... announcing "Puking On the System: Rules for Radical Change in a Nauseating Era ."

It is almost certainly too late at this point to influence Barack Obama's choice of Vice-President at all, let alone in a diary soon to be buried on this site's Recent List and then shunted off to obscurity.  Nevertheless, I want to take a swipe at all of the talk of the strategy behind whom Obama should pick as his running-mate (in which I admit I have been a participant.)

The one good thing that has come out of discussion on this site about this topic is that it has laid bare that, in the words of the political precept, "nobody knows nothing."  I can make a case for or against any one of dozens of candidates, on the grounds of their helping or hurting the ticket, with decent plausibility based on characteristics of this year's electorate that I don't actually know, you don't actually know, and we may never be able to determine even after the fact.

Let's leave "helping the ticket" to the people who, at least, have had a chance to poll and focus group it.  Let's talk about what really matters.

All right, it's already Monday, so let me get this weekend's news straight:

John McCain arrived late to Rick Warren's Douglas-Feith-Based Forum because of a traffic snarl on Via Dolorosa.  He waited for his appearance for the Forum on a cross of silence, which prevented him from getting his ear close to the wall, but he might have had a radio.  It was possible that he heard questions posed to Barack Obama, which is why he jumped ahead while answering a question to say that he supports the Supreme Court imposing merit pay for teachers and later wanted to go back after a question about gay federalism and talk about why bad fetuses should be given new jobs.

Meanwhile, Alexander Solzhenitsyn is threatening NBC because John McCain says that a Vietnamese prison guard once made a cone of sand to give him the strength to switch his position to support offshore drilling, and McCain responded that his greatest moral failure was calling for the renegotiation of the Colorado Water compact, which he promptly did.

And Obama lost the weekend and is doooomed.  OK, I think I've got it now.

These are going to be, I think I can safely say, pretty much the worst photos I've ever posted here, as they were taken with my poor old cellphone camera.  I thought that they might nevertheless be of interest.

Orange County is like noplace else I've ever lived, and South Orange County is all the more so.  This is a place where, literally, the far right, the mainstream right, the mainstream left, and the far left can all show up in respectable numbers at the same event.  It's a place where the vicious right wingers can sometimes show some wit -- at least compared to what I've seen most other places.  Maybe certain college campuses come close to this, but the pictures you're about to see are of politically active citizens (or not) of all ages out for a loud Saturday afternoon protest.  Call it vibrant democracy, call it bizarre, call it depressing -- I present it with fairly neutral commentary.

And now the Sunday writers have gotten to weigh in.

We will marvel, yet again, at how much less damage would have been done if the offender had taken the inventive tactic of not lying.

So writes Gail Collins in today's New York Times.  This is good advice that, unfortunately, doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Every one of us has embarrassing secrets.  Most of us, when challenged to reveal them by someone who has no right to make that demand, will lie about them.  We will lie without much compunction, in fact, as there is no responsibility to tell the truth in such circumstances and refusing comment and telling the person to take a hike -- the ideal approach -- has the detriment of encouraging the self-appointed interrogator to keep asking because lack of denial gives off the scent of blood in the water.

The Princess Bride is, of course, one of the funniest movie adaptations ever.  (Nod your head here.  Just do it.)  As our art auction benefitting Koster Jerry "possum" Northington in this NION diary draws to a close soon, I want to make a final pitch with this classic movie quote:

Miracle Max and his "not a witch" wife Valerie (Billy Crystal and Carol Kane) provide Inigo Montoya and Fezzik with a magic pill to be used in a longshot campaign to change their government.  They bid their guests farewill this way:

Miracle Max: Have fun stormin' da castle!
Valerie (to Max): Think it'll work?
Miracle Max (to Valerie): It would take a miracle.

Jerry's campaign aims at storming Mike Castle, the incumbent in the most-Democratic-leaning House seat held by a Republican.  This year, it could work -- but it would take a miracle.

You can be part of that miracle.

(OK, let's try the "Late night cable TV ad" version of this pitch.)

That's right, friends!  If you stop by in the next 27 hours or so, you can find a GREAT DEAL on a print by Kossacks dadanation or Eddie C!  And your GREAT DEAL can lead to a GREAT "DE-AL" -- "Delaware-At Large" member of the House of Representatives* -- which makes it a GREAT DEAL for us all!

