' campaign to save themselves would extend into the fall, threatening their own political existences. Some in the Senate were on the brink of traveling to the White House to advise the president to resign. But congressional Democrats ultimately rallied, and Hillary played a decisive role in that effort . . . So, if Hillary has believed that she can sway superdelegates in the face of conventional wisdom, it's because she has some experience to justify her self-confidence.

"Surviving impeachment didn't just require savvy tactics; it required defiance. The press predicted that MonicaGate would drive the Clintons from the White House. And, just as some liberal commentators argue that Hillary should end her candidacy for the good of the party and her own reputation, in 1998 many media outlets made similar arguments about her husband. The Philadelphia Inquirer, which had twice endorsed Bill, editorialized that resigning would be 'the honorable thing.' And it wasn't just ink-stained wretches. For a time, it seemed the entire Washington elite wanted the Clintons banished. A day before the 1998 election, Georgetown über-hostess Sally Quinn wrote in The Washington Post that 'the Washington establishment is outraged by the president's behavior' and suggested that he resign to spare her town further humiliation. Never mind that poll after poll showed Americans were quite content with Clinton."

But isn't there a difference between a sex scandal and falling behind in pledged delegates? There's no vast right-wing conspiracy in this case. But maybe Hillary has the same feeling of being kicked around by the press. Bill has certainly made his displeasure with the coverage quite clear.

At HuffPost, Barbara Ehrenreich says Hillary made history--and not in a good way:

"In Friday's New York Times, Susan Faludi rejoiced over Hillary Clinton's destruction of the myth of female prissiness and innate moral superiority, hailing Clinton's 'no-holds-barred pugnacity' and her media reputation as 'nasty' and 'ruthless.' Future female presidential candidates will owe a lot to the race of 2008, Faludi wrote, 'when Hillary Clinton broke through the glass floor and got down with the boys.'

"I share Faludi's glee -- up to a point. Surely no one will ever dare argue that women lack the temperament for political combat. But by running a racially-tinged campaign, lying about her foreign policy experience, and repeatedly seeming to favor [John] McCain over her Democratic opponent, Clinton didn't just break through the 'glass floor,' she set a new low for floors in general, and would, if she could have got within arm's reach, have rubbed the broken glass into Obama's face . . .

"Hillary Clinton smashed the myth of innate female moral superiority in the worst possible way -- by demonstrating female moral inferiority. We didn't really need her racial innuendos and free-floating bellicosity to establish that women aren't wimps."

At Salon, Walter Shapiro examines the politics of euthanasia:

"The New York senator has obviously reached the death-with-dignity phase of her 2008 ambitions. Normally in presidential politics three types of shortages drive a candidate out of a hopeless race -- a lack of press coverage, money and prominent supporters willing to keep on spinning and sowing. But, as Barack Obama is learning with each passing day, none of the usual rules apply while waiting for Hillary to hoist the white flag.

"The Clintons on the downslide remain a riveting psychodrama, so the press pack is unlikely to abandon them to speculate about President Obama's would-be secretary of agriculture. Having already invested (or squandered) $11 million on the campaign, Hillary and her n'er-do-well husband have another $98 million to go before they tap out . . .

"So what will it take for Obama to finally be allowed to celebrate the triumph of hope over experience?"

Some liberal bloggers, such as John Aravosis, are seething:

"Hillary and her husband are now out to destroy our nominee. Your could argue that it kind of made sense when Hillary still had a chance (her kitchen-sink tactics were nasty, to be sure, they appeared to have crossed a line, but at least there was a logic to it when Hillary had a chance). Now that the race is over and Hillary has lost, her ongoing attempts to hurt Obama, to smear him, to make rural voters hate him, to convince America that a black man can't and shouldn't be president, make her little better than the Republicans she hated during the 1990s - people who were out to hurt her simply for the joy of inflicting pain."

What NYT reporter Kate Zernike told me was "ding dong the witch is dead" coverage is generating some anger, as Politico confirms:

"There's a motivational shift afoot in Hillary nation. The legions of Hillary Rodham Clinton backers still investing their cash, energy and emotion into her faltering bid for the Democratic presidential nomination seem driven not by the reasonable expectation that she can beat Barack Obama, but by the emotional desire to see her through to the end of voting and stick it to those who have already written her off. Clinton's campaign is fanning the flames of that backlash -- against the media, against superdelegates who recently backed Obama and against Obama himself. Aides hope to convert the sentiments into protest votes that could deliver landslide victories in West Virginia and Kentucky, Clinton strongholds that are among the next three states to cast ballots."

What about the tiresome dream-ticket chatter? American Prospect's Ezra Klein peers into the future of the Clintonites in an Obama administration:

"Will they be able to keep their sprawling universe of well-connected confidantes from leaking tales of their displeasure to the press? Will they want to? What happens when the first Time magazine cover comes out with Obama staring down the Clintons, and the tagline is, 'Who's Really Running the Country?' It's such an obvious story that it can be predicted, with almost perfect certainty, right now."

I'd say the probability is high.

Still, "in a USA TODAY Gallup Poll, 55% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents also would like Illinois Sen. Barack Obama to choose Clinton as his running mate, although there's notable resistance among his backers."

Obama, for his part, continues to be dogged by bogus rumors, as Andrew Sullivan details:

" 'I heard that Obama is a Muslim and his wife's an atheist,' -- Leonard Simpson, a West Virginia Democrat. Then this:

"Josh Fry, a 24-year-old ambulance driver from Williamson, insisted he was not racist but said he would feel more comfortable with Mr McCain, the 71-year-old Vietnam war hero, in the White House. 'I want someone who is a full-blooded American as president,' he said.

"Meanwhile, I get an email like this:

" 'This guy is a muslim trying to take over religion, rights, gunns, and lastly our country. Does anyone remember 911. He's cunning and a racists. He is connected with dirty money and bad connections in the rest of the world.'

"Obama's got his work cut out with these people when he gets the nomination. A summer of engaging and listening with rural non-college educated white folk would help."

This is McCain's environmental week, and the New York Times reports on the kickoff:

"Senator John McCain sought to distance himself from President Bush on Monday as he called for a mandatory limit on greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to combat climate change.

"Mr. McCain, in a speech at a wind power company, also pledged to work with the European Union to diplomatically engage China and India, two of the world's biggest polluters, if they refuse to participate in an international agreement to slow global warming.

"In the prepared text of his speech, e-mailed to reporters on Sunday night and Monday morning, Mr. McCain went so far as to call for punitive tariffs against China and India if they evaded international standards on emissions, but he omitted the threat in his delivered remarks. Aides said he had decided to soften his language because he thought he could be misinterpreted as being opposed to free trade, a central tenet of his campaign and Republican orthodoxy."

Probably better to decide that before you give reporters the text.

Maybe McCain was trying to avoid ticking off the likes of Bull Dog Pundit, who sees him pandering to Republicans In Name Only:

"There are many RINO's (especially in places like Montgomery County, PA) to whom global warming are huge issues, and if McCain said or did nothing to parrot their beliefs, they would vote for Obama, even though many may have reservations about him.

"So I can't slam McCain too much for doing this, although I wish it was a political move, but I actually think he believes this stuff about man-made global warming, which greatly concerns me. And like it or not, it will be an example to independents and RINO's that McCain is not walking in lock-step with us 'crazies'.

"What's comical however, is the belief that McCain singing from the same hymnal as the Democrats on this issue is somehow going to win him some younger voters.

