Does it count as shameless self-promotion to promote my promotion of a friend’s event? Hopefully not. Scope my piece in this week’s Phoenix on the upcoming criminal justice reform festival, Justice or Just Us?, taking place at AS220 real soon.

From NYTimes, It looks like John Edwards is ready to endorse someone.

Appearing on MSNBC this morning, John Edwards said he was “very likely” to endorse the candidate he voted for in the North Carolina primary on Tuesday. But, the anchors asked, which candidate was it?

In his demurral, Mr. Edwards may have slipped: “I just voted — I just voted for him on Tuesday,” he said. But given Mr. Edwards’s Southern accent, that pesky pronoun may have been plural, albeit in a shortened form: “I just voted for ’em on Tuesday.”

David Schuster, an MSNBC host, attempted to ferret out the truth. “So it was a him or a her that you voted for?” he asked, interrupting the former senator. Mr. Edwards then backpedaled, saying, “No, no,” and laughing.

Did he say “him” or “‘em”? Experience with my own father’s fickle Southern accent leads me to believe Edwards did say “him.”

You decide. Here’s the video. The statement in question is about 10 minutes in. (I couldn’t find a shorter clip. And, well, smarmy as he is, John Edwards is still like a warm blanket to me.)

As if the current election wasn’t hilarious enough, (sigh) Saturday Night Live has finally launched a website dedicated to Election Shitfire 2008, and hopefully will maintain it long after our new national nightmare is finally over. For now, the site features a few choice clips from election-themed Weekend Update segments, including of course the now-classic Tracy Morgan “Bitch Is The New Black” rant, as well as kind-of funny factoids about the candidates, such as things that McCain favors: “5-dollar birthday checks to grandson, Wheel of Fortune.” The site also has great clips from the late 70’s like Chevy Chase’s timeless Gerald Ford impression. It isn’t a knockout yet, but it’s better than this bullshit.

From ABC News:

“ABC News’ Karen Travers Reports: For the first time this campaign season, Barack Obama has surpassed Hillary Clinton’s support among superdelegates, according to the ABC News delegate estimate.

Sen. Obama, D-Ill., picked up two superdelegates this morning giving him a new metric to tout in addition to his current commanding leads in pledged delegates, popular votes, states won, and money raised.”

With the primary now in the wrap-it-up stages, DNC Chair Howard “Doc” Dean was in town for a secret powwow with state deomcratic powerbrokerz and moneybagz, ostensibly to drum up buy-ins for a big “upcoming fundraiser.” The guest list included a bunch of Hillary prominent delegates and backers of HRC.

Democratic National Chairman Howard Dean visited Providence for a private dinner meeting with leading Democrats at a Federal Hill restaurant….

Among those at the dinner last night, held at Providence Prime Restaurant, were Lt. Gov. Elizabeth Roberts, former Providence Mayor Joseph R. Paolino Jr., current Mayor David N. Cicilline, Alan Hassenfeld, a business leader, Lynch, Chris Vitale, a leading Democratic lobbyist and fundraiser, state Sen. Leonidas Raptakis, D-Coventry, and Democratic activist Susan Weiner, wife of Mark Weiner.

Scott Mackay’s got the scoop.

Interestingly enough, there seems to be a ‘lil rift growing in Camp Hillary RI over how, when, and under what circumstances to end the race. Which dems are getting the picture? More after the jump. (more…)

Courtesy of Wonkette, Bert and Ernie debate Obama v. Clinton, and it is sheer brilliance:

A helluvalot going on this week.  Ian covers some of it here, including marriage equality, medical marijuana, and pre-registration.  There’s also a slew of anti-immigrant bills, including the E Verify bill that passed the House last week.  An important probation reform bill, discussed in detail here, is also up for a vote today.

And on and on.  The budget situation sucks, but I’m still somewhat hopeful that it won’t all be resolved on the backs of our state’s most vulnerable.   And we might yet make it out of this session with some key advancements on the renewable energy front, and on prison reform.

And with that, the man who read the Pentagon Papers into the Senate record is doing the Soulja Boy on Youtube.

This was the big night, the evening of a thousand game-changers. And, mercifully, the people of North Carolina and Indiana have thrown Hillary under the bus.

North Carolina went to Obama by 15 points, erasing HRC’s delegate and popular vote gains from Pennsylvania. And what of the land of the Hoosiers? In a squeaker, HRC appears to have pulled it out; CNN called it for her about 10 minutes ago after Lake County, the birthplace of Michael Jackson, finally came in. Final result is 51-49, and Indiana’s delegates will be split right down the middle. In short, tonight’s result was big for the big O. Booya.

HRC has canceled all public events today, probably to attend a closed door meeting for losers who should drop out.

Here’s Obama’s speech, if you missed it. Watch it before Hillary’s goons get you!

Not fair… are Rhode Islanders expected to ’sacrifice’ another excellent senator for the good of the country and the future of all mankind? Jeez, world, you ask too much. This is still pretty hypothetical, but according to M. Charles Bakst, the strong possibility exists that Senator Jack Reed would be offered the position of Secretary of Defense by a new democratic president. And really, how great would that be. ‘Secretary’ Reed could perhaps return some sanity to our armed services, and devise a… whatchacallem… plan… for getting out of Iraq.

Another thing to keep in mind, right at this very moment, at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Montana, 200 Minuteman missiles are locked and loaded, simply waiting for that special call from (ohdeargodno) our President. Here’s what else we know. Malmstrom is run by the Air Force. The Air Force has been co-opted by Evangelical Christians. Evangelical Christians want Armageddon. Yeah, this is important.

More on Senator Reed.

On Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, James Carville recently quipped: “If she gave him one of her cojones, they’d both have two.”

It was far from the first time that a political pundit used testicles as a metonymy for power, courage, boldness, or guts. In fact, Hillary’s “balls” have been the subject of much praise (and disdain) throughout the course of this exhausted Democratic primary.

Introducing Clinton at a rally in Indiana, Paul Gibson, president of a steelworkers local union, proclaimed that the nation needed a leader like Clinton with “testicular fortitude.” Clinton thanked him for the compliment, though she did note that women, too, can have fortitude.

Reporting on the incident, Salon editor Joan Walsh wrote, “Clinton does indeed have … fortitude. Hell, she has balls.” Walsh says that Clinton handled the situation as best as she could and did not employ a double-standard by accepting this incredibly sexist “compliment.”

(more…)

No sarcasm, pun, or wit could make this news any funnier. Wonkette reports:

Hillary Clinton’s pick to win horse racing’s Kentucky Derby, Eight Belles — the only female horse in the race — finished second, broke both front ankles, and subsequently was put to death on the track. The first place horse was “Big Brown.” Go nuts.

This makes my Dad’s attempt to find political meaning in the “underdog” Giants’ victory over the “machine candidate” Patriots in Superbowl 2k8 seem even more far fetched by comparison.