Presidency for sale

Hillary Clinton is using her own millions to fund her run for president.

That was the gossip that hit the blogosphere this morning after Mark Halperin of Time magazine posted a question regarding the subject on the mag’s blog. Teddy Davis at the ABC News blog Political Radar jumped in with "A Democratic strategist allied with -- but not working for -- Clinton told ABC News Tuesday that the Clinton campaign has discussed investing as much as $20 million into the race."

And then, Clinton campaign communications director Howard Wolfson confirmed the rumors in an e-mail to the Politico’s Ben Smith. "Late last month Senator Clinton loaned her campaign $5 million. The loan illustrates Sen. Clinton's commitment to this effort and to ensuring that our campaign has the resources it needs to compete and win across this nation. We have had one of our best fundraising efforts ever on the web today and our Super Tuesday victories will only help in bringing more support for her candidacy.”

Five million dollars ... Well, it primed the pump, didn't it?

I guess it’s nothing new – and certainly not wrong -- for a candidate for public office to contribute personal funds to his or her own campaign. Mitt Romney has reportedly dropped the equivalent of a small nation’s operating budget into his failed run for the presidency, after all. And we’ve been hearing rumblings about ultra-wealthy New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg joining the presidential race on his own nickel. Ugh.

Something about this really bothers me. Perhaps it’s because more and more, it seems like candidates for the presidency are all multimillionaires. And it seems like … well… they’re out to buy themselves a position as the ruler of the most powerful nation on Earth. And you know what? It shouldn’t be for sale.

Am I being too sensitive here? Is my inner Pollyanna coming out? I dunno, but there’s something really, really creepy about the idea that a candidate would spend millions and millions of their own money for a chance to be president. I mean, this takes an incredible ego, right?

I guess it wouldn’t surprise me to hear that some really, really rich guy bought the kingship to some little backwards nation somewhere. I could see smarmy ol’ Donald Trump, back when he actually was a real millionaire, doing something like that to make himself feel important. Just investing in a nice, new, natural-looking hairpiece would probably work just as well, though.

But buying the presidency of the United States of America? Aren’t the People supposed to have something to say about that? Or are we just being propagandized into voting for the person who can spend the most money?

My Mom tells a story about when she was a little girl in Lewiston, Idaho. She and her big sister went to see a Shirley Temple flick at the local cinema. Shirley was about to do something that was going to get her into a lot of trouble, and Mom says she got so upset, she leapt up and shouted at the screen, “Don’t do it, Shirley! Don’t do it!”

Her sister nearly died of embarrassment.

I’m still largely ambivalent about Hillary Clinton as president, but I’ll support her if she gets the Democratic nomination, fair and square. I’m proud of the fact that a woman is finally making a legitimate run for the presidency. It’s about time, even if I’m not sold that Hill’s the right person for the job this time out.

But … jeez. The last thing I want her to do is buy it.

That’s what Romney has been trying to do, and many people have lost their respect for him because of that and the fact that he changes his positions on issues as it suits him, and then lies about it. No, it would be a lot better if Hillary Clinton just lets democracy work the way it’s supposed to. If she’s a viable candidate who inspires people, who has the skill and charisma and gravitas for the job, then people will donate the money to fund her campaign. If they don’t, well, she can’t keep running. She doesn’t have the backing of the People.

Yeah, it’s tough. But it’s honest. It preserves the candidate’s honor and personal integrity, and also preserves the integrity of the Job.

Well, it seems that she’s already dropped $5 mil into her own campaign pot, so it’s probably too late, but for the record, I’m standing up here and shouting, loud as I can, “Don’t do it, Hillary. Don’t do it!”

Update -- Maybe this IS democracy in action, like we've never seen it before. Greg Sargent at TPM Election Central:

"This is nutso. The Obama campaign's response to the news that Hillary lent her campaign $5 million last month is to highlight the fact that they raised nearly that sum in the brief period that's passed ... since the polls closed yesterday!

"In that time span, the Obama camp has raised: $4, 252, 184.

