We start off with an update. Last night, you read about my new breathalyzer, and my intent to test it. I did so, and the result was a resounding success. I kept track of both the consumption of beer and the times I blew into the mouthpiece; here's a picture of the blue sticky. The instruction manual says you shouldn't test within twenty minutes of drinking, smoking, or eating, but I did not wish to suspend consumption for such a length of time. The test at 10:21 pm (2221), reading 0.18, is what I consider to be the "official" reading of how drunk I got, despite the 0.21 I blew at 10:05. I look forward to making further use of this.
My roommate
It's Constitution Day, so it's a good day to talk some politics. Today, President Bush nominated former Federal Judge Michael Mukasey to be the next Attorney General. This is a smart move by the White House. Some in the neoconservative camp decried the nomination, preferring someone in the mold of Ted Olson. While Olson is no doubt eminently qualified to serve as AG, he suffers from Gonzales-Rove disease - he's a longstanding member of George W.'s inner circle. Olson represented Bush at the Supreme Court in the 2000 Florida recount case, and for most of Bush's first term, he served as Solicitor General - the lawyer who represents the Federal Government at the Supreme Court, and the number three position at Justice. Mukasey has both the experience (which includes presiding over several high-profile terrorist trials) and the distance from Bush needed to win confirmation, which he should do easily.
This morning in Iowa, the junior senator from my home state unveiled her "revised" plan to ensure all Americans have health insurance coverage. Senator Clinton styles her proposal as the "American Health Choices Plan." Don't you love it when Presidential candidates straight-up lie to the American people? The centerpiece of what Mitt Romney has already dubbed "HillaryCare 2.0" is an individual mandate that everyone in the United States purchase some minimum package of health coverage. Any time you have Washington telling Americans they have to do something, choice is diminished. Hillary's campaign likens it to compulsory auto insurance laws in most states - but it took me only minutes to find a fundamental flaw with that argument. As much as it might inconvenience me to do so, I have a legal option to avoid buying auto insurance - don't drive. There's no equivalent alternative for an individual health insurance mandate. The Clinton plan also robs insurance providers of their freedom by requiring that they cover anyone who applies, and imposes "community rating", prohibiting the charging of premiums based on the potential for consumption of care. This will not only drive up costs for everyone, it'll open the door to calls for the government to legislate against unhealthy lifestyle choices. We tried that with Prohibition, and we all know what an unmitigated disaster that was. The Cato Institute, the only sane think tank in Washington, has some great material on its front page in response to this latest Clinton boondoggle. Possibly the only thing funnier than Clinton's plan was Mitt Romney's denunciation of it. Romney is against HillaryCare 2.0, but he's really only against its introduction on the Federal level. How can I be so sure of this? Because he implemented pretty much the exact same thing as Governor of Massachusetts.
O. J. Simpson is one dumb man. I sincerely hope he goes to jail for a long time. That's the extent of my comment on that.
Yesterday was not a good day in my sports world. The Giants lost 35-14 to the Packers, dropping them to 0-2 and leaving serious doubts about their ability to contend for even a playoff spot. Though Manning played well, but if these first two games are any indication, he'll have to elevate his game a few more levels to compensate for what's happening on the other side of the ball. That said, the Giants' misfortunes are not nearly as unsettling as the prospect of a Mets-Phillies NLCS matchup. The Phils' sweep at Shea over the weekend has brought the Amazins' lead back down to 3.5 games with two weeks left in the regular season. On the subject of baseball, my friend Jacob wrote something very smart about the Diamondbacks' being a peculiar playoff team.
This is shaping up to be an unpleasant week at work. At least it'll be followed by two straight days off.