NIMBYs be damned. I know I'm not going to like Lake Micigan all gussied up with wind generators, but then at least I know that accidents and failures will not force the evacuation of Chicago or ruin some of the worlds best farmland.

So called environmentalists can't have it both ways.

Effectively. My official line then was there there were things I liked about each and things I disliked about each. Early on I was writing that Obama was not a progressive.

Being for Illinois I felt obliged to tilt Obama. Being from Chicago I used the quip that "I knew Harold Washington; I worked for Harold Washington; and you (Obama) sir are no Harold Washington." Meaning a progressive black leader.

Clinton would have done a lot more to make the Democrats look good and the Republicans look bad. Would, in other words, have been much more combative looking. Still a corporate shill, but one that would have been more easy to rally around when the Republicans attacked her.

So probably a wash in the end. We keep hoping to be fooled by Obama into thinking he's fighting for us but with Clinton we actually could have been more easily fooled.

I don't know what your measures for success are but I am very much appreciating this renewed MyDD.

should stick to their guns and force the issue. Argentina walked away from the debt and was able to rebuild a healthy economy by investing the debt payments into their economy.

By contrast, countries like Latvia, have economies that have crashed without hope of either paying the debts nor rebuilding their economies.

Joining the EU would give Iceland the opportunity to end up like Ireland and Greece and Portugal. Not sure they want to go there.

http://michael-hudson.com/2011/04/will-iceland-vote-%E2%80%9Cno%E2%80%9D-or-commit-financial-suicide/

http://www.boingboing.net/2011/04/06/cwa-three-things-i-l.html

I appreciate that you turned me on to bus rapid transit Colombia style, quite a while back.

The thing is he has no national constituency and a second Illinois president in a row further adds to unlikelihood.

On the plus side he has some progressive credit that is matched with a very strong streak of do what it takes to win, "progressive" or not. He swan against the 2010 tide with a surprise win. He pushed through a tax increase in Illinois that will help balance the budget but not do it all.

So far as I know, no one but no one is suggesting he is a potential presidential candidate. I only bring him up because you mention the lack of a 2016 bench and he's my governor of the moment.

It's incomprehensible to me. In a country now so thoroughly controlled by extremely wealthy people and their hired institutions a 91% tax bracket is practically unbelievable.

Nothing to comment about now, but if you continue writing here I'm sure I'll come up with a comment now and then.

That is to say against him. Harold Washington in theory only had to win a plurality in a  primary in a three way race. In reality he actually had to run to win the general election, unheard of at the time. After the machine got back in they changed it to a runoff system, which would have defeated Washington.

But now times are different. There are less white voters and a black/brown coalition could win indeed beat a white Emanuel.

There are factions within Russia that are working to integreate Russia into Europe. To accomplish that Russia needs to do a certain amount of sucking up to the U.S. so the U.S. does not try to scuttle the effort. But, of course there are forces in the U.S. as well as Russia that do not want closer ties between Europe and Russia. So those forces spring things like the spy incident just after Medvedev is here to bolix things like Russia-Europe integration. etc etc

I live in a city run by a one-party system that elects Richard Daleys as mayor. Thirty-seven years ago progressives here rose up to elect one of our own, Harold Washington, as mayor. I know the feeling. It is indeed thrilling and rare.

The example of a "middle class" versus a "working class" non-violent and progressive national government change would fill a huge international political vacuum. People like Chavez of Venezuela and Morales of Bolivia desperately need to see a working example of progressive governance that is not constructed along quasi-Marxist conceptualizations. It is a blind spot that they cannot see past. Of course, more importantly, people in those countries need to see examples as well, so they can know how to work for needed changes without being labeled authoritarian.

I know it's way more complex than that. I know as well that the realities of running a government can often thwart the best of concepts in the short and medium terms. But still the potential for a very significant piece of change for Colombia and the world exists in this moment in Colombia.

Go Colombia! Go Greens!

Primary done. We in Illinois are hoping for a pickup of Kirk's seat in IL-10 by Seals. And hopefully too we can hold on to recent gains of Foster (IL-14) and Halvorson (IL-11).

Gill is a medium shot. I suppose you may want to keep your powder dry to see what happens defense-wise in 11 and 14. I suppose that 10 is technically an offense seat but it has some feel of defense as Seals has run twice doing well and his opponent now is likely not moderate enough for the district that actually leans Democratic.

So for a real offense race you could consider the Gill race against Johnson in 15.

A dark horse race worth watching.

A lot will depend on the national and local mood in November, of course.

OK sorry about the mess. I was trying to paste a table into the comment. It seemed to work in the preview.

versus (R)Tim Johnson. Gill got 44% in the past. It's a rural district in Illinois with the Univeristy of Illinois (30,000 students) in the middle. Johnson recently voted with Kucinich against Afghanistan. So he feels vulnerable.

QUESTION:  On Agreeing to the Resolution
H CON RES 248      YEA-AND-NAY      10-Mar-2010      6:22 PM
BILL TITLE: Directing the President, pursuant to section 5(c) of