"You've got to be kidding me. Younger voters are so enthralled with Obama and his empty but effective bromides about 'change' and 'hope' that John McCain could almost offer them free beer and pizza and it wouldn't matter."

Cindy McCain's got her work cut out for her. A Washington Times survey "asked Americans which mother has 'had the most positive influence on America,' and Mrs. McCain trailed the pack, with just 4 percent -- well below Mrs. Obama, Mrs. Clinton and top-choice first lady Laura Bush. She even trailed the fictional matriarch from 'The Simpsons,' who garnered 9 percent."

The fall matchup polls miss the point that, as Al Gore well remembers, presidential elections are decided by electoral votes. Atlantic's Marc Ambinder divvies up the pie, including states "leaning" to one candidate or another, and gives McCain a lead of 245 to 221, with Florida in the Republican's column. (The magic number of course is 270.)

Ambinder's tossup states: Pennsylvania (21), Wisconsin (10), Iowa (7), Ohio (20), New Mexico (5) and Colorado (9) -- 72 electoral votes.

How does the GOP's political health look at the Weekly Standard? Pretty bad, says Fred Barnes, but could be worse:

"Prospects for Republicans in the 2008 election here at home look grim. The political environment isn't as bad as it was in 2006 when Republicans lost both houses of Congress and a lot more. But it's close.

"The empirical evidence is well known. More than 80 percent of Americans believe the nation is heading in the wrong direction. Democrats have steadily maintained the 10 percentage point lead in voter preference they gained two years ago. And President Bush's job performance rating is stuck in the low 30s, a level of unpopularity that weakens the Republican case for holding the White House in 2008.

"There's another piece of polling data that is both intriguing and indicative. In a Wall Street Journal/NBC survey last month, John McCain fared better with Republican voters (84 percent to 8 percent) than Barack Obama did with Democrats (78 percent to 12 percent). McCain was also stronger than Obama among independent voters (46 percent to 35 percent)."

So why is McCain still trailing? "The explanation for this seeming paradox is quite simple: The Republican base has shrunk. In 2008, there are fewer Republicans . . . The surge of American troops in Iraq hasn't turned the war into a Republican asset, but it's at least blunted it as an effective Democratic talking point."

I always figured working for a Webby operation meant lots of freedom. But Politico wants to establish a sort-of dress code! Fishbowl DC has a memo from Jim VandeHei:

"That's right, guys: no more unbuttoned shirts to sport your beastly chests, no more flipflops to sport your gangly toenails and no more wrinkled shirts yanked from beneath your bed.

"I thought it was only me bothered by it but when I announced this to a huge sampling of Politicos they erupted in wild applause (I believe Lisa Lerer even hooted standing atop her chair).

"I am not asking you to wear a monogrammed shirt and tie every day. But we are professionals, so let's all use some common sense and dress like it. Socks would be nice, too."

I'd fit right in there: I'm a big believer in wearing socks!

Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause [Politics]

Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause

Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause

By Kevin Merida
Washington Post Staff Writer

The Farmers for Obama headquarters in Vincennes, Ind., was vandalized on the eve of that state's May 6 primary. (By Ray Mccormick)

Tuesday, May 13, 2008; A01

Danielle Ross was alone in an empty room at the Obama campaign headquarters in Kokomo, Ind., a cellphone in one hand, a voter call list in the other. She was stretched out on the carpeted floor wearing laceless sky-blue Converses, stories from the trail on her mind. It was the day before Indiana's primary, and she had just been chased by dogs while canvassing in a Kokomo suburb. But that was not the worst thing to occur since she postponed her sophomore year at Middle Tennessee State University, in part to hopscotch America stumping for Barack Obama.

Here's the worst: In Muncie, a factory town in the east-central part of Indiana, Ross and her cohorts were soliciting support for Obama at malls, on street corners and in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and they ran into "a horrible response," as Ross put it, a level of anti-black sentiment that none of them had anticipated.

"The first person I encountered was like, 'I'll never vote for a black person,' " recalled Ross, who is white and just turned 20. "People just weren't receptive."

For all the hope and excitement Obama's candidacy is generating, some of his field workers, phone-bank volunteers and campaign surrogates are encountering a raw racism and hostility that have gone largely unnoticed -- and unreported -- this election season. Doors have been slammed in their faces. They've been called racially derogatory names (including the white volunteers). And they've endured malicious rants and ugly stereotyping from people who can't fathom that the senator from Illinois could become the first African American president.

The contrast between the large, adoring crowds Obama draws at public events and the gritty street-level work to win votes is stark. The candidate is largely insulated from the mean-spiritedness that some of his foot soldiers deal with away from the media spotlight.

Victoria Switzer, a retired social studies teacher, was on phone-bank duty one night during the Pennsylvania primary campaign. One night was all she could take: "It wasn't pretty." She made 60 calls to prospective voters in Susquehanna County, her home county, which is 98 percent white. The responses were dispiriting. One caller, Switzer remembers, said he couldn't possibly vote for Obama and concluded: "Hang that darky from a tree!"

Documentary filmmaker Rory Kennedy, the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy, said she, too, came across "a lot of racism" when campaigning for Obama in Pennsylvania. One Pittsburgh union organizer told her he would not vote for Obama because he is black, and a white voter, she said, offered this frank reason for not backing Obama: "White people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people."

Obama campaign officials say such incidents are isolated, that the experience of most volunteers and staffers has been overwhelmingly positive.

The campaign released this statement in response to questions about encounters with racism: "After campaigning for 15 months in nearly all 50 states, Barack Obama and our entire campaign have been nothing but impressed and encouraged by the core decency, kindness, and generosity of Americans from all walks of life. The last year has only reinforced Senator Obama's view that this country is not as divided as our politics suggest."

Campaign field work can be an exercise in confronting the fears, anxieties and prejudices of voters. Veterans of the civil rights movement know what this feels like, as do those who have been involved in battles over busing, immigration or abortion. But through the Obama campaign, some young people are having their first experience joining a cause and meeting cruel reaction.

On Election Day in Kokomo, a group of black high school students were holding up Obama signs along U.S. 31, a major thoroughfare. As drivers cruised by, a number of them rolled down their windows and yelled out a common racial slur for African Americans, according to Obama campaign staffers.

Frederick Murrell, a black Kokomo High School senior, was not there but heard what happened. He was more disappointed than surprised. During his own canvassing for Obama, Murrell said, he had "a lot of doors slammed" in his face. But taunting teenagers on a busy commercial strip in broad daylight? "I was very shocked at first," Murrell said. "Then again, I wasn't, because we have a lot of racism here."

The bigotry has gone beyond words. In Vincennes, the Obama campaign office was vandalized at 2 a.m. on the eve of the primary, according to police. A large plate-glass window was smashed, an American flag stolen. Other windows were spray-painted with references to Obama's controversial former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, and other political messages: "Hamas votes BHO" and "We don't cling to guns or religion. Goddamn Wright."

Ray McCormick was notified of the incident at about 2:45 a.m. A farmer and conservationist, McCormick had erected a giant billboard on a major highway on behalf of Farmers for Obama. He also was housing the Obama campaign worker manning the office. When McCormick arrived at the office, about two hours before he was due out of bed to plant corn, he grabbed his camera and wanted to alert the media. "I thought, this is a big deal." But he was told Obama campaign officials didn't want to make a big deal of the incident. McCormick took photos anyway and distributed some.

"The pictures represent what we are breaking through and overcoming," he said. As McCormick, who is white, sees it, Obama is succeeding despite these incidents. Later, there would be bomb threats to three Obama campaign offices in Indiana, including the one in Vincennes, according to campaign sources.

