CALIFORNIA YANKEE

Nader Says He Will Run

The Associated Press reports that Ralph Nader announced he will again run for the presidency:

"I've decided to run as an independent candidate for president," he announced on NBC's "Meet The Press."

All week Democratic leaders have been doing their best to discourage Nader from running. Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe has met with Nader several times urging him not to run. New Mexico Democratic Governor Bill Richardson said:

It's his personal vanity because he has no movement. Nobody's backing him.

The Greens aren't backing him. His friends urge him not to do it. It's all about himself.

CNN reports that a number of leading Democrats are worried about a Nader candidacy: "I think the role at this point that he plays is a similar role to what he played last time, and that's a spoiler," Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California told CNN. "I hate to say that."

According to the Associated Press:

Asked if he was getting into the race to be a spoiler, Nader replied: "A spoiler is a contemptuous term, as if anybody who dares to challenge the two party system .. is a spoiler, and we've got to fight that. You can't do that from the outside, ... You've got to fight that from the inside as well."

Asked if he would withdraw if he concluded his candidacy would merely ensure President Bush's re-election, Nader replied:

When and if that eventuality occurs, you can invite me back on the program and I'll give you the answer.

The Democrats' objections to Nader's candidacy are disingenuous. Nader is much more critical of President Bush than he is of the Democratic candidates. Nader's attacks on President Bush can only help the Democratic nominee. The main focus of Nader's campaign will be to just get on the ballot.

This Week's Toast Is Up

Steven Taylor, at PoliBlog, has posted this week's Toast-O-Meter.

This week's edition highlights the uphill struggle facing Edwards in his quest to overcome Kerry.

If you are interested in the campaign for the Democratic nomination the Toast-O-Meter is well worth reading.

Supreme Court To Hear Dirty Bomber Case

Via The Command Post we learn that the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the dirty bomber case.

On December 18, a divided U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, ordered that Jose Padilla, the alleged “Dirty Bomber” who calls himself Abdullah al-Muhajir, be released from custody within thirty days. The appellate court concluded that “the President is without authority from Congress or the Constitution to order the detention and interrogation of Mr. Padilla.”

The majority and dissenting decisions of the Second Circuit can be accessed here and here.

I posted about the Second Circuit's decision here. You can read my posts about the Second Circuit’s November 17th hearing on Padilla’s case here and here.

The Second Circuit's decision is extremely important and a controversial result.

Abdullah al-Muhajir is a suspect in an al-Qaeda plot to detonate a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States. He was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport as he returned from Pakistan. He was transported to Manhattan where he was held as a material witness in a federal grand jury terrorism investigation. The Bush administration later classified him as an enemy combatant and he was transferred to a Navy prison in South Carolina.

Right now the best article I can find about the Supreme Court agreeing to here the case is this Bloomberg article:

The government has information that "Padilla is closely associated with al-Qaeda and came to the United States to advance the conduct of terrorist operations" on behalf of Osama bin Laden's organization, Solicitor General Theodore Olson said in court papers filed in Washington.

The lower court ruling "significantly undermines the ability of the president to protect the nation from further enemy attacks in wartime," Olson said.

Olson said in court papers that al-Qaeda "has extended the battle far beyond traditional notions of battlefield combat" and seeks to carry out "surreptitious and large-scale attacks against civilian targets."

Padilla's lawyers urged the Supreme Court not to hear the government's appeal. Still, they said that, if the court granted review, the justices should decide whether Padilla has a right to a court hearing to challenge the government's reasons for holding him.

I have followed the “dirty bomber” case as a part of my concern about judicial secrecy. My posts about judicial secrecy can all be found here.

It is not at all surprising that the Supreme Court agreed to here this case. The real issue the Supreme Court needs to address is whether a U.S. citizen, designated as an enemy combatant, can be held without any opportunity to challenge the government's decision.

Republican's Secret Weapon

Peggy Noonan, in today's Wall Street Journal, reveals the Republican's secret weapon:

I think that, as always, it comes down to issues. People want higher taxes or lower, seek more personal authority over their social security accounts or not, support the effort in Iraq or do not. But there will also be their sense of who the candidates are as men, in terms of character, personality, gifts and predilections. And that will factor in too. I was asked this week why the president seems so attractive to the heartland, to what used to be called Middle America. A big question. I found my mind going to this word: normal.

