You just might be hit by optimism. There are little signs that the mood of the U.S. might be justified in getting a bit more hopeful.
Chances of a new war -- Steve Clemons, writing at the Washington Note, makes a rather convincing argument that we are not going to war with Iran, despite the recent firing of Admiral William Fallon.
Civil liberties might have a chance -- Usually pessimistic Glenn Greenwald posted just minutes ago that the House of Representatives Democratic leaders might be on the right track with their latest innovative legislative proposal to amend the FISA bill. "Think outside the box," is what emptywheel calls it. Paul Kiel at TPMMuckraker says you can also put down Senator Patrick Leahy as supportive of the House bill. DNI McConnell opposes it.
Obama's chances -- "So you think you know the delegate count" is the challenge thrown out by Bluebloggin. Despite a seeming consensus that Obamb is generally leading by most counts, this blogger says, "Personally I plan on waiting for the numbers after all of the state conventions are over and all 50 Secretary of State certify the primary votes. Only then will we know what the true numbers are." I am going to stick with my optimism on this one, like a lot of Americans. Steve Benen's Carpetbagger Report posted some tidbits from the Mississippi primary exit polls that bolster my optimism. It might raise yours, too, if you are faint of heart. My blogfriend, "betmo" is usually a bit of a pessimist. Today her post, about why she did not vote for Clinton, I think could speak for many, many women across this nation. And though she does not say as much, I get a slight of a sense of optimism about the outcome of the election in the fall.
Nations take chances together. The Houston Examiner reported today on the first day of NASA's STS-123 mission to continue the final assembly of the International Space Station. To quote,
. . . the astronauts also prepared their spacesuits for the five spacewalks they plan to perform and gathered the tools they'll need for the rendezvous.
"It was a really good day," Endeavour commander Dominic Gorie said as the crew prepared to go to sleep.
. . . The spacewalking teams must assemble Canada's robot, Dextre, which was packed aboard Endeavour in nine pieces, and attach a Japanese storage compartment to the space station. It is the first installment of Japan's massive Kibo lab, which means Hope.
. . . "We've been waiting for this moment for a long time, so this is a great honor for us to work with you," Japanese Mission Control radioed space station commander Peggy Whitson early Wednesday. . . "We're glad to have you on board," she replied.
People all around the world want to be optimistic. If the mood of the U.S. can get more hopeful, could it be contagious? From my own blogging experience I have found that the rest of the world seems to be very interested in what we think and feel here in America.
The chart at the left is the latest slicing and dicing of the recent readership here at South by Southwest. Readers from the Ukraine, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and several different ones in Germany, wanted to know more about terrorism via my series on "Leaderless Jihad."
Another Australian wanted to find out about whistle blower regarding the domestic spying stories. A Singapore reader and one from Europe wanted to find our more about the NSA law question before Congress.
The question of "leadership qualities" was of interest to someone in Estonia and multiple readers in India. A Canadian inquires in a search about "legislative vs judge."
(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)
My “creativity and dreaming” post today about the space program is at Making Good Mondays.
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