Obama has not spoken much about racism during this campaign. He has sought to emphasize connections among Americans rather than divisions. He shrugged off safety concerns that led to early Secret Service protection and has told black senior citizens who worry that racists will do him harm: Don't fret. Earlier in the campaign, a 68-year-old woman in Carson City, Nev., voiced concern that the country was not ready to elect an African American president.

"Will there be some folks who probably won't vote for me because I am black? Of course," Obama said, "just like there may be somebody who won't vote for Hillary because she's a woman or wouldn't vote for John Edwards because they don't like his accent. But the question is, 'Can we get a majority of the American people to give us a fair hearing?' "

Obama has won 30 of 50 Democratic contests so far, the kind of nationwide electoral triumph no black candidate has ever realized. That he is on the brink of capturing the Democratic nomination, some say, is a testament to how far the country has progressed in overcoming racism and evidence of Obama's skill at bridging divides.

Obama has won five of 12 primaries in which black voters made up less than 10 percent of the electorate, and caucuses in states such as Idaho and Wyoming that are overwhelmingly white. But exit polls show he has struggled to attract white voters who didn't attend college and earn less than $50,000 a year. Today, he and Hillary Clinton square off in West Virginia, a state where she is favored and where the votes of working-class whites will again be closely watched.

For the most part, Obama campaign workers say, the 2008 election cycle has been exhilarating. On the ground, the Obama campaign is being driven by youngsters, many of whom are imbued with an optimism undeterred by racial intolerance. "We've grown up in a different world," says Danielle Ross. Field offices are staffed by 20-somethings who hold positions -- state director, regional field director, field organizer -- that are typically off limits to newcomers to presidential politics.

Gillian Bergeron, 23, was in charge of a five-county regional operation in northeastern Pennsylvania. The oldest member of her team was 27. At Scranton's annual Saint Patrick's Day parade, some of the green Obama signs distributed by staffers were burned along the parade route. That was the first signal that this wasn't exactly Obama country. There would be others.

In a letter to the editor published in a local paper, Tunkhannock Borough Mayor Norm Ball explained his support of Hillary Clinton this way: "Barack Hussein Obama and all of his talk will do nothing for our country. There is so much that people don't know about his upbringing in the Muslim world. His stepfather was a radical Muslim and the ranting of his minister against the white America, you can't convince me that some of that didn't rub off on him.

"No, I want a president that will salute our flag, and put their hand on the Bible when they take the oath of office."

Obama's campaign workers have grown wearily accustomed to the lies about the candidate's supposed radical Muslim ties and lack of patriotism. But they are sometimes astonished when public officials such as Ball or others representing the campaign of their opponent traffic in these falsehoods.

Karen Seifert, a volunteer from New York, was outside of the largest polling location in Lackawanna County, Pa., on primary day when she was pressed by a Clinton volunteer to explain her backing of Obama. "I trust him," Seifert replied. According to Seifert, the woman pointed to Obama's face on Seifert's T-shirt and said: "He's a half-breed and he's a Muslim. How can you trust that?"

* * *

Pollsters have found it difficult to accurately measure racial attitudes, as some voters are unwilling to acknowledge the role that race plays in their thinking. But some are not. Susan Dzimian, a Clinton supporter who owns residential properties, said outside a polling location in Kokomo that race was a factor in how she viewed Obama. "I think if it was somebody other than him, I'd accept it," she said of a black candidate. "If Colin Powell had run, I would be willing to accept him."

The previous evening, Dondra Ewing was driving the neighborhoods of Kokomo, looking to turn around voters like Dzimian. Ewing, 47, is a chain-smoking middle school guidance counselor, a black single mother of two and one of the most fiercely vigilant Obama volunteers in Kokomo, which was once a Ku Klux Klan stronghold. On July 4, 1923, Kokomo hosted the largest Klan gathering in history -- an estimated 200,000 followers flocked to a local park. But these are not the 1920s, and Ewing believes she can persuade anybody to back Obama. Her mother, after all, was the first African American elected at-large to the school board in a community that is 10 percent black.

Kokomo, population 46,000, is another hard-hit Midwestern industrial town stung by layoffs. Longtimers wistfully remember the glory years of Continental Steel and speak mournfully about the jobs shipped overseas. Kokomo Sanitary Pottery, which made bathroom sinks and toilets, shut down a couple of months ago and took with it 150 jobs.

Aaron Roe, 23, was mowing lawns at a local cemetery recently, lamenting his $8-an-hour job with no benefits. He had earned a community college degree as an industrial electrician, but learned there was no electrical work to be found for someone with his experience, which is to say none. Politics wasn't on his mind; frustration was. If he were to vote, it would not be for Obama, he said. "I just got a funny feeling about him," Roe said, a feeling he couldn't specify, except to say race wasn't a part of it. "Race ain't nothing," said Roe, who is white. "It's how they're going to help the country."

The Aaron Roes are exactly who Dondra Ewing was after: people with funny feelings.

At the Bradford Run Apartments, she found Robert Cox, a retiree who spent 30 years working for an electronics manufacturer making computer chips. He was in his suspenders, grilling shish kebab, which he had never eaten. "Something new," Cox said, recommended by his son who was visiting from Colorado.

Ewing was selling him hard on Obama. "There are more than two families that can run the United States of America," she said, "and their names aren't Bush and Clinton."

"Yeah, I know, I know," Cox said, remaining noncommittal.

He opened the grill and peeked at the kebabs. "It's not his race, because I got real good friends and all that," Cox continued. "If anything would keep him from getting elected, it would be his name. It might turn off some older people."

Like him?

"No, older than me," said Cox, 66.

Ewing kept talking, until finally Cox said, "Probably Obama," when asked directly how he would vote.

As she walked away, Ewing said: "I think we got him."

But truthfully, she wasn't feeling so sure.

Staff writer Peter Slevin and polling analyst Jennifer Agiesta contributed to this report.

you heard what the boy said [Art][Robots]

you heard what the boy said

you heard what the boy said

I hope you miss me too - [Art][Robots]

I hope you miss me too

I hope you miss me too

Vice President Clinton? [Politics]

Vice President Clinton?

---

Vice President Clinton?

posted by Nicholas von Hoffman on 05/08/2008 @ 11:49am

May 8, 2008

Why would a smart woman like Hillary Clinton continue her campaign when the odds are against her? In her public appearances as a newly cast woman of the people she says she is doing it for us. If so, thanks but no thanks.

Speculation assigns her pertinacity to other motives. Some are guessing that she is continuing to campaign as a means of crowbarring herself into being chosen as the vice-presidential candidate. According to this line of thought, the longer she campaigns the more she binds white women of a certain age to her and can argue that unless she is on the ballot they will be so disaffected that they will stay home on election day.

Others whisper that she hopes by soldiering on to make a deal with the Obama campaign that, in return for a.) her withdrawal and b.) her promise to stump for him against McCain, her campaign debts will be taken care of and she will be repaid the money she loaned herself. She does have a reputation for grasping for a buck.

If the tens of thousands of Obama contributors were to learn that their money has been given to Hillary Clinton, there might be something of a backlash. Such a deal would have to be done secretly, a mode of doing business which Ms. Clinton has some familiarity with. In fact the Washington Times reports that her penchant for keeping things in the dark brought her to the edge of being indicted by a federal grand jury for lying during the first Clinton presidency. The paper says that she escaped because the prosecutors had doubts that a jury would convict a first lady.

