I keep a notebook with me most of the time.  It is full of random thoughts, mad scribblings and general blather.  I'm thinking and hoping that what I'm slinging into the notebook might eventually make a diary, but that doesn't always happen.  There are dozens of random thoughts on various pages, each interesting but not anywhere near developed enough to merit a diary.

So, it's time to clean out the notebook.  Here is a collection of random thoughts, from the past two weeks out of my notebook.  Perfect for a Saturday afternoon.

I've been an Obama supporter since his keynote speech at the 2004 convention.  I thought of a young Arkansas governor giving a keynote in 1988 and said to myself "This guy will run someday, and I want to be on board."  It's hard not to get excited about the story of Obama, his charisma, speaking ability and the effect he has had on my generation and those younger than me.

But as the years have passed since that night in 2004, my reasons for supporting Obama have concentrated.  At first, concern for my country and it's future place in the world, the crumbling education system I am a part of and the economy that I struggle with consumed my political attention. The effects on my family and the hope for a better future drove my support for Obama.

But recently, my reason for supporting Barack Obama has distilled into this:  I want the kid of divorced parents to make it all the way to the top, for my own son's sake.

So, who is lying, John McCain?  Somebody is making up a story here, either you or Thad Cochran, fellow Repugnant.  

And why didn't any of the lapdog media ask that question?

I'm just askin'.

I'm not even sure this story is worth a diary entry, but I'm awake and there's not much going on, so here goes.

"Grampy" John S. McCain, where are you?  Billions of taxpayer dollars have been mis-managed in the last six years.  A pork-barrel spending project of epic proportions has sent money flowing out the door, with no benefit to our country.  Why have you not taken the "Straight Talk Express" and exposed this terrible mess, "Maverick" John McCain?  I'm just askin'.

Alright everyone.  I need your attention.  Please sit down and take a deep breath.  I know that lots of you are convinced that war with Iran is going to happen in the next 7 months.  People are examining carrier deployment schedules and sifting the vast internet beach for those precious grains of information to support their theories, ignoring the reality of the situation.

Follow me below the break for why it won't happen.

Here's a little more information on today's ruling by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.  The White House office of Administration is not required to turn over any records under the Freedom of Information Act regarding possibly thousands of missing emails, according to her ruling.

So, what does this mean?

I really, really don't know why I bother.  This guy as been debunked so many times I think that his editor doesn't even read the column before it goes to the press.  Today's Brooks mental vomit would have been handed back by a high school history teacher bathed in red ink, with a D in red on the top.

Follow below the flip for today's Brooks critique.  This is getting old.

Now, I've been as guilty as some with snide, nasty comments against Hillary.  In anger, I've spewed some terrible stuff, and for that, I'm really embarrassed and sorry.  It's hard reading some of that stuff with the benefit of hindsight.  It only proves that I don't have the thick skin necessary to succeed in politics.

So today, I'm saying "Thank you, Hillary.  Thank you for a perfect speech kicking off the General Election."

And I'm also starting the Draft Clinton movement.  But it might not be what you think--follow below the fold.

Here's something that I'll offer up for everyone to read over while we're getting ready for the big breakthrough tonight.  The end is (finally?) in sight and I look forward to a big sigh of relief.  My drink of choice tonight will be whatever I can get my hands on; I'm buyin' for all Clinton supporters at the bar I'm heading for here in NKY.  No, I won't tell you all where we'll be, as I hope to keep the cost in the "unreasonable" area, rather than "totally crazy".

Anyway, my family is hosting a German exchange student, "Jon" who has been drawn into our political process like a bear to honey.  He claims to aspire to political office in Germany someday and has studied our political system here quite extensively.

For those that would like to see how a European teenager thinks, follow along below the break.

I've reached the international line of "enough."  That's enough.  There doesn't need to be any more playing nice.

The disgusting spectacle of Clinton supporters shouting and carrying on after the "100% count" vote went down to defeat really got my blood boiling.  Chanting "DENVER DENVER" as if you will take this to the convention only proves how destructive these type of people are.

There will not be a floor fight.  There will not be protests worth mentioning.  And I'll tell you all why after the fold.

