Sunday Notes

A lot of interesting stuff in today's paper.

One article speaks strongly in defense of Bolton, the guy who'd like to be called Mr. Ambassador. People who've worked with him say he's just a great guy, perhaps a little tough, but heck, thats what you want. People he's worked for say that he is just manifesting a different management style. People who've worked for him say he is abusive and tyrannical. I see nothing in the confluence of those statements that suggests any of them are wrong, just as I see nothing to suggest that he isn't competent at what he does. I hope he bombs in his confirmation hearings, though, just because I want George W. to not get what he wants (he's gotten way too much of that already, as indicated by our burgeoning deficit and body count), but heck, sir, it's nothing personal.

Another article, on a poll conducted by the Democratic National Committee, said that they received good news and bad news. The bad news was that a large number of the people who voted for Bush did so based on their religious beliefs. The good news was that a significant number of those same people have serious economic concerns, which is traditionally the province of the Democrats. I like the idea of the Democrats winning, but I can't say I'm overly thrilled by the idea of doing it by slicing and dicing the demographics. Yet another indicator that I'm over the hill -- and as the saying goes, I don't even recall the view from the top.