That's right -- as described here, you can go to this diary on NION which will lead you to a set of eight gorgeous photos (reproduced below) on which you can bid!  Do you like the photos in Cheers and Jeers?  Garden blogging?  Our regular DKos photoblogs?  Then you can get your own copy of a great photo by dadanation or Eddie C!  And we'll even throw in the opportunity to change Congress!

MORE BELOW!!!!!

For 4 evenings, we're raising money on DailyKos for Jerry Northington, or possum, who is running for Delaware's at-large seat in the House of Representatives. Possum's primary is this September. Possum is a Vietnam Vet and veterinarian who will provide our caucus with one more, and a much better, Democrat!

Yesterday, I posted a diary announcing the auction of 16 photos to benefit the campaign of Jerry Northington, aka "possum," for Congress.

Within a half-hour, eBay killed the auctions out of what seems like bureaucratic stupidity rather than malice.  So, we are moving on to Plan B.

We're auctioning off half of the photos -- by dadanation and Eddie C. -- through dedicated pages on NION (link is to the overall page.)  The other half -- by me and lineatus -- we're giving out as premiums for donations to Jerry.

We need your help to make this work.

For 4 evenings, we're raising money on DailyKos for Jerry Northington, or possum, who is running for Delaware's at-large seat in the House of Representatives. Possum's primary is this September. Possum is a Vietnam Vet and veterinarian who will provide our caucus with one more, and a much better, Democrat!

Rather than just asking you for donations, for this diary we're holding a 3 day eBay fundraising auction of featuring some digital photos.  (Eventually, we'd like a system where photographers and graphic artists could donate images to a "store" where an unlimited number of people could buy a print for a set price.  We haven't been able to set that up yet, so instead we're holding an auction.  A store could still be created for this cycle, if anyone has experience with running one.)

UPDATE: We have had to move to Plan B thanks to eBay's bouncing our auctions.   Please see the new plan -- which is half auction, half fixed-price premium, and half alligator -- in this diary.

I wasn't going to write a diary tonight.  And then I checked on the New York Times site and discovered that a new study says that the annual

U.S. HIV infection rate has been underestimated by 40%

for years.  For example, rather than 40,000 people being newly infected with HIV in 2006, 56,300 did.  Putting it another way, the

U.S. HIV infection rate has been underestimated by 40%

Funny -- watching the media, it seemed that the problem had gone away.  I guess not.

I think that McCain's "Celebrity" ad and the web follow-up "The One" are more damaging than a many people seem to believe, but I also disagree with those who counsel that Obama should come out swinging against McCain.  That is what they want him to do: if McCain drags him into the gutter, Obama sacrifices his advantages as a visionary and a uniter.

Obama must respond, but not with a similar attack.  He should take offense in a particular way.  McCain overstepped with "The One," and it should offend Obama in a way that most voters can understand and appreciate: it should offend him as a Christian.

McCain, after all, charges Obama with blasphemy, raising himself to the status of false prophet and messiah.  You may take it as "just another attack."  It isn't.  It is the religious equivalent of an accusation of high treason.

Obama can and should defend himself from such scurrilous attacks -- far worse than anyone has ever said about McCain's service record.  Indeed, any future attacks on Obama as celebrity should be tied to this web ad so as to neutralize them.

The July 2008 Bar exam has just ended in the U.S. -- for many people it ended yesterday and for most, I expect, it was today.  That means that some members of this site probably need some congratulations (and perhaps encouragement and consolation, though you probably did better than you think you did.)

This item is to let people check in post-exam and for the lawyers among us -- and non-lawyers who want to kibitz -- to let their hair down and talk about the legal process and what it means to be a lawyer today.

You missed a very dull TV show on Auschwitz. More gruesome film clips, and more puzzled intellectuals declaring their mystification over the systematic murder of millions. The reason they can never answer the question "How could it possibly happen?" is that it's the wrong question. Given what people are, the question is "Why doesn't it happen more often?"

- Frederick (played by Max von Sydow), in Hannah and Her Sisters

One thing surprises me and another shocks me about the terrorist shooting at the Unitarian church in Knoxville, Tennessee.  That it happened at all and that the targets were chosen due to their very liberalism are neither of them.  Guns are plentiful, violence is celebrated, fanatacism is commonplace.  Being liberal, being charitable, being forgiving, has always been a dangerous proclivity.  (Ask union organizers.  Ask war resisters.  Ask Jesus.)  We indulge in it largely because the alternative is worse.

