Sen. Johnson Comes Home!

I'm greatly looking forward to seeing Sen. Tim Johnson at the Sioux Falls Convention Center this afternoon. It's wonderful that he's recovered enough to come see his constinuants.

Also, I saw a cartoon in the Argus today that summed up exactly how I feel. It was from local cartoonist Jason Folkerts. I hope Jason doesn't mind, but I wanted to put his cartoon up here because it's such a great piece.

Update: You can view the cartoon here.

Quote of the Week - John McCain on Daily Show

"I'd close Guantanamo Bay and I'd declare that we never torture another person in American custody."

That was said by Sen. John McCain when he appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show on Thursday. It was during a discussion of how Republicans seem like they're appearing tough for their base in the debates. And Jon Stewart brought up Mitt Romney's "double Guantanamo" quote.

When McCain said that, I actually stood up and applauded along with the audience. And McCain went on to discuss how he believes the people who support this torture policy must think that reality works just like it does on the TV show 24.

Why can't other Republicans understand that torture isn't an American value? If I didn't disagree with McCain on Iraq, I would vote for him just based on his policy about torture. Even still, I really hope he stays in the race as long as possible to show the other Republicans why they need to be against torture.

Anyway, that was an excellent interview with McCain. It reminded me of the fun guy we used to see before he started courting the right wing of the Republican party. I miss that McCain, so it was good to see him again. And if I've done it right, you should be able to see the interview below. Check it out:

Democratic Candidates Debate GLBT Issues Tonight

Tonight, the Democratic presidential candidates and planning to do a live debate about issues important to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered Americans. The debate will be on the LOGO network and on this website. It's being called "Visible Vote 08."

I'm looking forward to watching this debate. I have a lot of gay and lesbian friends and most of them feel excluded from the political process. But look at what happened in Massachusetts back in June. Several gay and lesbian couples talked with some state legislators and that was all it took to make they realize it's wrong to ban same-sex marriage and civil unions.

This debate will show that GLBT Americans have a voice and a right to speak up for what they want out of this country. I'm glad to see these presidential candidates listening to this group.

Ted Klaudt: It Just Keeps Getting Worse

New evidence has turned up in the case against former state legislator Ted Klaudt. Authorities explored his laptop and found evidence that he was an internet predator.

They accuse Klaudt of using the name "studman" in one conversation to ask a
14-year-old girl to send webcam pictures of herself. Investigators say Klaudt
also used the name "thephotoman," pretending to be a 21-year-old modeling agent.
With that, he allegedly asked a 15-year-old girl to send him photos so she could
star in a pornographic movie.

The investigator who lays out this information in an affidavit says an
18-year-old woman he interviewed backs up this evidence. She says Klaudt offered
to take photos of her using sex toys in order to build a modeling portfolio, and
to do the same for her 16-year-old sister.

It's like this case has stepped into Dateline's "To Catch a Predator" series all of a sudden. This whole things just keeps getting worse and worse and sicker and sicker.

Klaudt will be in court later this month. I wonder if he'll still plead "not guilty" if this evidence leads to more charges against him. We'll see.

New Mission to Mars Launched

I'm very excited to see a new mission to the planet Mars. I'm glad the setbacks haven't deterred NASA from trying to study it.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (AP) -- A robotic dirt and ice digger blasted off
Saturday on a 422 million-mile journey to Mars that NASA hopes will culminate
next spring in the first landing within the red planet's arctic circle.

The unmanned Delta II rocket carrying the Phoenix Mars Lander rose from its
seaside pad at 5:26 a.m., exactly on time, and hurtled through the clear moonlit
sky. It was easily visible for nearly five minutes, a bright orange speck in a
spray of stars.

If all goes as planned... the spacecraft will set down on the Martian
arctic plains on May 25, 2008. It will then spend three months scooping up soil
and ice, and analyzing the samples in minuscule ovens and mixing bowls.

I'm excited to see what this probe will find. I'm very curious about how much water is on the poles and if any evidence of life can be found.