Barack Obama will have to ponder whether he will lose more votes by keeping Clinton off the ticket than putting her on it. She does bring her legion of devoted women as well as an unspecified number of Caucasian males to the voting booth. But will her presence as running mate discourage Obama's most enthusiastic and idealistic supporters? For weeks now he has been saying that Clinton is the essence of the old politics, whose page he promises to turn.

If she does force her way onto the ticket it will not be the first time. In 1932 the price Franklin D. Roosevelt had to pay for the nomination was accepting as his running mate John Nance Garner, a Texas reactionary of the whiskey-drinking, tobacco-chewing variety. The two men despised each other and spent the next eight years staying out of each other's sight.

The modern vice presidency is a much bigger deal than it was in Garner's day. Then the VP supplied his own housing and did nothing but preside over the Senate. Roosevelt neither worked with nor confided in his vice presidents. When he died and Harry Truman assumed office, he had not even been told of the existence of the Manhattan Project.

Nowadays the vice president has a mansion and a retinue. Although a modern president could exclude his veep from the White House, the present-day custom is to give the vice president and staff a White House office.

If Obama has a sense of self preservation he should place one proviso on choosing Clinton as his running mate: extract a promise that Chelsea Clinton be installed in the White House as his official taster. You can imagine the intrigues for power and the placement of her liegemen in top jobs coming out Ms. Clinton's office. And where would Bill fit in? What happens when it is revealed that he made a deal with a Central Asian despot for an oil concession for one of his billionaire buds?

For some people Obama-Clinton is dream ticket. For others it's a dream swarming with poisonous spiders, snakes and elephant-sized rats. Instead, for the new politics of national unity of which Obama speaks he might think about putting a Republican on the ticket.

The Republican Abraham Lincoln put a Democrat on the ticket in 1864. In 2008 Democrat Obama could choose Republican Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel or independent Mike Bloomberg. Such a ticket might not be dreamy but it would be a turn of the page.

8 Absolutely Bizarre Keyboards - HacknMod.com [Technology]

8 Absolutely Bizarre Keyboards - HacknMod.com - Amazingly Cool Hacks, Mods, and Projects.

8 Absolutely Bizarre Keyboards

1. The Mouse-Keyboard Combination Pretty much everything on this list will make you think "WTF, that's ridiculous" but this one's definitely at the top of the list. First of all, you can't even reach the keys with your right hand fingers, and second, you'd pretty much have to relearn how to type. These are supposed to be produced later this year. 2. Pants with a Built in Keyboard If only every computer had build in bluetooth or wireless connectivity, this would actually be useful. Otherwise, you'd have to pop in the bluetooth adapter, connect to it... I suppose they'd be one hell of an awesome nerd fashion statement. 3. The Arm Band Keyboard Everyone who's anyone knows watches are soooo totally out of style. All the cool kids are wearing these puppies nowadays. 4. The Eco-Friendly Wooden Keyboard Us awesome solar powered, whale saving, electric car driving folks here at HacknMod love the environment. We've decided to order 10 of these to decrease our carbon emmissions. 5. The "Ergonomic" Keyboard of Death Somehow this one has horribly misnamed an "ergonomic keyboard." Seems to me like you'd be twisting your fingers and wrists in so many directions to type, you're bound to get carpal tunnel while writing your first email with the thing. 6. The Roll up/Fabric Keyboard We've seen these in movies such as Live Free or Die Hard, and we also know how to make them as well. You can actually buy them cheap now for about 20 bucks. Similarly Amazon sells a Fabric Keyboard for $80. 7. The Hardcore Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Keyboard Okay, this one definitely beats the mouse-keyboard combo in this "WTF, thats ridiculous" category. The creators of this device claim you can learn to type 30 words a minute in just one short weekend. In the final board meeting, they decided to change the name from Carpal Tunnel Nightmare to the Twiddler. 8. No Comment

Krishnamurti [Quotes]

Quote Details: Krishnamurti: It is no measure... - The Quotations Page

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.

Krishnamurti

judgment day [Art]

judgment day

judgment day

Zen Garden | Strange Deaths | Strange Days | Fortean Times UK [Weird]

Zen Garden | Strange Deaths | Strange Days | Fortean Times UK

Zen Garden

Monk dismembered by mower

Images: Terry Colon

April 2008

A Buddhist monk was killed instantly in August 2007 when he was run over by his own sit-on lawnmower as he trimmed the grass at his temple. Moments before the tragedy, Rev. Seiji Handa, 50, was seen running after the driverless machine as it pulled away from him. Witness Venita Slater told jurors at the inquest this February that the monk disappeared beneath the tractor-style motor as he struggled to get into the cab and regain control. His dismembered body was found on a grassy slope at the 12-acre peace centre he set up 30 years ago in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Health and safety officials found that the diesel vehicle should not have been in service. The rachet on the handbrake wasn't working, the brakes were not able to hold the tractor steady, and the footbrake didn't work. Verdict: accidental death. Mr Handa was born in Japan and became a Buddhist monk at the age of 21. He was ordained at a peace pagoda in Sri Lanka. He arrived in Milton Keynes in 1978 and built a temple with the help of nuns and volunteers. He lost three of his fingers in another incident with a lawnmower 10 years ago.

Independent, Times, 25 Feb 2008

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | US army develops robotic suits [Robots][Technology]

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | US army develops robotic suits

US army develops robotic suits

By Rajesh Mirchandani BBC News, Utah

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Rex Jameson, software engineer

On the big screen, films like Robocop, Universal Soldier and forthcoming release Iron Man show man-machines with superhuman powers. But in Utah they are turning science fiction into reality.

We are at a research facility on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, ringed by beautiful snow-capped mountains. Once they held the Winter Olympics here; now they are testing endurance in other ways.

The aluminium limbs gleam in the brilliant sunshine, as the strange metal skeleton hangs from a safety harness at the outdoor testing site. It seems to be treading water; actually its programme is telling it to keep the hydraulic fluid in its joints moving.

Rex Jameson, a software engineer here at laboratories run by Sarcos, the robotics firm which designed the XOS exoskeleton, steps up and into the suit.

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Stephen Jacobsen, Sarcos

The lightweight aluminium exoskeleton, called XOS, senses Rex's every move and instantly moves with him; it is almost like a shadow or a second skin. It is designed for agility that can match a human's, but with strength and endurance that far outweigh our abilities.

With the exoskeleton on and fully powered up, Rex can easily pull down weight of more than 90 kilos, more than he weighs.

For the army the XOS could mean quicker supply lines, or fewer injuries when soldiers need to lift heavy weights or move objects around repeatedly. Initial models would be used as workhorses, on the logistics side.

Later models, the army hopes, could go into combat, carrying heavier weapons, or even wounded colleagues.

Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

The XOS in action

There are still problems to solve, not least how to create a mobile power supply that can last an effective length of time.

But the US military expects to take delivery of these early prototypes next year, and hopefully deploy some refined versions within eight years.

It is a long way off before we see robot soldiers that can fly or fire missiles - like in the movies - but the designers are already imagining future versions more reminiscent of Hollywood.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/science/nature/7351314.stm

Published: 2008/04/16 22:30:25 GMT

© BBC MMVIII

love is everywhere - [Art]

love is everywhere

love is everywhere

Three Mile Island Guard Suspended for Inattentiveness|abc27 News [Environment]

D'oh! Was his name Home J Simpson?
~P

Three Mile Island Guard Suspended for Inattentiveness|abc27 News

Three Mile Island Guard Suspended for Inattentiveness

   posted 5:08 pm Wed April 30, 2008 - Londonderry Township, Pa.

   reporter: Al Gnoza      posted by: Seth Chevalier

A Three Mile Island nuclear plant security guard has been suspended for being inattentive on the job.

