Mixed Bag

We are going to do a little McLaughlin Group tonight here at 3Q HQ.

Item! Governor Rick Perry declares HPV vaccine for all! In a surprise move last week, the Texas Republican mandated that 11- and 12-year-old schoolgirls statewide receive the newly finalized vaccine against human papilloma virus, brought to you by the nice folks at Merck Pharmaceuticals. Obviously, a lot of people were screaming mad about this because of the intrusive nature, the fact that Merck gave Perry money during the campaign (a measly 6$k), the cost (some $360 for three shots) and most notably the moral implications. It is fairly easy to raise hell over a virus that can be readily labeled as a benign consequence of promiscuous sex, but to any opponents out there who think that I say "Bah Humbug!" Any time we have a chance to eradicate a virus I say let's do it. Would the religious right think twice about mandatory AIDS vaccines under the premise that if everyone only had one partner their entire life AIDS would go away? Doubtful. Why give HPV such an unfair shake. In the words of Gov. Perry, "If I err, I will err on the side of protecting life." Now there is some pro-life sentiment that I can agree with!

Item! PAC donations now directed toward the jukebox! At this year's Democratic winter meetings, many of the Presidential aspirants debuted possible stump speech theme songs (and part 2). Hilarity ensued. Here is the lineup in case you are too lazy to peep the links:

Wesley Clark: "Waiting On The World To Change" - John Mayer
Hillary Clinton: "Right Here, Right Now" - Jesus Jones
Chris Dodd: "Get Ready" - The Temptations
John Edwards: "This Is Our Country" - John Mellencamp
Dennis Kucinich: "America the Beautiful" - standard
Joe Biden: "Centerfield" - John Fogerty
Bill Richardson: "Lean on Me" - Club Nouveau
Tom Vilsack: "Reach Out I'll Be There" - The Four Tops

Well, I am glad to report that these are merely first drafts. Can you imagine being motivated by John Mayer? The Temptations? Jesus Jones? Jesus Jones! I mean, if you are going to do John Fogerty, give me something like Run through the Jungle or Midnight Special.
Well, you wake up in the mornin, you hear the work bell ring,
And they march you to the table to see the same old thing.
Ain't no food upon the table, and no pork up in the pan.
But you better not complain, boy, you get in trouble with the man
At any rate, they are bound to be better than whatever the GOP trots out. Unless it ends up being Jesus Jones. Then it will be worse.

Item! Biden Redux. Just wanted to drop a link to my birthday-mate Pat Boo-kan-on's take on BidenGate. Pattycake essentially shares my views on the incident:

• "Joe is saying that if Hillary, at 100 percent name recognition and with all the support she and Bill have been able to corral, can't break 30 percent or 40 percent in Democratic polls today, she is a likely sure loser in 2008. Is there a political analyst in America who has not wondered about the same thing? And what of Hillary's new stand on Iraq?"
  
• "If Joe Biden, whose views of his colleagues' acumen on foreign policy are now and forever on record, will undertake that assignment, he could make his presidential run not only interesting, but a service to his party and his country."

• Finally, it seems that John Edwards might be getting into some trouble over his hired bloggers. Obviously, he didn't look far enough away from North Carolina. Let me throw it out there right now, I'm Quabbin for Hire. I can even put up with too much Mellencamp, but first a caveat: I would incessantly stump for the use of I Need a Lover or Cherry Bomb. In the meantime, 17 has turned 25 here in Quabbin Qountry and I'm surprised that I'm still blogging. Time to sign off once again from the Moan.

YSB,
BTB

Next up: Bush called out, money talks, and more!