"This highlights, yet again, a key emerging factor in the race: The Hillary camp faces the prospect of a weeks-long contest, perhaps leading all the way to the convention, during which they could find themselves dramatically outspent by their rivals."

Jay II

Because I like it so much, and because Patrick couldn't see it for some reason, here's my photo of the Stellar's jay again. I absolutely love these jays. They yell and holler at each other -- and everything else -- high up in the fir trees early in the morning, and while you can't see them in this shot, they have the most wonderful electric blue eyebrows. I first got to know these jays on a backpacking trip up in the Desolation Wilderness, which is about 25 miles east of here, wayyyy up in the Sierra. I was delighted when we moved here and, though it's only about 700 feet higher than where we'd lived in Placerville, discovered we were in Stellar's jay territory. They truly are my favorite birds.

That boy can shoot!

My best friend's son, who's 12, has been coming to visit a couple of times a week. My friend is homeschooling him while also trying to run her marketing business, so I offered to supervise homework times and grade papers for her. I like Jake. He's a bright, sweet boy and, since I didn't have any boys but raised a daughter and stepdaughter, he's a fun new experience.

Last week, when his homework was done, we went out and built a snowman together. Then we had a snowball fight, which ended in a draw, and with me finding a big wad of melting snow in my coat pocket along with my cell phone after we went inside. The cell phone survived.

Just before Jake arrived this morning I put a pan of chicken scratch out for the birds, since we still have a thick blanket of snow. While they're quite capable of finding their own food, I love watching them.

So Jake got here and we settled down in the living room near the woodstove, where it's warm. The living room is also where the slider is, and right outside on the snow was my makeshift bird feeder, an old cookie sheet with the cracked corn and other small seeds spread in it. We talked for a while about the different kinds of birds that were dropping in for a snack -- juncos, sparrows, a couple varieties of towhees. Then, with the "new" worn off, he got started on his language homework. I plopped myself in my favorite chair and turned on my laptop, figuring I'd work on the freelance magazine article I'd contracted.

"Hey! What kind of bird is that?" Jake asked. His eyes were huge. "Wow, he's BIG!" I twisted around and looked.

"That's a Stellar's jay! Oh, man ... I've been wanting to get a photo of one those for the longest time!" I ran for my camera.

By the time I came back the jay was gone, of course. But he'd found the tray of seed, so I knew he'd come back. I hovered for a while, then Jake said, "Why don't you let me take the picture? I'm looking right at the window! I can do it!"

So I showed him how to operate the camera and left it with him. Now, this isn't the best way to get a flighty 12-year-old to concentrate on compound words and sentence structure, but he calls me "Aunt Wren" so concessions must be made.

Anyway, a few minutes later, the jay was back. And this time, Jake was ready. The bird flew before he could snap it at the feeder, but it landed in the branches right above the patio. Jake aimed, focused and shot. "Got it!" he yelled.

And indeed he did. The top photo is the one he took, the first photo of a Stellar's jay ever taken at the Wren's Nest. The photo below is one I managed to get about an hour later. My day -- nay, my MONTH -- is complete.

This is ... wayyyyy too cool ...

What really fascinates me is how all those other people just kept right on going, as if there was nothing weird happening all around them. What were they thinking??

OK, if you insist ...

The psychodog gazes, Rin-Tin-Tin-like, into the middle distance, completely unaffected by the snow.

It looks like roughly two weeks worth of snowy weather is officially ending today. In the forecast? Sun and clouds, and temps up into the low 50s in the daytime. Time for a melt.

An early morning view over the back of Wren's little 2/3-acre and of the town beyond.

Will there be more snowstorms this winter? Who knows. But if there aren't, I won't complain. We have a monstrous snowpack in the high Sierra, which makes the coming summer a little less worrisome, since the reservoirs will be full. Down in the valley, they've had plenty of rain, so the earth isn't so parched and dry. This winter has been more "normal" than any we've had in the last 10 years or so. The relief I feel is deep, almost instinctive.