Plant spokesman Ralph DeSantis won't elaborate on what led to the guard's suspension on Tuesday and won't identify the man.

DeSantis says a plant supervisor discovered the guard wasn't paying attention in the afternoon.

DeSantis says no security breach or safety problem occurred as a result of the incident. He says the suspension will remain in effect pending an investigation.

Federal rules require critical nuclear plant employees to be attentive at all times.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

Dean: One Candidate Must Quit | The Onion [Funny]

Dean: One Candidate Must Quit | The Onion - America's Finest News Source

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Dean: One Candidate Must Quit

Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said that, in order to maintain party unity, either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would have to drop out of the presidential primary race. What do you think?

Alice Peralta,
Systems Analyst
"Shouldn't be a problem. The Clintons have always bowed out gracefully."

Roy Messner,
Construction Worker
"Nah, I bet they could also maintain unity if one of them died in a plane crash."

Kenny Stoyanoff,
Church Organist
"I agree. Americans participating in the democratic process by getting to vote has become a needless waste of time."

Albert Hofmann [Quotes]

I hope to see the development of a technique of Applied Mysticism - a technique for individuals to get the most out of their transcendental experience and to make use of the insights from the Other World in the affairs of This World. - Albert Hofmann

Albert Hofmann, 102; Chemist Discovered LSD [Health][History]

Albert Hofmann, 102; Chemist Discovered LSD

Albert Hofmann's formulation of LSD had wide-ranging social effects, and the drug was eventually made illegal. (Family Photo - Family Photo)

Albert Hofmann, 102; Chemist Discovered LSD

By Adam Bernstein
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 30, 2008; B07

Albert Hofmann, 102, a Swiss chemist and accidental father of LSD who came to view the much-vilified and abused hallucinogen he discovered in 1938 as his "problem child," died April 29 at his home in Burg, a village near Basel, Switzerland, after a heart attack.

His death was confirmed by Rick Doblin, the Boston-based founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, a nonprofit pharmaceutical company developing LSD and other psychedelics for prescription medicines.

Lysergic acid diethylamide, thousands of times stronger than mescaline, can give its user an experience often described as psychedelic -- a kaleidoscopic twirling of the mind pulsating with color and movement.

After its discovery, LSD was viewed as a wonder drug with the potential to treat problems including schizophrenia and alcoholism. For the latter, some held the theory that chronic drinkers quit only after experiencing the hallucinations of delirium tremens.

LSD attracted many prominent advocates. They included Aldous Huxley, author of "Brave New World," and psychologist Timothy Leary, who saw the drug as a potent way for people to live up to his 1960s counterculture motto: "Turn on, tune in, drop out."

The CIA was also widely reported to have used LSD in experiments on unwitting subjects. This, and greater recreational use that caused some fatal overdoses, led to the widespread condemnation of the drug and, by the early 1970s, its criminalization. As a result, research permission and funding from state and federal agencies was terminated.

In Dr. Hofmann's opinion, outlawing LSD made its use even more attractive to young people and diminished any safeguards. He spoke of many hippies stopping by his home on the way to their spiritual quest, hoping to score from his "secret stash."

Dr. Hofmann came across LSD while working on medicinal uses of a fungus to act as a circulatory heart-lung stimulant. His first LSD "trip" occurred in 1943, a troubling experience that led him to write in his journal, "A demon had invaded me, had taken possession of my body, mind and soul."

Dr. Hofmann remained wary of LSD's recreational uses as well as its portrayal in the media.

"I was not surprised that it became a ritual drug in the youth anti-establishment movement, but I was shocked by irresponsible use that resulted in mental catastrophes," he told Playboy magazine in 2006. "That's what gave the health authorities a pretext for totally prohibiting its production, possession and use."

Albert Hofmann was born Jan. 11, 1906, in Baden, Switzerland. He was the oldest of four children, and after his father, a toolmaker, fell seriously ill, he was forced as a teenager to seek a commercial apprenticeship to support the family.

While learning a trade, he continued his private schooling with financial help from his godfather. In 1930, he received a doctorate from the University of Zurich, where he studied the chemistry of plants and animals, and he joined the pharmaceutical-chemical firm Sandoz (now Novartis) in Basel.

Among his early accomplishments was the synthesis of an alkaloid that prompted uterine contractions to stop postpartum bleeding.

In 1938, he was exploring a circulatory heart-lung stimulant when he happened on LSD-25 while conducting purification and crystallization experiments on the fungus ergot, which grows on rye. Ergot had been long used to induce childbirth.

Lysergic acid is an active part of therapeutically essential ergot alkaloids, and Dr. Hofmann began combining it with other molecules for his research.

At the time, LSD showed little effect on lab animals besides some agitation. It was shelved for five years until he, on a hunch, repeated the experiment to help him with another medical study.

Having unknowingly absorbed some of the compound, he experienced a dizzying sensation that also made him restless.

He wrote in a journal about this first known encounter: "At home I lay down and sank into a not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination.

"In a dreamlike state, with eyes closed (I found the daylight to be unpleasantly glaring), I perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colors. After some two hours this condition faded away."

Three days later, April 19, he bicycled home after consuming 250 micrograms of LSD in a now-famous "trip" that has become known as Bicycle Day. The route he took home was later named in his honor.

That time, he said, he felt some of the darker symptoms of the drug: a feeling of impending death, of possession by the devil, of feeling violently threatened by family and neighbors. Above all, he wrote, "I was seized by the dreadful fear of going insane."

As he continued to study the drug, Dr. Hofmann struck up a correspondence with German novelist Ernst Junger, who had experimented with mescaline. At Dr. Hofmann's home in 1951, the scientist administered .05 of a milligram of LSD to Junger and himself as they were surrounded by violet roses, Japanese incense and a Mozart concerto for flute and harp.

"Ernst Junger enjoyed the color display of oriental images," he later wrote. "I was on a trip among Berber tribes in North Africa, saw colored caravans and lush oases."

Further controlled experimentation by University of Zurich scientists on humans subjects -- some with psychiatric problems -- showed a similar calming reaction. This led Sandoz to manufacture LSD under the trade name Delysid by the late 1940s.

It entered the U.S. market and, during the next two decades, LSD was intensely researched as a drug to treat all manner of emotional and addictive disorders. Humphry F. Osmond, a British-born psychiatrist, introduced the word "psychedelic" to describe the effects of mescaline and LSD while corresponding with Huxley in 1956.

Dr. Hofmann wrote in a 1980 book, "LSD, My Problem Child," that LSD brought him the "same happiness and gratification that any pharmaceutical chemist would feel on learning that a substance he or she produced might possibly develop into a valuable medicament."

But he said he was increasingly disturbed by a "huge wave of an inebriant mania that began to spread over the Western world, above all the United States, at the end of the 1950s. . . . The more [LSD's] use as an inebriant was disseminated, bringing an upsurge in the number of untoward incidents caused by careless, medically unsupervised use, the more LSD became a problem child for me and for the Sandoz firm."

He described meeting Leary in September 1971 at a railway station snack bar in Lausanne; Leary was living in Switzerland. He said they had a cordial but strong exchange of words in which Dr. Hofmann criticized Leary's self-promotion and his "propagation of LSD use" among impressionable young people.