Nevertheless: one mild surprise and one shock.

This diary is about how far John McCain went to cover up a serious family scandal.

This diary is not about the underlying scandal.  It is not about the family member who was implicated.  That family member is not running for office.  What he or she did is irrelevant to learning how John McCain might exercise his responsibilities as President.

All we need to know is that there was a scandal, it was serious, and there was a whistleblower.  John McCain had the story spun to his liking in the media and had the whistleblower destroyed.

Some of you will already know, or be able to discover, the roots of this story.  I am leaving them out intentionally and beg you to do the same.  Whatever salacious backstory exists merely distracts from the critical issue: how -- and how well -- John McCain may cover up scandals as President.  If some smart-ass raises those facts in comments, I will either hide-rate or ignore them; I ask that you do the same.  Again: this diary is not about any underlying offense, but about a cover-up.

So, I beg your cooperation.  Let's keep this diary about John McCain ... and Tom Gosinski, whose life he hired agents to ruin -- with evident success.

I've had this cued up for a while, waiting for a day when I didn't have much else to say.  This Saturday-night-not-in-Austin qualifies.  So, this goes out from all of us, with hope, to Barack Obama of Chicago:

If you see me walking down the street
And I start to cry each time we meet:
Evan Bayh

Evan Bayh
Can't believe
Obama'd pick this guy
And I will grieve
In public 'cause his voting record
Makes me want to cry
Evan Bayh (don't pick)
Evan Bayh (don't pick)
Not Evan Bayh

We just can't let many chances slide
To get the world back on our side
Evan Bayh

Evan Bayh
Would not do
A fraction of the things
We'd need him to
Like stand up to big money interests
When they slither by
Evan Bayh
Not Evan Bayh
Evan Bayh (don't pick)

Evan Bayh
Evan Bayh
Foolish choice
Though all his DLC
Friends would rejoice
He's more of the same not the change in
Which we can believe
Evan Bayh (don't pick)
Not Evan Bayh (don't pick)
No you really gotta not pick Evan Bayh (don't pick)
Your ideals say you can't pick Evan Bayh (don't pick)
No you really gotta not pick Evan Bayh (don't pick)

Thomas Friedman's column today, "So Popular and So Spineless", bashes Europe and other parts of the world for no longer liking the United States so much thanks to the tender Presidential mercies of George W. Bush.  That is not the part I agree with: I think that after bigfooting in the Middle East, claiming the right to torture, blocking treaties on land mines and global warming, and cheerfully signing off from G-8 as "the biggest polluter in the world," we're not exactly in a position right now to demand that the rest of the world like us.  If Obama wins, we can start to move in that direction; if not, probably not.

The part I do agree with is that the world won't like a world where China and Russia are the ascendant powers.  Friedman provides the example of the Security Council resolution in Zimbabwe.  And, about that, he's right.

I just ran across this blog entry from the New York Times, which references this story from the Washington Post, explaining that

Several studies have produced a stream of evidence that...happens to overturn one of the most stubborn American stereotypes: the belief that this is a land whose gifts, charms and joys flow mostly to young people. The studies show that when you check on how happy people are at various ages, the elderly generally come out ahead.

I am going to take off my lawyer hat and put on my old social scientist cap and try to explain what the problem is here.

This is a silly Saturday night diary with limited political relevance and less redeeming social value, but I think it might be fun.  Actually, it is two small games in one, so it might be double the fun.

I expect that others have thoroughly plowed this intellectual ground before, but I haven't, and it's more fun to be told a story than to sift through dry books looking for it.  So, here we go:

The surnames (occasionally with given names) of some people, like Albert Einstein, have become shortcuts in our culture for certain characteristics.  To call someone "Einstein" -- but, oddly, not Galileo or Newton -- is to call them a genius.  To call them a "Rembrandt" -- but, oddly, not Picasso or van Gogh or Michelangelo -- is to call them a great artist.  To call them "Benedict Arnold" -- but not, say, Joe Lieberman -- is to call them a traitor.

I'm not sure what this class of linguistic appellations is called, but it may have something to do with metonymy as well as possibly prototypes and exemplars.  (Someone here will know.)