Happy Anniversary Fiat Lux!

I realized this morning that yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of my blog’s existence. Some 260 posts later, here I am, still blogging away.

In looking through my Technorati links and SiteMeter referrals, I’ve noted that over time I’ve gotten listed in a handful other people’s blogrolls. That’s of course gratifying to my ego, but when I see myself listed as being a “Progressive” blog it also makes me feel a little like I’m there under false pretenses. With my recent increase in spare time and the heating up of the political front, I’ve posted a lot about politics, but Fiat Lux was not meant to be a political blog as such. And I do not consider myself a “Progressive” – which seems to be the label people adopt when they believe the Democrats aren’t sufficiently to the left.

When Howard Dean said, “I’m from the Democratic wing of the Democratic party” that had a lot of resonance for me. I’m a 3rd generation Democrat and proud of it. That said, I also voted for Giuliani and Pataki when I lived in New York City. I felt they were the better candidates for the job at the time. I’d vote for a Republican again if I honestly felt that s/he was the better candidate and more closely matched my policy beliefs. The way things are today, I don’t think that’s very likely though.

America, in my mind, is a grand social experiment. We’ve tried for 200+ years to build a better society, one that is a standard of success for the rest of the world. Problem is we’re human and we don’t always get things right. The industrial revolution brought some dramatic changes to the role of labor in people’s lives. I think a lot of the social programs that have been introduced during the 20th century were various attempts – some more or less successful – to try to bring some balance to the equations that had been changed but the new modes of work. Some have been more successful than others; and of course the world is still changing. We may never get it right – but we cannot stop trying.

In short, I consider myself a firm Democrat and more centrist than far left, although others may not see me that way. And Fiat Lux is a blog that talks a lot about politics, but is not confined to it.

Happy anniversary, Fiat Lux! Let’s see what the next year will bring.

Malapropism of the Day

Thanks, Tommy Thompson, you’re our winner!

I think Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, Governor Schwarzenegger’s speech last night was one of the finest I’ve ever seen at a convention, and I’ve been going to conventions for 28 years. his speech was outstanding, he gave a portrayal, he painted a picture of why people should be a Democrat, better and more ably than any person I’ve ever heard before.

Emphasis added. Thanks Atrios!

Marshall Finally Speaks

So after months of hinting that something big was in the wind, Josh Marshall & friends have broken their story. The thesis?

The DoD-Ghorbanifar meetings suggest the possibility that a rogue faction at the Pentagon was trying to work outside normal US foreign policy channels to advance a “regime change” agenda not approved by the president’s foreign policy principals or even the president himself.

I need to go dig into my library to confirm this (and it’s late Saturday night so I’m not going to do it now) but I have a recollection that Ghorbanifar did in fact have some sort of Israeli connection as well as being a player in Iran-Contra way back when. If I’m remembering correctly, then it’s quite possible that Mossad is involved in this whole DOD/intelligence passing mess and boy is that not good for the Jews.

All that said, this is not the “bombshell that’s going to rock Washington” that Marshall was promising, unless there’s more yet to come. Bummer.

Skip this if you don’t like snarky satire

I thought it was hilarious, per Atrios:

I swear that I witnessed George W. Bush having carnal relations with a swine. I am willing to sign an affadavit stating so.

I can now appear in commercials stating. “I am a pig farmer. While at a campaign stop in Iowa. George Bush attacked one of my sows. George Bush is a pigfucker. I know, because I was there.”

Soon I will appear on the cable news shows. The Washington Post will dutifully report on my claims, because, it will not judge my credibility. I will be appointed to be a federal judge by the Kerry administration. My career path is set. Bring it on.

Good News Bad News

2 Russian airplanes go boom and it’s barely a blip in the US press. Why? Because it’s internal terrorism.

A top Russian official acknowledged Thursday what many citizens already suspected — that terrorism was the most likely cause of two jetliners crashing minutes apart, a feeling reflected in a newspaper headline warning that “Russia now has a Sept. 11.”

A day later, a Web site known for militant Muslim comment published a claim of responsibility for Wednesday’s twin plane crashes, connecting the action to Russia’s fight against separatists in Chechnya.

OTOH, I suppose the lack of press is good in that at least it won’t inflame the paranoid among us even more.