Dr. Hofmann said that Leary said that American teenagers "with regard to information and life experience, were comparable to adult Europeans. . . . For that reason, he deemed the LSD experience significant, useful, and enriching, even for people still very young in years."

Dr. Hofmann headed the research department for natural medicines at Sandoz before retiring in 1971. At the company in the 1950s and 1960s, he discovered and named many of the active hallucinogenic ingredients in Mexican "magic mushrooms," including psilocybin and psilocin. He was credited with important developments in medications for geriatric and gynecological uses as well as drugs to control blood pressure.

He was a member of the Nobel Prize Committee and a fellow of the World Academy of Sciences. He was a prolific writer of scientific articles and the author of several books, many of which tried to bind the scientific with the spiritual. In particular, he denounced the demonization of LSD after hippies and societal dropouts seemed to have monopolized the media's focus.

In his 1989 book "Insight Outlook," he wrote that LSD taken by "mentally stable persons in the right set and setting" was suited to the Western world, which he saw rife with "materialism, estrangement from nature, . . . [and] the missing of a sense-making philosophical fundamentalness of life."

His 100th birthday was celebrated in Basel as a referendum on his greatest discovery. He attended the conference, "LSD: Problem Child and Wonder Drug," and told one reporter that it was his daily diet of a raw egg that kept him spry, not, as many LSD enthusiasts suspected, his long-ago experiments.

His wife of more than 70 years, Anita Hofmann, died in December. One son died years earlier.

Survivors include three children.

Howstuffworks "What are superdelegates?" [Politics]

With the Democratic nomination going on as long as it has and more and more talk of the 'Superdelegates', I wanted to know What superpowers they hold?
Turns out they're regular humans...bummer. They do have the power to turn a nomination around 180.
~P

Howstuffworks "What are superdelegates?"

What are superdelegates?

by Josh Clark

What are superdelegates?

When the 2008 campaign for president began, it wasn't such a big story that there would be superdelegates at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colo. Superdelegates have been at every convention since they were created through Democratic National Committee (DNC) rules in 1982 [source: CNN]. In previous contests, superdelegates haven't enjoyed much of the spotlight. But as the Democratic primaries whittled down the number of competitors for the nomination, a close race emerged between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. The two candidates are neck and neck for the Democratic Party's nomination for president of the United States, even after scores of primaries and caucuses, including those on Super Tuesday -- a day designed to establish a clear front-runner.

Presidential Primaries Image Gallery

Ben Sklar/Getty Images
The close race between Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama (shown at a debate in Texas) in the 2008 primaries caused concern over the role superdelegates would play in choosing the party's nomination. See more presidential primaries images.

As the delegate counts for Clinton and Obama stay close, it's clear that in the 2008 primary season, superdelegates will have a huge impact on which candidate the Democrats nominate for the run for the presidency. Some Democrats have publicly pledged to leave the party if superdelegates don't follow the popular vote. "If the Democratic Party does not nominate the candidate … that the majority (or plurality) of its participants in primaries and caucuses want it to nominate, then I will quit the Democratic Party," writes Chris Bowers, a member of the Pennsylvania State Democratic Committee. [source: Open Left].

The term "smoke-filled room" came back into vogue to describe the shady type of politics in which superdelegates could potentially engage [source: NPR]. This image reminds us of politics before Progressive Era reforms, where an elite few could choose the candidate they wanted, rather than the one chosen by the people.

In the 2008 primary season, the idea that Democratic superdelegates could use their status to choose a candidate, rather than supporting the one ahead in the popular vote, places them under intense public scrutiny and political pressure.

What is it about superdelegates that have some people so thoroughly steamed? Find out on the next page.­ ­

Superdelegate Votes

To win the 2008 Democratic Party nomination for president, a candidate must rack up 2,025 delegates. These delegates are won through votes from state primaries or caucuses. Generally, delegates are awarded by percentage in Democratic nominating contests; this is in contrast to some Republican contests, which are winner-take-all. So if one Democratic candidate wins 60 percent of the popular vote in a state that offers 10 delegates, for example, that candidate will win six delegates in that state. This continues state by state, and usually one candidate manages to rack up a clear majority of the delegates before the convention.

Delegates won in primaries and caucuses are considered pledged voters, meant to represent the will of the people who voted for a particular candidate. At the national convention, these delegates are expected to vote for the candidate chosen by the thousands of voters they represent. This is not the case with superdelegates.

In the 2008 primary, there are about 800 superdelegates, making up around 20 percent of the delegate count for the Democratic Party [source: CNN]. These superdelegates are Democratic members of Congress, high-ranking members of the Democratic Party, state governors and former presidents and vice presidents [source: NPR].

Superdelegates are simply "unpledged voters." Their vote represents the their own choice, rather than the wishes of the voters, and these unpledged delegates can pledge their votes as they see fit.

Superdelegates have to consider how to use their votes carefully. They may:

• Vote in step with how the voters in the majority of states voted
• Vote in line with Democratic voters nationwide
• Vote in favor of the candidate with the most pledged delegates, even if it is just a slim majority.

A superdelegate can also choose to vote his or her "conscience." This is one way of saying that a superdelegate may not vote the way the majority of voters do, but on the candidate he or she feels is best. "Superdelegates are supposed to vote their conscience and supposed to vote for [the] person they think would make the best candidate and the best president," Howard Wolfson of Hillary Clinton's campaign said in February 2008 [source: Miami Herald].

Since they remain unpledged, superdelegates are also allowed to switch their pledges from one candidate to another -- long before the national convention. This seems to be especially allowable when a superdelegate rescinds his or her pledge based on his or her constituency. In the 2008 primaries, Georgia Rep. David Scott changed his pledge from Sen. Hillary Clinton to Sen. Barack Obama. Around 80 percent of the Democratic voters in Scott's district voted for Obama, and Scott changed his pledge [source: AP].

Diana Walker/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
Former Vice President Walter Mondale (shown in July 1984) was boosted to the 1984 Democratic Party nomination by superdelegates.

Superdelegates had an almost immediate effect after their creation in 1982. At the 1984 convention -- thanks to superdelegate votes -- Vice-President Walter Mondale won the nomination over rival Sen. Gary Hart, who had won more states than Mondale (although Mondale won more of the popular vote) [source: The New York Times]. It appears that they may have an even more striking influence in the 2008 primaries.

Read about why superdelegates may be a good thing -- or could cripple the democratic process -- on the next page.

Superdelegate Pros and Cons

What's the point of having superdelegates in the first place? Explains Willie Brown, former mayor of San Francisco, "You have superdelegates because … You don't want bleed-over from the Green Party, the independents and others in deciding who your nominee will be" [source: CNN]. Brown cites the ability of undeclared or non-Democrat voters in some states to cast a vote in Democratic primaries or caucuses. The logic follows that if enough of these nonaffiliated voters cast ballots, voters outside the Democratic Party could decide the nominee.

Adding superdelegates to the convention provides a countermeasure against such an event. Since superdelegates are all registered Democrats (and usually elected officials), it's reasonable to assume they wouldn't vote contrary to Democratic Party lines.

But to some, the power superdelegates have to sway a nomination seems to fly in the face of a democratic process. "If the superdelegates go against the popular will of the voters, whoever emerges as 'victor' will enter the presidential election shorn of democratic legitimacy and devoid of electoral credibility" warned columnist Gary Younge during the 2008 race [source: Guardian].

Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images
Delegates at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, Mass.

