Pics from Bruges, Belgium

Some pictures from our trip to Bruges Belgium are here. More later that Katie took with the good camera. Also, still, have some more from Amsterdam and a lot from Paris. We have some pics with us and the girls in them but will just send them to a few of you, later.

Bruges (or Brugge) is beautiful. It had been a big deal and then the harbor silted in. Ghost town until the 1800s when tourists rediscovered it. The landlady at the bed and breakfast we stayed at said Hitler deliberately didn't bomb it because of how old and beautiful it was. (He apparently had no such qualms about the rest of the country.)

Jimmy goes to the Netherlands

This windmill was a few blocks from our hotel in Haarlem. We drank beer with the girls, ate Italian the first night and Greek the next. The partying and street noise kept me up all Saturday night. We shopped and bought bread and cheese in the market square. Toured St. Bavo's church.

Hillary didn't even vote "present"

I have the perfect answer for Obama the next time Hillary starts talking about "voting present". Today, the Senate voted down, with 18 Democrats joining the Republicans, an amendment to remove telecom immunity from the FISA bill. Chris Dodd stayed up all night speaking on the Senate floor. This afternoon, I watched, live on C-span, while he made one of the most moving speeches I've ever seen in Congress.

Obama voted with the good guys. Hillary didn't vote.

On September 12, 2008, when the U.S. Senate voted away the rule of law, Senator Clinton was absent. She has failed one oath of office; she must never be allowed to take another.

The NYT's Krugman is wrong. I'd be pissed at Hillary even if Obama were never born.

I am from Illinois and I made up my mind to vote for Obama at the last minute. Dodd and Kucinich were closer to my way of thinking and Edwards was growing on me. Dodd dropped out before our primary and Kucinich and Edwards were sinking; I took a chance on Obama. Everything I've seen in the last week confirms the choice. But, I'm no sweaty, glassy eyed captive of a cult.

As for Hillary, I owe her nothing. I remember February of five years ago. It was cold and rainy. Four hundred of us marched against the war, in my small town. We were alone. Where were the leaders of the congressional Democrats? They left us in the streets. They wanted to be President. I will not vote for them and they will not be President. Gebhart, Dashle, Lieberman, Kerry, Edwards, Dodd, then congressman and now governor Blagojevich, and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

I'd be pissed at Hillary even if Obama were never born. I admire him though, for how he has inspired young people. Of course they are excited! We should be glad. Those of us in our 50s have seen so much shit in this country, that actual youthful hope seems so strange to some that they mock it. Speaking as one Obama supporter, I know he's not a god, but I'm glad to see people taking a leap of faith in favor of something , for once, instead of in simple opposition. I may be as opposed to Hillary as I am in favor of Obama, but those thousands of young people supporting him are not a cult, they are a refreshing tide.