Clinton Lands Another Top Democratic Operative - The Fix

The over professionalizing of the different Presidential races is not best for the Dems. I don't think that insider candidates will be too successful in the 2008 election ala Kerry, Gore, and Mondale. The outsider mantle will play well this cycle because of the 8 years of Bush/Washington insider fatigue. That's why a candidate like Vilsack or Obama plays well (I know that Obama is in the Senate, but he's still fresh and not too tainted by DC).

If Clinton is serious about this 2008 thing, she should get out of DC as soon as possible and start fighting as an outsider. At the very least make sure that everything and anything for the Presidential race is outside the Beltway. She's got to start thinking about this like her husband, Carter, and Dukakis. The key is to appear like someone who's not part of the Washington apparatus.

Paying Health Care From Pensions Proves Costly - New York Times

I wonder if there's enough pressure for nationalized health care. Between old manufacturers, municipal and state health care costs, and small businesses there might be enough of a consensus to beat back Big Pharma and the Insurance industry. Although Insurance and Pharma entire industry is based on our expensive health care system, they have more of a reason to fight harder. Although those legacy costs are sinking others, I'm not sure if it's enough of a priority yet.

Late in Life, Finding a Bonanza in Life Insurance - New York Times:

"“Life insurance is a way for individuals to protect their families,” said C. Robert Henrikson, the chief executive of MetLife. “If someone profits from a stranger’s death, it stands the whole purpose of life insurance on its head. "

You mean like a big corporation? One that has thousands of workers and high paid executives? Something like an insurance company?

What Should a Billionaire Give – and What Should You? - New York Times

Fascinating essay on wealth and the value of life and money. I'm not sure that I even understand everything he's saying, but it is a great read. It does make me wonder the nature of giving.

Michael Kinsley - Sins of the Father - washingtonpost.com:

"They are now independent moral actors, and their situation requires that they either publicly oppose their father's war or do something to support it. "

I do not agree with Kinsley because they are doing what their Dad did when Jim Webb was fighting in SE Asia. I doubt that either has really though about their father's policies, although you'd hope that as America's Best and Brightest (untold opportunities, wealth, connections, elite educations) they'd be thoughtful about something more than partying.

The BCS' dumb obsession with finding America's second-best college football team. - By Chris Suellentrop - Slate Magazine

Best point made about this whole BCS dust up. The best team is not Michigan even though it pains me to say so.

"[T]he college-football voters understand, at least implicitly, that the season-long playoff that is the college football season should determine the single best team"

Michigan already lost its playoff game. Florida did lose a game and it would have excluded them from the championship if there were another undefeated challenger. There is not though and we're stuck with what we got. It would be a travesty if an additional playoff were added to college football. It would ruin the game.

The question to ask is what if OSU loses and UM wins big? By this logic, OSU is number 2 because UM already lost to OSU?

Move Over, Hoover - washingtonpost.com

Makes a good case for Bush being one of the worst, but not THE WORST. I'm not sure I agree. If corruption got more troops killed for no good reason than I would say that Harding would be worse. Bush's legacy is involving the US in a quagmire of a war that is basically a soldier killer and has killed countless innocent Iraqi civilians. Additionally it has destabilized the US position in a very dangerous corner of the war. A sad irony is that Iraq may have made it easier to unify the middle east with mutual loathing of the US and the West. Add to that the worsening domestic position (national debt, Katrina, tax cuts for the very very wealthy) I'd say you have a winner in the Worst race.