Horizon Zero

Happy Leap Year Day

It only comes once every four years, so enjoy.

Escape From the Tomb of Ice

As the title implies, I managed to get out of the house today. Once out of the parking lot, things weren't too bad around town. Even made it in to work. I'm a little concerned that all the ice the sun turned into slush today is going to make for a nasty refreeze tonight and tomorrow morning though.

But still, at least there's a small respite, and a window for resupply. I was down to pop tarts and hot pockets, and after a while such fare starts to wither a man's soul.

Also, Her Inevitableness seems a lot more, well, evitable lately, does she not?

North Endorses McCain

Tells Anti-McCain conservatives to stop their bellyaching.

Tonight could be make or break for Hillary!, as Nancy Pelosi has started making noises about how maybe Obama wouldn't be so bad after all.

Not that Nancy has any prior experience with cutting and running, you understand.

Iced In

A fairly prodigious ice storm swept in yesterday morning, pretty much shutting things down from Joplin to Rolla here in Missouri. I've been stuck here at home, manning my PC and most certainly not taking advantage of the down time by running around in World of Warcraft all day.

There are a trio of east coast primaries going on today, all centered on DC: Virginia, Maryland and the District itself. Conventional wisdom would indicate that establishment candidate Hillary! Clinton would be safely ahead of her opponent Barrack Obama here, but early polling indicates that may not be the case.

Of course, how much can we trust the polls?

Not much, says Susan Estrich, who wrote this weekend about the so-called "Bradley Effect" and Obama. For those that haven't heard the term before, the Bradley Effect refers to the presumed shoe-in election of former LA Mayor Tom Bradley to the Governor's Office in California. Every major bit of polling indicated that Bradley, who is black, was going to win. Only people didn't vote the way they were polled and Bradley's opponent, George Deukmejian, scraped by with a narrow win.

So is the same thing happening now? Are Democratic voters telling pollsters they're voting Obama, but secretly declining to do so because he's black? Or are they just telling pollsters what they want to hear, since they know how the script plays and they don't want to be hectored by the press and Hollywood and Oprah?

Have we reached the point in the political narrative where the only reason NOT to vote for Obama is closet racism?

Honestly, I don't feel too sorry for the Democrat's current primary problems. Identity politics has been a cornerstone of their operation for decades now, and it always worked for them in the past because their disparate factions were united against The Man. It's only now that they're shocked that the Party seems to be falling out along racial and gender lines? Sheesh.

Until the Sun Grows Cold?

When I was little, I had this irrational fear that the sun would go out. (Yeah, I was weird.)

It's not likely to go *poof!* anytime soon, but my worries about the sun's effect on life here on Earth might have been justified.

Of course, if the Sun is going into a period of decreased magnetic activity, and the result is a colder Earth, then all of us evil, factory owning, Republican voting imperialist consumer running dogs have been doing the world a service by burning fossil fuels.

So celebrate that SUV! Revel in your carbon footprint! Only you can prevent Global Cooling!

Romney's Out

Mitt Romney is "suspending his campaign" as of today.

Does this seal the deal for McCain? Will Huckabee continue to slog on to the convention?

Most importantly, will the anti-McCain crowd coalesce around the Huckster, if only to spite McCain?

Feh.

He was still on my ballot, so I voted for Fred Thompson.

The Winter of My Discontent

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, and I'm undecided.

No, more than that - I'm unenthusiastic.

This will be the fourth Presidential election I've been eligible to vote in. I carried water for Bob Dole in 1996, even though I secretly thought he'd lose. I voted for Dubya in 2000 and 2004, and don't regret it at all, thanks for asking.

But now.

I don't like Romney. Anyone that spends so much of his own money to be President wants it too badly, in my opinion. Huckabee is a big government social conservative, and while I can get along with social conservatives I have a fundamental (heh) objection to spending tax dollars on social engineering - no matter which way said engineering leans. Ron Paul would almost be palatable were it not for his completely wrongheaded stance on Iraq and global anti-terrorism.

Which leaves me with McCain. Who is right on the war and defense. But not so right on economics. (Patriotism, not profit? There's nothing wrong with making money, John.) And downright abysmal on little things like, say, freedom of speech.

Short of writing in Fred Thompson, I'm not sure what I can do that will satisfy me.

I've jokingly said in the past that I'm a Republican because I consider it the 'least worst option'. It seems I'm now in the position of having to choose the least worst nominee.