Pre-Weekend Roundup

-In news that does not matter too much, outgoing Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack has announced his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for President in 2008. Iowa is an early-primary state (with New Hampshire), and it is apparent that he will not even win there. In most years, Vilsack would have the monopoly on being a Midwestern candidate, but in this cycle at least two other Midwestern Dems are considering bids as well: Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Vilsack readily admits his long-shot status, but he will surely get some play over the next few days (and probably appear on a Sunday morning show) because he is only the second Democrat to file, behind former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska. Vilsack was a bit player in the midterm elections, picking and choosing where to spend his money. Ohio's Secretary of State-elect Jennifer Brunner was one notable recipient of cash from the Iowa Democrat.

-Unions are looking to the illegal and undocumented (aka: illegal) worker population to expand membership, which is a very big shift in their stance on immigration. Previously, unions were largely against it for the purposes of protecting their members and their jobs at union shops. Now, though, unions are facing drops in enrollment levels and recruitment levels, mostly due to more states passing Right to Work legislation and a move away from manufacturing and industrial firms within the US. Among the situations that unions are capitalizing on currently include federal crackdowns on plants employing illegal workers, in which the workers were fired or quit due to being illegal. They feel that they were wronged, but the fact is that they are not legally in the country. So, unions come riding to their rescue. We will see how this turns out; it is definitely not a resolved issue.

-The "Stop Snitching" movement has hit the Internet in the form of a website devoted to revealing undercover cops, witnesses, and informants. Great. Nothing like cleaning up urban neighborhoods than killing those who talk about the crap that goes on there.

-I cannot wait to get tickets to the Sundance Film Festival next year, after they picked the documentary on a man having sex with a horse to compete for Best Documentary. Truly inspiring and visionary work, that.

-More on the trainwreck that is disgraced former New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey, from his former employee (and alleged lover) Goran Cipel, who appeared on Larry King Live this week. Cipel claims that McGreevey is bisexual and reiterates that McGreevey sexually harassed him repeatedly. He goes on to call on the gay community to not accept McGreevey as a spokesman, which I agree with. If the scandal had not broke, McGreevey would never have "come out", so he should not be rewarded for a forced admission, even if it is true. File this under "Who Cares" though, because this story has been dead in the media for quite some time.

-In news that no one truly believes, better known as reporting from North Korean state press, Kim Jong Il has abolished AIDS in North Korea, even going so far as to claim cure and prevention. This may actually have some ring of truth, though, even coming from their state-run media outlet, because of the total lockdown on travel there. With very few foreign visitors (although I hear the tourism industry is thriving there), and even fewer international travelers of their own, AIDS has to have been largely kept out of the Dear Leader's Land. (Aside to College Republicans: Can we rename the CRNC Chairman's post "Our Dear Leader" instead? Now there is an amendment I would vote for!)

-A couple of yesterday's items on the PD's Openers are worth mentioning, mostly for comic relief. First off, US Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Cleveland) is still pushing for a Cabinet-level Department of Peace and Non-Violence. If he is ever successful in this, which is very doubtful, can we please go back to the Department of War? It has a better ring to it than "Defense". My guess is that any such department would be invaded and conquered by DOD no less than seven days after its creation. Just saying.
The second post is about redistricting in Ohio, and the rumors of a Democratic threat to redistrict out uncooperative GOP lawmakers. While it is illegal with regards to the ORC and Ohio Constitution in any sense, I would still love to see this tried. Good luck getting rid of the nearly two-thirds majority in the Congressional and General Assembly delegations; it just is not happening.

-John McCain and Mitt Romney are already fighting it out like Ali-Frazier (or was that Rocky V?) at the Republican Governor's Association meetings in Florida. McCain met with quite a few of them, and Mitt Romney gave a solid speech. Much has been made about Romney using the group as a political tool, but McCain was the one plopping down 50 grand for an immaculate wine-and-dine reception. This is the first round of a 15-rounder, and it is already getting testy. Things will only get worse as Rudy Giuliani and others get into the fray more regularly. Also, Mitt Romney hired away Kevin Madden from Minority Leader John Boehner's office to work on his communications team.

-For everyone calling on the US to put troops on the ground in Darfur, they do not want us there. Hard to help someone if they tell you not to come. Besides that, the African Union has committed 7,000 troops there, and it seems that they are both too few and ineffective. Yet still, they want to do the job themselves. That's fine, but quit your bitching about us not helping. We offered; you said no. End of story.