Hope goes viral

This stunning music video was made from the words Barack Obama spoke after the New Hampshire primary a few weeks ago. While I've been unsure of who I'll vote for, particularly since populist John Edwards dropped out of the race, the video surely does give me a nudge in Obama's direction. Wow.

From CNN:

With just a few days to go before the critical Super Tuesday primaries, Black Eyed Peas’ frontman will.i.am and director Jesse Dylan, son of legendary musician Bob Dylan, have released a new song featuring a host of celebrities and one very unlikely music video star: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

“Yes We Can,” released Friday, is centered around footage of the speech the Illinois senator gave after the New Hampshire primary last month.

The music video includes excerpts from that Obama speech and appearances from celebrities including jazz artist Herbie Hancock, former LA Lakers captain Kareem Abdul Jabbar, singer John Legend, model Amber Valletta, actresses Kate Walsh and Scarlett Johansson, and others.

(In an interview with the Associated Press last month, Johansson had joked that she was engaged to the White House hopeful, telling a reporter: “My heart belongs to Barack.”)

Dylan and will.i.am told ABC News they did not coordinate the creation or release of the video with the Obama campaign, and are unsure Obama knows about the production.

Why FISA matters

Senator Russ Feingold explains it simply and clearly.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was put into place by Congress in the 70s to prevent our own government from listening in on our phone calls without a darned good reason -- and a court warrant backing it up.

The Protect America Act, put into place late last summer, changed FISA to allow our own government to listen in, without a warrant, whenever we make or receive calls overseas or basically, whenever it wants to. In addition, an addendum to the act will pardon a whole bunch of telecom companies who have already turned our call records over to the government -- while it was illegal.

Yesterday, the House voted to extend the Protect America Act for another 15 days so that the President and Republicans can find a way to make this shamelessly illegal. police state activity both legal and permanent and keep Democrats from stopping them. The legislation goes to the Senate today.

Be careful what you ask for II

This is a snow that fulfills my old childhood dreams but also inspires a little adult consternation. To drive anywhere, at least until they plow the street again, I'd have to dig space around the back tires of my car and, kneeling in the snow and with freezy fingers, figure out how to put the tire chains on. I haven't done this little chore in probably four years, and then only that one time. (Before that I had a four-wheel-drive Geo Tracker that I loved beyond reason. It never needed chains but it died of a blown head-gasket. I cried. I really did.)

I am grateful I don't need to drive today. The forecast is for little new snow during the day, but another big storm tonight. I am awash in wintry riches. My cup overfloweth. I'm all full up. I ... can't get to my mailbox without ropes, crampons and a snow shovel ...

Be careful what you ask for

Started snowing again about 8 this morning. It's 5:38 p.m. as I write this. The snow hasn't stopped all day. Not once. The snowplows have come up our street twice now. Chain control on the freeway starts two miles below our place.

I'm ... heheheh... delighted. But I'm here to tell you, we haven't had this much snow, for such an extended period, for a good 10 years. As our first winter here started, we thought Camino got a little snow, a few times each winter. Nothing much to worry about, but it sure would be pretty. Well, that was a La Nina year (like this one is) and it snowed and snowed and snowed. It was still snowing off and on in May.

It has never been like that again -- instead, winters have mostly been like we expected them to be. Last year was an exception, too, though. There was hardly any snow, hardly any rain, hardly any anything.

This makes up for it.

After a roaring, massive rain storm that knocked out the power for several hours during the night, once again I woke to a delicate dusting of snow. I've been playing with Photoshop Elements, experimenting with different effects. The photo above is of the trees and undergrowth just above the back patio, which looked like a sugar-dusted fairyland this morning. Using the drybrush effect, I can't decide if it looks like a mess or controlled chaos. Maybe both. I sort of like it.
Same drybrush effect, less chaotic detail. The birds looked cold and desolate this morning, so I tossed out some chicken scratch for them and had, within minutes, a whole flock of juncos busily eating it up. Also got shots of some snowbearded sparrows and one elegant, female brown towhee, but they didn't turn out so well.
Finally, it wouldn't be Monday without a lazy cat shot. I'll try to write something meatier tomorrow.