Noonan says that President Bush appeals to middle America because he is not intellectual nor exotic, he is average:

Mr. Bush is the triumph of the seemingly average American man. He's normal. He thinks in a sort of common-sense way. He speaks the language of business and sports and politics. You know him. He's not exotic. But if there's a fire on the block, he'll run out and help. He'll help direct the rig to the right house and count the kids coming out and say, "Where's Sally?" He's responsible. He's not an intellectual. Intellectuals start all the trouble in the world. And then when the fire comes they say, "I warned Joe about that furnace." And, "Does Joe have children?" And "I saw a fire once. It spreads like syrup. No, it spreads like explosive syrup. No, it's formidable and yet fleeting." When the fire comes they talk. Bush ain't that guy. Republicans love the guy who ain't that guy. Americans love the guy who ain't that guy.

Someone said to me: But how can you call him normal when he came from such privilege? Indeed he did. But there's nothing lemonade-on-the-porch-overlooking-the-links-at-the-country-club about Mr. Bush. He isn't smooth. He actually has some of the roughness and the resentments of the self-made man. I think the reason for this is Texas. He grew up in a white T-shirt and jeans playing ball in the street with the other kids in the subdivision. Barbara Bush wasn't exactly fancy. They lived like everyone else.

[. . .]

George W. Bush didn't grow up at Greenwich Country Day with a car and a driver dropping him off, as his father had. Until he went off to boarding school, he thought he was like everyone else. That's a gift, to think you're just like everyone else in America. It can be the making of you.

I'm not sure about describing someone who graduated from Yale, has a Harvard MBA and owned a baseball team as normal. Noonan is on to something in noting that President Bush comes across as a regular guy.

Thanks to Hindrocket, at Power Line, for the tip.

Illegal Immigrants Need Not Apply

The Hartford Courant reports that Children of illegal immigrants have a tough time getting into four year colleges.

Shaira Mitchell-Cohen came to Connecticut with her mother from their native Chile in 1997. Her mother is an illegal alien, undocumented immigrant to the PC police.

Shaira wants to go to college, then medical school and become a plastic surgeon. Her first choice for college was the University of Connecticut at Stamford. Shaira's high school counselor told her not even to bother applying.

UConn is one of a few public colleges across the country that flatly deny admission to undocumented aliens, no matter how long they have lived in the state or how strong their academic promise.

Shaira is suffering the consequences for her mother's illegal act. It doesn't seem fair to Shaira that her mother came to the U.S. so Shaira could have a future and now Shaira asks, "and now, what future will I have?"

It is estimated that 39,000 illegal aliens live in Connecticut. The children of those illegal aliens, are entitled to taxpayer-supported public education through high school.

UConn's approach may seem harsh, especially when viewed through the eyes of a young illegal alien such as Shaira. Any other policy would only further encourage illegal immigration. To allow illegal aliens to attend public universities reduces the number of legal residents that are able to attend. Legal residents should not be required to subsidize the education of illegal aliens.

Final Wisconsin Results

FOXNews reports with 100% of the precincts reporting:

Kerry 40%
Edwards 34%
Dean 18%
Kucinich 3%
Sharpton 2%
Clark 2%

According to CNN Dean still leads Edwards in estimated delegates:

Kerry 608
Dean 201
Edwards 190
Kucinich 2
Sharpton 16
Clark 57

Kerry Projected Wisconsin Winner

CNN projects Kerry wins Wisconsin with 22% of the precincts reporting:

Clark 1%
Dean 18%
Edwards 38%
Kerry 38%
Kucinich 3%
Sharpton 1%

Cyborg Names

Goldie, at Drama Queen, provides the link to the Cyborg Name Generator.

The Generator will provide you with your cyborg name and a personalized graphic.

It's one of those silly time wasters I can't resist.

Early Wisconsin Results

CNN and FOXNews report that with 2% of the precincts reporting:

Clark 1%
Dean 18%
Edwards 37%
Kerry 40%
Kucinich 2%
Sharpton 1%

UDATE: 9:38
This is interesting.

CNN reports with 10% of the precincts reporting:

Clark 2%
Dean 18%
Edwards 37%
Kerry 38%
Kucinich 3%
Sharpton 1%

Exit Polls Show Kerry Leading, Edwards Second

Wonkette reports exit polls show Edwards doing better than Wisconsin polls predicted:

Kerry 41%
Edwards 33%
Dean 17%

Drudge reports that late afternoon exit polls show Edwards making a strong showing against Kerry:

Kerry 42%
Edwards 31%
Dean 15%