The Democrat Question

I have to say that this Democratic primary campaign is history in the making for more reasons than just one candidate is black and one is a woman. No, this is history in the making as we watch a party that has stagnated for at least the last 8 years begin to tear itself apart. The Democrats, while having an agenda, have not had a clear agenda. The two major parties in this country have become so close ideologically that at times it's impossible to tell which party a candidate belongs to.

The best thing that could happen, the thing I hope happens, is that the Democrats fracture in two. One half going with Obama, the other half with Clinton. Then, and only then, we will start to see real debate, real conversation between the candidates. If the Democrats split that could mean that the Republicans gain control of the White House for 4 more years. But, at least we'll have some real debate in Washington. Three major parties going at each other. No longer will everything be cast either or, liberal or conservative. No, we'll all have to think in a 3rd dimension. Is it conservatively liberal, or liberally conservative. Maybe it's good ol' fashioned progressive. No, no, maybe it's staunchly conservative. Heck, maybe it's far left, pinko-commie liberal.

Hey, it's not the first time we've had a political party morph into something new, or split, or implode. I'm betting it's going to be fun to watch, though.

What I Wish For Lucky Number 7

So, now that there is universal agreement (or, what looks to be universal agreement) that Vista blows monkey chunks, all the talk is now about Windows 7. Ars Technica has a short piece here with a video showing "breathtaking" new features in the current build of Win 7. Emil Protalinski, the author, questions the validity, so, you've been forewarned.

Here's what I would consider "breathtaking new features" in the next version of Windows. How about a user interface that is elegant, gets out of the users' way, ultimately allowing real work to be done? Here's another one, an architecture that is completely brand spankin' new so that I won't need an anti-virus app to suck up my CPU cycles and RAM. Get those two things down and I'll be more than happy to give the next Windows version a whirl. Otherwise, it's just more of the same and I'm sticking to my Mac.