Also, clearly you are all coming from a conservative vantage point, and the advantage of that is that you have a nice clear framework through which to make decisions: illegal immigrants – illegal and immigrants, ‘nuf said, clearly we must be sure not to give them anything that could be a privilege. Driver’s licenses are a privelige, therefore, no driver’s licenses for the illegal immigrants. If you try and look at it from a wider perspective however, it’s not as simple as all that, hence the difficulty in making a snap decision on a topic. Personally I applaud the ability to think about something from different angles in order to come up with a decision or solution that is well thought through. (And yes, I realize I am a minority here).

At the same time, I can see what you’re saying about Hilary being scared to take positions because she’s excessively concerned about voter reactions. I think that is a sad truth. She appears to be terrified of saying the wrong thing and alienating some fickle group of voters who will suddenly stop supporting her on the basis of one decision. Maybe the voters are that fickle, who knows? But my thinking is that if people support her, they’ll support her regardless of which way she goes on giving illegal immigrants driver’s licenses. She needs to stick to her guns and trust the people to follow her. I mean c’mon, look at Bush, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from that is that if you don’t falter in what you’re saying (it’s best if you just repeat the same thing lots because it saves you from having to learn new vocabulary and increases the likelihood of your under-educated masses absorbing what you’ve said) the people will think you’re strong and will follow you to hell and back. Most people hardly care what comes out of your mouth as long as you speak it with a solid conviction and give every appearance of being strong and unwavering.

I think Hilary could learn a lot from Bush. I mean, it’s dead scary that he got voted in twice. And legitimately at least once. But if you think about it, it’s real easy to understand. Real easy.

Actually, its a combo of recent reading, plus stuff that I’ve had sitting in my home in-box for some time. Interesting, but without an overarching theme besides being interesting to me. The Thunder Run’s Web Recons like this one from 11…

Nuance, you see, is big in the Democratic party

Yes, but Hillary’s carrying it to such an extreme that even John Kerry’s got to be screaming “Pick a position, already!!”

“Hillary’s rivals abandon the politics of hope and pile-on at the Philadelphia Debate.”

So they’re already whining about the opponents picking on a poor defenseless woman. And being mean too (abandoning the “politics of hope”?? Puhleeez…”).

A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.

Remember Ian Richardson’s turn as scheming British P.M. Francis Urquhart in the BBC series “House of Cards”?

Question: “There are those who think Gov. Spitzer’s scheme is a crackpot idea.”

Answer: “You might well think that. I couldn’t possibly comment.”

Sadly, a guy like Mr. Russert knows better ( I think) but the ROE are not set up to extract reality, so the performance and puppet masters chalk up another mark in the banal inanity scategory.

“Oh, darn that eeeeee-vil Dubya, for making me do stupid things! Darn him to heck!” I wonder if, when he leaves office, he’ll still have this awesome power to make Dems act like buffoons. I hope so – It’d be a shame to see them act all rational and non-moonbatty just because he goes back to his ranch full time.

Also, note that Hillary’s immediate response when facing a challenging question is outrage, a sort of “how DARE you?” That’s when the mask is likely to slip and we get to see the real person underneath. We’ll have more “tea party” and “Vast right wing conspiracy” moments from her, bank on it.