Hillary Clinton taking over for "Jellyfish" Reid as Senate Majority Leader has been one of my favorite little "post-election mind games."  I've been wondering what to do with Hillary and the Majority Leader post seemed a good idea.

Well, Time put up a little article today that swatted down that idea.  Apparantly, our Democratic Senators know better than we do.

Get up, get some coffee, open the New York Times and figure out what they think the political story of the day is.  That's my morning.  Most mornings I give an exasperated little chuckle over some gaffe that will require a correction later.  We all know that the correction will never get the attention of the original story, but I'm not usually inspired to write a rebuttal of the Times.  It's not usually worth it; everyone knows Little Bill Krystol is a nitwit, so there's not much "source material" to work with.

But we've got another re-defining of history on the op-ed page this morning, by a doctoral candidate of political science from Columbia University, no less.  

Now that the Bataan Death March of primaries seems nearer to an end, diaries are popping up like dandelions speculating on Obama's pick for the Vice Presidency slot.  Everyone knows the names and most here seem well versed on the possibility of Hillary Clinton being on the ticket.  The arguments have been rational (for the most part) for and against.

But let's take this one step further.  There are still a lot of us here that will always pine for John Edwards.  I for one was bittersweet over his endorsement of Obama, knowing how many would have wished the two of them could have switched places.

But then Edwards ruled out running as VP, and I was bummed.  I would really love to have Edwards on the ticket, but the VP slot always seemed a bit under his talents.  

So, in the spirit of mental gymnastics, follow below the jump.

In my other spare time, I am an amateur armchair historian.  I like looking into modern political and military history, to compare the decision making process and analyze it under the harsh glare of the results those decisions brought about.  I'm not fair.  I'm not a professional.  But I like to look back a few years to see answer the question "what were they thinking?"

Sometimes, it's "was anybody thinking?"  See Invasion, Iraq.

Anyway, scrolling through this week's news items, I really started thinking about the history of John Sidney McCain III.  I've got his book, bought in an impressionable moment back in 2000.  I'm starting to scroll back through it.  Thus I can see what "Grampy" McCain thought about himself back then.

But I have an interesting question for long-time posters on this website.

My family is hosting an exchange student from Germany for the year.  He has been fascinated by our political process, American sports and even Cincinnati chili.  He has made friends here, been very sucessful in his grades and even become something of an expert on the US Constitution, through a program at the school.  

Mostly, he has been impressed with his time here in America.  I suppose his standards are a little low, as he was impressed when I took him on a visit to Pittsburgh, but I'm proud to say that we're sending a friend of the United States back to Germany this summer.

These past two days haven't been one of the highlights of his trip, though.

From the "Nobody could have predicted the levees would break" Department of Total Information Stupidity, (previously known as the pentagon), we have this shocking story breaking:

Ex-detainees of the United States previously held in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba have been detected around the Middle East engaged in anti-American activities.  The Department of TIS released details to the media today, expecting shock, shock! on the part of Americans that people we had held without trial, tortured and then released without so much as an apology would then turn against us.

And these people are supposed to defend the country.

(Cross posted from Launch Exhaust.)

It's really easy, at first blush, to be flippant over the results from yesterday's Kentucky Derby.  There's a sport for ya!  We'll kill the first loser!  HAHAHA!  Somewhere, I know, there are television execs and horse racing officials thinking that Eight Belles euthanasia after the race just might produce an uptick in ratings and income for the sport.

After thinking about it for a bit, that tragic ending only illustrates the horror of horse racing.

I'm going to get a little muddy here.  I really don't want to.  You see, I'm not a journalist.  I don't get paid for these electronic mutterings here on "the internets."  Like many of us here, I come to Kos first in the morning, then get my news digest by sifting through a few other news websites.  It's not exactly easy to find germane, relevant news off a website stuffed with "news of the weird," (and I'm talking about CNN here) but a thinking person can get information without too much trouble.

Then comes political reporting.  As we all know, those reporting politics aren't the brightest bulbs in the box.  Regurgitating press releases is a hard day's work for these simpletons.  Analysis is best left to the "panel" on This Week, composed of journalists who don't leave Washington or even talk to anyone outside the Washington cocktail circuit.