Go Portland!

Now Portland Is Gay-Marriage Capital from the Washington Post

a very nice birthday dinner

( My sister and SIL stopped on their way to my parents' and the five of us went out to dinner at this great restaurant in Falls Church called Argia's.  )

McCain on Kerry

Republican Sen. John McCain yesterday defended Sen. John F. Kerry's record on national security, undercutting the Bush-Cheney campaign's latest attacks on the Democratic presidential challenger and frustrating conservatives hoping for a unified front against the Massachusetts senator.
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Some of Bush's staunchest backers seemed infuriated by McCain's comments, which ran counter to the Republicans' theme of the week and landed on an otherwise quiet day, with Kerry on vacation in Idaho. Conservative talk show hosts, including Laura Ingraham, denounced McCain's remarks, and by midday the senator was declining most interview requests.

Two associates close to McCain said that he is weary of such criticisms from within his party but that he refuses to join what he considers unfair attacks on Kerry, a friend and fellow decorated veteran of the Vietnam War. They noted that McCain was asked point-blank whether he thinks Kerry is weak on defense, not a more nuanced question such as how his and Kerry's voting records differ.

"John Kerry is his friend," McCain's chief of staff, Mark Salter, said. "He's not going to attack his friend."

I so wish these guys would run together, even though I know it will never happen. I have differences with both of them, but I have so much respect for them, especially for McCain. If he had been nominated last time, it would have been hard to choose between him and Gore.

But the conservatice wing of the Republican Party has been quite effective at destroying all of those thigns that made me identify as a Republican in college. Even the Spanish don't want a government like that of Franco any more; why do so many Americans want it?