Superdelegates have one vote for one person; those pledged delegates that are earned through primaries can represent thousands of individuals. This leads to concerns about the disproportionate influence a superdelegate can wield. While individual voters' votes are ostensibly earned through a candidate's platform and rhetoric, a superdelegate's vote can, according to DNC rules, technically be bought.

Some political observers are concerned over the rules covering the courting of superdelegates. There is little if any protocol that says delegates can't be given outright gifts or even money. By the time the 2008 primary season began, some already had received money in the form of campaign contributions [source: Boston Globe]. "A candidate can feel free to entice a superdelegate with allusion to past and future favors," added one reporter [source: NPR].

Not all in the Democratic Party are upset about the existence of superdelegates. Democratic strategist Tad Devine suggests that superdelegates are a necessary part of the Democratic nominating process, but not until the convention. Devine laments the accrual of superdelegates' pledged votes beginning early on in the 2008 primary season. "The superdelegates were never intended to be part of the dash from Iowa to Super Tuesday and beyond," writes Devine. "If the superdelegates determine the party's nominee before primary and caucus voters have rendered a clear verdict, Democrats risk losing the trust that we are building with voters today" [source: The New York Times].

Tim Walz, a superdelegate in the 2008 primary, sees superdelegates in much the same way. "Let's just let the people make up their mind and we'll cast our votes according to that" [source: NPR].

Of course, it's not entirely fair that superdelegates took all of the heat in the close 2008 primary season. Even the delegates won in primaries and caucuses aren't actually bound to vote the way they've pledged to [source: Politico].

For more information on politics and other related topics, visit the next page.

Lots More Information

Related HowStuffWorks Articles

• How the Electoral College Works
• How Political Conventions Work
• How Political Primaries Work
• How do caucuses work?
• Why is Super Tuesday so super?
• How Barack Obama Works
• How Hillary Clinton Works

More Great Links

• 2008 Superdelegate Endorsement List (Unofficial)
• Democratic National Committee
• Move On's Online Superdelegate Petition

New Look at Death Sentences and Race - New York Times [Legal][Interesting]

This is been going on unchecked for so long and so many people have lost their lives. Its sickening.

 ~P

New Look at Death Sentences and Race - New York Times

---

April 29, 2008

Sidebar

New Look at Death Sentences and Race

By ADAM LIPTAK

About 1,100 people have been executed in the United States in the last three decades. Harris County, Tex., which includes Houston, accounts for more than 100 of those executions. Indeed, Harris County has sent more people to the death chamber than any state but Texas itself.

Yet Harris County's capital justice system has not been the subject of intensive research — until now. A new study to be published in The Houston Law Review this fall has found two sorts of racial disparities in the administration of the death penalty there, one commonplace and one surprising.

The unexceptional finding is that defendants who kill whites are more likely to be sentenced to death than those who kill blacks. More than 20 studies around the nation have come to similar conclusions.

But the new study also detected a more straightforward disparity. It found that the race of the defendant by itself plays a major role in explaining who is sentenced to death.

It has never been conclusively proven that, all else being equal, blacks are more likely to be sentenced to death than whites in the three decades since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976. Many experts, including some opposed to the death penalty, have said that evidence of that sort of direct discrimination is spotty and equivocal.

But the author of the new study, Scott Phillips, a professor of sociology and criminology at the University of Denver, found a robust relationship between race and the likelihood of being sentenced to death even after the race of the victim and other factors were held constant.

His statistics have profound implications. For every 100 black defendants and 100 white defendants indicted for capital murder in Harris County, Professor Phillips found that an average of 12 white defendants and 17 black ones would be sent to death row. In other words, Professor Phillips wrote, "five black defendants would be sentenced to the ultimate sanction because of race."

Scott Durfee, the general counsel for the Harris County district attorney's office, rejected Professor Phillips's conclusions and said that district attorneys there had long taken steps to insulate themselves from knowing the race of defendants and victims as they decided whether to seek the death penalty.

"To the extent Professor Phillips indicates otherwise, all we can say is that you would have to look at each individual case," Mr. Durfee said. "If you do that, I'm fairly sure that you would see that the decision was rational and reasonable."

Indeed, the raw numbers support Mr. Durfee.

John B. Holmes Jr., the district attorney in the years Professor Phillips studied, 1992 to 1999, asked for the death sentence against 27 percent of the white defendants, 25 percent of the Hispanic defendants and 25 percent of the black defendants. (Professor Phillips studied 504 defendants indicted for the murders of 614 people. About half of the defendants were black; a quarter each were white and Hispanic.)

Mr. Holmes was, Professor Phillips said, selective but effective: he asked for the death sentence against 129 defendants and obtained 98.)

But Professor Phillips said that the numbers suggesting evenhandedness in seeking the death penalty did not tell the whole story. Once the kinds of murders committed by black defendants were taken into consideration — terrible, to be sure, but on average less heinous, less apt to involve vulnerable victims and brutality, and less often committed by an adult — "the bar appears to have been set lower for pursuing death against black defendants," Professor Phillips concluded.

Professor Phillips wrote about percentages and not particular cases, but his data suggest that black defendants were overrepresented in cases involving shootings during robberies, while white defendants were more likely to have committed murders during rapes and kidnappings and to have beaten, stabbed or choked their victims.

When the nature of the crime is taken into account, Professor Phillips wrote, "the odds of a death trial are 1.75 times higher against black defendants than white defendants." Harris County juries corrected for that disparity to an extent, so that the odds of a death sentence for black defendants after trial dropped to 1.49.

Jon Sorensen, a professor of justice studies at Prairie View A&M University in Texas, said he was suspicious of Professor Phillips's methodology.

"It's bizarre," Professor Sorensen said. "It starts out with no evidence of racism. Then he controls for stuff."

Moreover, Professor Sorensen said, Professor Phillips failed to take account of other significant factors, including the socioeconomic status of the victims.

Professor Sorensen said he remained convinced that racial disparities, if they exist at all, "are victim-based only," as earlier studies have found.

This discussion, at least where the courts are concerned, is entirely academic. Twenty-one years ago, the Supreme Court ruled that even solid statistical evidence of racial disparities in the administration of the death penalty did not offend the Constitution. The vote was 5 to 4, and the case was McCleskey v. Kemp.

That ruling closed off what had seemed to opponents of the death penalty a promising line of attack, and they are still furious about it, comparing it to the court's infamous 1857 decision that blacks slaves were property and not citizens.

"McCleskey is the Dred Scott decision of our time," Anthony G. Amsterdam, a law professor at New York University, said in speech last year at Columbia.

"It is a decision for which our children's children will reproach our generation and abhor the legal legacy we leave them," said Professor Amsterdam, who worked on the McCleskey case and many other capital punishment landmarks.

The majority opinion in McCleskey was written by Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. After he retired, his biographer asked Justice Powell whether, given the chance, he would change his vote in any case.

"Yes," Justice Powell said. "McCleskey v. Kemp."

Howstuffworks "Who was the real Count Dracula?" [Interesting][History]

Howstuffworks "Who was the real Count Dracula?"

Who was the real Count Dracula?

by Josh Clark

Who was the real Count Dracula?

It wasn't until he came across documents during his research at the British Museum that novelist Bram Stoker found the man who would serve as the perfect foundation for his classic gothic horror character, Count Dracula [source: Kent State University]. Vlad Tepes (pronounced te'-pish), a 15th-century prince from the dark, forested mountains of Eastern Europe was his inspiration.

CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
The popular conception of Dracula runs the gamut from horrific vampire to comic relief (like Grandpa on the TV show "The Munsters"). But what was the real Dracula like?

