I attended our local caucus,

I attended our local caucus, in favor of Howard Dean. We had four delegates to send to the county convention, and 56 people attended the caucus. I wound up being the delegate for the Dean group, the Edwards group got a delegate, and the Kerry group got two delegates. Only 4 souls showed up to support Gephardt, 6 showed up for Kucinich, none for Sharpton, Leiberman, or Clark. So, I guess I'm going to the Black Hawk county convention on March 13, to support Howard Dean. Kerry had a great night tonight, as did Edwards, but I don't think this is over for Dean, not by a long shot. He's got a lot of supporters nation-wide, and I can't wait to see what happens in New Hampshire.

This was the first caucus I'd ever attended, and I kind of enjoyed it. I've heard all the arguments about what a bad predictor the caucus is, and how they're such a small subset of voters, but it feels good to participate in such a grass-roots democratic process. There were no slick salesmen present, just honest and friendly neighbors, respectful of each other's differences, but dedicated to their candidates of choice, and willing to engage in meaningful discussions about issues, which is decidedly not the kind of debate you see on Crossfire or Hannity & Colmes.

So, what do I, a

So, what do I, a random computer nerd, think about Bush's plan for Mars? I'm a bit dismayed at the low level of funding it's being given, the budget is off by an order of magnitude, but it's better than nothing, and hopefully the next President will fund it at a much higher level. It's going to be expensive, and it's going to cost human lives, we'd better accept that now before we start. The debate over whether or not we should be doing this reminds me of this bit from The West Wing:

Sam: There are a lot of hungry people in the world, Mal, and none of them are hungry 'cause we went to the moon. None of them are colder, and certainly none of them are dumber 'cause we went to the moon.

Mallory: And we went to the moon. Do we really have to go to Mars?

Sam: Yes.

Mallory: Why?

Sam: Cause it's next. 'Cause we came out of the cave. And we looked over the hill, and we saw fire. And we crossed the ocean, and we pioneered the West, and we took to the sky. The history of man is hung on a timeline of exploration, and this is what's next.

You know there are too

You know there are too many campaign commercials on TV here in Iowa when I start complaining. As someone with an interest in polictical science, and 18 hours of coursework to back it up, I'd consider my tolerance to be higher than the average Iowan, but last night was relentless. I'd say that at least 50% of the ads were political last night, all Dean, Kerry, Gephardt, and Edwards. At least it will all be over soon...

Martin Sheen and Rob

Martin Sheen and Rob Reiner stopped by campus today to hold a rally for Howard Dean. I took my trusty digicam along, and managed to capture these video clips (with sound) for the viewing enjoyment of everyone on broadband. If you're on dial-up, don't even bother to try:

Martin Sheen

Rob Reiner

I also shook Sheen's hand, got him to sign my West Wing Season 1 box set, and he told me to watch tonight's episode, because it's really a good one.

Reiner signed my DVD of The Princess Bride, he wrote "As You Wish - Rob Reiner" which made me smile.

Their speeches were very much the typical stump speech, rallying the troops to vote for Dean. Nothing newsworthy, really, but fun nonetheless.

This story made me chuckle,

This story made me chuckle, especially how this squatter got married during the course of his life on the golf course, and that his wife lived on the course with him. Now, you might think the golf course is being heartless, but I love this quote:

Bethel turned down a job in course maintenance because he wanted to be self-employed, McKeon said.

Ahh, yes, he's obviously sane...

Golfers who had become accustomed to seeing Bethel on the course were surprised by his banishment.

"It seems a shame that someone who is an institution on the course can't be grandfathered in," golfer Jim Adamson said.

"He's a nice guy," agreed golfer Mario Deif. "You have to admire someone who has debunked modern life and lives off the land."

Now, I don't know about you, but when I hear the phrase "living off the land", I don't picture a bum and his wife scrounging for golf balls in Miami...