A couple things about those Boo Scouts . . .

I skimmed this story last week and wanted to comment on it, but forgot until now. In case you missed it, here's the video:


Not cool. Not consistent with what the Scouts teach (esp. "Boy Scout Law"). Not good that this group of Scouts are getting this much attention. They're "kids," sure, but they should not be heralded. It's much more important that young people learn self-control, respect for authority and discretion than . . . whatever character quality defenders of these boys claim was being demonstrated.

A couple things about the Amy Bishop case

Wow. The emerging details about UAH murderer Amy Bishop are fascinating. Survivor: Ala. prof in slayings shot methodically - BostonHerald.com.

1. Though hindsight is 20/20, the facts surrounding Bishop's killing of her brother in 1986 are pretty troubling. It'll be interesting to see how this evolving story will affect the political fortunes of Democratic Congressman William Delahunt:

He said there were no ballistics tests included, and he also thought it odd that there was an 11-day gap between the death and interviews with family members, apparently because they were too distraught to talk sooner.

The Norfolk County district attorney at the time was William Delahunt, now a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts. He was traveling in Israel and could not immediately be reached for comment on the case.

2. Though it is almost impossible to predict how you would react if you had been among the faculty members in that UAH Biology Department meeting, I was stunned to read these details of how they handled the situation:

[UAH Associate Professor] Joseph Ng told the AP the shooting stopped almost as soon as it started. He said the gun seemed to jam and he and others rushed Bishop out of the room and then barricaded the door shut with a table.

Ng said the charge was led by Debra Moriarity, a professor of biochemistry, after Bishop aimed the gun at her and attempted to fire. When the gun didn’t shoot, Moriarity pushed her way to Bishop, urged her to stop, and then helped force her out the door.

'Moriarity was probably the one that saved our lives. She was the one that initiated the rush,' he told the AP. 'It took a lot of guts to just go up to her.'

Ng said the survivors worried she would shoot her way through the door, and frantically worked up a backup plan in case she burst through. But she never did.

(emphasis added). Yes, Bishop could have shot her way back in . . . or started shooting students or others elsewhere in the building.

3. Though I sympathize with the family members and loved ones of the UAH victims, I do not see how a typical hiring process would have alerted UAH to Amy Bishop's past "issues."

A couple things . . .

. . . about my "huge" post on Dobson's endorsement of Huckabee.

Some are asserting (okay, everyone who's commenting on the matter is asserting) that my post about James Dobson's endorsement of Mike Huckabee is over-stated or I-don't-know-what-all. It's rather unremarkable to say that it is "huge," for a couple of reasons.

1. James Dobson is an important leader among Evangelical Christians. "William" may not care what he thinks, "Southern Beale" may not care what he thinks, Adam Kleinheider may not care what he thinks, but none of them are Evangelical Christians from what I've ever seen them write. That being said, Dobson's clout is only significant (for the purposes of my "huge" assertion) in the context of thing two, below.

2. This endorsement is a demonstration that at least one bloc of voters--Religious Conservatives, may be planning to "not go gentle into that good night." There is loads of speculation that Huckabee is angling for a VP slot. Maybe; only a handful of people know.

But part of the dynamic here is that while Romney, Dubya et al are urging that Republicans get behind the presumptive GOP nominee, some Conservatives have concluded that a McCain-led GOP (and presidency) may not exactly be a "good night" at all. Ann Coulter is a prominent example. And while Coulter doesn't speak for the Religious Right, neither does Rush or Hannity. Dobson is another story, and what Dobson is saying is "let's keep on fighting." That's huge, and more of a story than the pre-Super Dooper Tuesday Campaign-for-Hillary threat by mistress of hyperbole Ann Coulter.

A couple things . . .

. . . about McCain.

1. Rush Limbaugh is saying that it is John McCain's job to win over party members if he is the leader of the Party. Further, he is asserting that rebuilding the GOP coalition is the responsibility of those who broke up the coalition--"moderates" or Establishment Republicans. I kind of agree, but being a part of a team means at least doing my share to maintain the unity. I would say that McCain would be wise to demonstrate magnanimity--the single most important character quality for a leader, in my opinion.

2. McCain needs to realize that he must demonstrate some of his aisle-crossing skills by reaching out anew to Religious Conservatives. Why? Because Religious Conservatives--as a voting bloc, are content to sit out an election, as I already commented at Volunteer Voters.

A couple things . . .

. . . about Super Tuesday.

--I think Republican voters demonstrated their independence from "BigTalkRadio" --Rush, Hannity, Ingraham and locally Steve Gill (re. McCain and Huckabee), and even their independence from the GOP Establishment (re. Huckabee). All the forces arrayed against Mike Huckabee and John McCain fell way short of their objective. And this is coming from someone who pulled the lever for Romney.

--I am amazed that Democrats aren't flocking to Barack Obama. Maybe it is because I--as a Republican doing battle with Bill Clinton over the past what-seems-like-an-eternity, have difficulty even imagining what it feels like to want to vote for someone surnamed Clinton. Maybe it's because I am legitimately (in my opinion) optimistic that bigotry in the American does NOT makes Obama unelectable. Maybe it is because I can't ever remember "lack of qualification" for office being a deal-breaker for Democratic voters. Anyway, I'm amazed.

--I kind of like that the closeness and general state of flux of the primaries this go 'round are forcing Americans to bone up on civics and pay attention to the process. It was cool yesterday that several friends called me with questions about deciphering the Tennessee ballot (information which I had to dig up).