Accounts of Vlad Tepes' cruelty have been distorted throughout history, and Stoker's adaption seemed to help perpetrate these distortions. The prince was bestowed with the surname "Tepes" ("Impaler") based on his fondness for impaling victims. It was his father from whom he proudly took the name "Dracula" ("Son of the Dragon"). Tepes was no vampire, although one historic account details how he drank a victim's blood [source: West Grey Times]. And Tepes certainly wasn't immortal (it's unclear how he died), as Stoker's count is.

But Stoker wasn't just inspired by the prince's name. Tepes' reign was a cruel and bloody one.

When investigating sensational history, it's easy to find grossly exaggerated tales that obscure the facts. In the rare case of Vlad Tepes, little exaggeration is needed. Tens of thousands of people were tortured, maimed or died by his hand or command [source: University of Louisiana]. This isn't in dispute -- it's accounts of Tepes' motives where distortion tends to emerge.

As the prince of Wallachia, a region in Romania, and a defender of Christianity against the Muslim Turks, Tepes made many powerful enemies. His enemies spread propaganda about the ruler, which inadvertently assured Tepes' place in history. Tepes' deeds and atrocities made such an impression, in fact, that an unflattering epic poem about him was published on the Gutenberg printing press just eight years after the same moveable type was used to print the first Bible [source: Mundorf and Mundorf]. Had his detractors not campaigned against him, generating publications that survive today, Tepes' legacy may have been lost.

So who was this man? Was Tepes as bloodthirsty in real life as his fictional counterpart is in movies and books? The short answer is yes -- even more so. Read about the real Dracula on the next page.

Vlad the Impaler

Bram Stoker's fictionalization of Vlad Tepes spurred scholarly research into the real man. Research has attempted to show the motives for his murderousness. Tepes desired a unified Romania -- free from the outside influences of Germany, Hungary and the Turks.

His consolidation of local power was harsh. On Easter Day, 1456, Tepes invited regional nobility to dine with him. Following the meal, he had the old and infirm murdered and marched the remaining guests 50 miles to a dilapidated castle, which he took as his own. There, he put the nobility to hard labor restoring it. Most died during from maltreatment and exhaustion; those who didn't were impaled alive on spikes outside the castle when restorations were complete [source: Carroll].

Imagino/Getty Images
A painting of Vlad (Dracula) Tepes, the 15th-century prince who inspired Bram Stoker's fictional vampire

Vlad's father, Vlad Dracul, ruled Wallachia from 1436 to 1442, was unseated by his countrymen and regained the throne from 1443 to 1446. Vlad Tepes served in the same position from 1456 to 1462 [source: Tacitus]. When he was inducted into the Order of the Dragon, a secretive organization of Christian knights, he took the name "Dracula." The name would be replaced by the nickname "Tepes" from those who feared and hated him.

Vlad Dracula's social ideologies were contradictory. He wanted to be remembered as a saint -- he murdered a Catholic monk who denied that Tepes would be canonized (sainted) [source: Carroll]. Yet his behavior was hardly saintly. Having come to view destitution as a scourge on his domain, Tepes invited his poverty-stricken subjects to dine with him. At the end of the dinner, he had the dining room locked, and his guards set fire to it, killing those inside [source: Marinari].

His foreign enemies suffered equal (if not worse) fates than his subjects. For four years, Tepes and his younger brother were imprisoned by Turks after their father sent them as tribute to the sultan Mehmet. Tepes' father had become a puppet leader of Wallachia for the Turks, and his sons were imprisoned to guarantee their father's continued loyalty [source: Fasulo]. Tepes was meant to become a future puppet leader like his father. But rather than keep allegiance to the Turks, he resolved to fight them.

When he became prince in 1456, Tepes took strides toward Romanian independence. He developed biological warfare, sending subjects disguised as Turks, stricken with infectious disease, to live among the armies in their camps [source: Marinari]. For those Turks who survived, when they invaded the capital of Wallachia, Tirgoviste, they found a forest (about one-half mile by two miles in dimension) made entirely of corpses of captured prisoners impaled on spikes. The invaders left quickly [source: Carroll].

Impalement, the method of execution that gave Tepes his name, is an extraordinarily painful way to die. Tepes ensured maximum pain when he impaled his victims by rounding the ends of spikes and oiling them to reduce tearing. Spikes were introduced into the victim's anus and pushed in until the other end emerged from the victim's mouth. The impaled victim was then hoisted vertically, and left to writhe in agony, sometimes for days [source: Fasulo].

The aged vampire in Stoker's novel required blood to stay alive; Tepes shed blood by the bucketful to promote his lifelong goals. Conservative estimates put his victim count at 40,000 [source: University of Louisiana]. It's also significant to note that eating and death were so intertwined in Tepes' life. He often dined with guests before killing them, and he was reputed to have taken meals outdoors, among impaled dead and dying [source: Martin]

Why is blood such a significant symbol of vitality and power in fiction, allegory and reality? Find out about the symbolism of blood on the next page.

Blood: Symbol of Life

Most Christians wouldn't infer vampirism from the story of the Last Supper. Christ offers the chalice containing wine to signify his blood to his disciples and directs them to drink it. But there is a parallel between the Eucharist and vampire legends: Both suggest that the consumption of blood is an act of obtaining vitality.

Christ told his disciples he'd shed his blood for their forgiveness. By drinking it, they were taking part in his everlasting divinity. Similarly, through ingesting the blood of others, vampires of lore may live eternally here on Earth.

According to some sources, blood is also reputed for its mythic ability to maintain beauty. When Bram Stoker's fictional Dracula fed on blood, his appearance reverted to a handsome, youthful version of himself. The 16th-century Hungarian countess Elizabeth Bathory is said to have used the blood of her murdered victims to promote her skin's health. Some Renaissance-era women believed applying the blood of doves to their skin could maintain beauty [source: McNally]. And even today, some women apply rouge or pinch their cheeks to create the appearance of a healthy flush.

Anthropophagy (cannibalism) is another example of the symbolic (and literal) vitality derived from eating the flesh or drinking the blood of others. Through cannibalism, symbolic vitality generally comes from two sources: kin and the vanquished. Endocannibalism refers to eating the flesh of a member of one's group. In some cultures, eating the flesh of a relative serves as a way of carrying on the line of ancestors [source: Goldman]. Exocannibalism is eating the flesh of one outside the eater's group, like a conquered foe. Tepes committed exocannibalism in one account when he ingested the blood of captured Turks, although there's no evidence he believed he gained any tangible power from the act. Rather, he ate blood-dipped bread from a bowl as a signal of what the future held in store for the Turks [source: West Grey Times].

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Cannibalism is associated with madness in the modern, developed world. German Armin Meiwes was convicted of manslaughter for killing and eating another, willing human.

Instances of nonritual cannibalism also produce vitality. Perhaps the most famous case of cannibalism took place in 1972, when an airplane carrying the Uruguayan national soccer team crashed in the Andes Mountains. Several members were left alive and resorted to cannibalizing their dead teammates to survive for more than two months [source: Walton].

It appears our ancestors took some time to develop mores -- cultural restrictions -- against cannibalism. Evidence of anthropophagy as recent as around A.D. 1100 has been uncovered at Anasazi settlements in the Southwestern United States [source: Melmer]. And genetic researchers have found a gene variant spread among humans throughout the world that suggests we descended from cannibals [source: BBC].

Vampire legends, then, may be allegories for real-life monsters -- perhaps like Vlad Tepes -- that have refused to honor the sacred taboo against consuming the vitality of other humans