Take a close look at this picture

It was taken last week during the G-8 summit in St. Petersburg. Look at Bush, and look at Putin looking at Bush. (Click on the photo for a larger, clearer picture; Blogger slightly distorts these when they are translated.)

Now look at the beer bottle in front of Bush.

And what appears to be more beers chilling in a bucket next to the buffet table.

Look again at the two men.

Feingold, Clark, Edwards, Warner

That's the order from one to four of the top vote-getters in the Daily Kos presidential straw poll for July/August.

Over 12,000 respondents, with "Other" and "No Freakin' Clue" continuing to out-poll Senator Clinton along with her fellow DLC-ers. The netroots no likey them.

My personal preference remains General Clark, but the man whose name I hear mentioned most often offline is John Edwards. Senator Feingold is slated to speak to Houston Democrats at the annual Johnson-Rayburn Dinner in September.

Not just Iowa and New Hampshire any more

This is a hell of a good idea:

Democrats are on track to jumble the states in the presidential primary calendar in response to growing criticism that the same predominantly white states hold many of the cards in early voting. And not even complaints from a former president and a half-dozen White House hopefuls can stop them.

Iowa would still go first in the new calendar, but a Western state -- possibly Nevada or Arizona -- would be wedged in before the New Hampshire primary. A Southern state -- possibly Alabama or South Carolina -- would follow New Hampshire.

The national Democrats' rules and bylaws committee expects to vote on the proposal this weekend.

Critical Democratic constituencies such as blacks and Hispanics have clamored for a major role in early primary voting, arguing that Iowa and New Hampshire are hardly reflective of a diverse electorate.

Iowa's population is 95 percent white, New Hampshire's is 96.2 percent, according to the latest Census numbers.

Lots more, including the revealing demographics, at the link. This makes sense for so many reasons I can't count them all. For one: how many times have you been irritated that the candidate winning IA or NH went on to become our nominee, eliminating your personal favorite almost before he got out of the gate?

I just can't wait to see which southern and southwestern states they pick. My guess is that it will be the ones whose media costs the least, which would seem to make NM and Alabam' the favorites.

I'll update this post with the official announcement.

Update (7/22): So much for my powers of divine prophecy; it's Nevada and South Carolina, subject to final approval ...

Democrats bucked decades of tradition Saturday by moving to wedge the state of Nevada between the long-standing one-two punch of Iowa and New Hampshire in the leadoff nominating contests for president in 2008.

In an effort to provide more diversity in early voting, the Democrats' rules and bylaws committee recommended that Nevada be allowed to hold a caucus the Saturday after Iowa's leadoff caucus — likely to be held Jan. 14. The rules panel also awarded South Carolina an early primary, which would be held a week after New Hampshire's Jan. 22 primary.

The full Democratic National Committee will have to approve during its August meeting in Chicago before the changes are put in place.

"Greg Abbott laid down the gauntlet"

Following the latest partisan stunt by the Office of the Attorney General, I asked Lt. Col. Bill Burkett for permission to republish his remarks here. He agreed, and they follow:

I personally believe that the recent acts of continued collusion of Greg Abbott and Tom Delay make certain that the defeat of Mr. Abbott is the FIRST priority for the Texas Democratic Party and all Texas Democrats this fall.

But this is not just a Texas issue. This is where the National Democratic Party must weigh in with "jawbone" support and also get some fund raising assistance working toward the Texas Democratic Candidate - David Van Os.

Now, it's no secret that David and I are close friends. But my feelings of this nature have always been that the most important seat to gain this fall was that of the Attorney General. Greg Abbott has always been the "enabler" for the Texas GOP and especially DeLay, Perry, Dewhurst, and Craddick. He has always been the one that gave legal approval through the power of his office for the Texas leadership to do very illegal and unethical things.

Without that wink and nod lawyer (only continuing the tradition of Alberto Gonzales during the Bush Administration) there is a major speedbump and possibly a fighting chance on specific issues within the legislature as well.

Now, if we and the National Democrats aren't willing to fight this issue after grand juries and judges have spoken, we simply have no right representing the people at all.

Bill Burkett
Baird

I'm with you, Col. Burkett. Let's get this party started.

There is no executive office imbued with more constitutional authority than the OAG. The Attorney General of Texas can do more to reverse the course of this creeping meatball of fascism than any ten Congressmen.

Help make it happen.

Texas-flavored postpourri

Catching up around here...

David Van Os and Hank Gilbert spoke at the Trans-Texas Corridor hearings in Fort Worth earlier this week. Click all the way through to the CanoFun links and watch the videos.

The toll road is going to be a wedge issue for Democrats in November. (Even Grandma gets it; you can watch her comments at the link as well.) A large majority of people attending these hearings are Republican rural and surban voters, and they are mad as hell about the land grab. They're ready to flip, red to blue, and this is the reason.

Greg Abbott is acting in his capacity as Attorney General as if he's still taking orders from Tom DeLay. Someone please tell him that the Bugman has quit, that his machine has gone kaput, and that's it's almost over for the GOP around here. On second thought, don't bother telling him anything. We'll send him a telegram on November 7.

Like the idea of paying $100 for your driver's license renewal? Looks like it's coming whether you like it or not.

And finally, the President of the United States remains in a touchy-feely mode: he "playfully slapped" my Congressman, Al Green, today. Go look at the picture.

Somebody is going to slug that idiot if he keeps this up.

Update: I forgot to mention that Judge Susan Criss is going to be guest-blogging over at Grits for Breakfast. Can't wait to read her posts.

Edgar is the one on the right in this photo

Via Brad DeLong and the Washington Post, we learn from Ron Suskind's excellent new book The One Percent Doctrine that the CIA's nickname for Dick Cheney is 'Edgar.'

As in Edgar Bergen. The guy on the right: