Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, as he promised to do last week, did vote for Hillary Clinton today in the “Potomac Primary.” Or did he vote in the “Cheasapeake Primary?” The most confusing thing about this week is trying to figure out which moniker any particular news outlet will use in describing this day.

Your Maximum Leader was a little hard pressed to vote for Hillary. Even the thought of voting for her in a primary caused a touch of nausea in your Maximum Leader. The task was made harder when your Maximum Leader happened to run into two friends earlier. These friends are well connected Republicans who inquired of your Maximum Leader if he would be casting his primary vote for Mike Huckabee. (These friends sided for Huckabee very early on, and have been organizing for him constantly.) Since this little encounter took place in the local coffee house your Maximum Leader was going to see if he could parley his primary vote into a big Chai Tea… But in the end his promise to you, his loyal readers, kept him on his task. He let his friends know that he was not going to vote for Huckabee. They asked if he was voting for McCain, again he said no. They let the matter drop. They probably thought that your Maximum Leader was going to vote for Ron Paul. Or perhaps write in Steve Forbes. (Ah… How 1996 is that? Steve Forbes…)

So he went to the polling place and declared (only in front of the Election Board people - since he was the only voter at that point) that he would vote in the Democratic primary. One woman, whom your Maximum Leader thinks was a Republican observer on-site and may have recognized him, gave him a glance. If he didn’t know better, your Maximum Leader thinks she might have known that there was a very conservative snake in the Democratic hen-house.

Anyhoo…

Your Maximum Leader voted for Hillary. This is the only time in his life that he has pulled the proverbial switch for a Clinton. He never voted for Bill. He never thought he’d vote for Hillary. But there you have it. Tis done. Your Maximum Leader has done his part here in the Old Dominion to revive Hillary’s flagging campaign.

Now your Maximum Leader will revert back to his typical conservative self.

Carry on.

Stanley Mushnick looked across the street at the halal butcher shop. There were hardly any Muslims around. How did they stay open? The shop must be a front for terrorists. He should call the FBI. They’d check it out.

Gemal Al-Tariri looked across the street at the kosher deli. How many Jews could there be locally? How did they stay open? The shop must be a front for the mob. He should call the FBI. They’d check it out.

Special Agent Walt Grunwald got two calls. What were the odds of the mob and terrorists operating in this town?

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader has been giving thought to the vote next week here in Virginia. As you know (unless you are living under a rock somewhere) that next week (Tuesday) Virginia holds her presidential primary. Your Maximum Leader wasn’t really sure, until today, what he would be doing in that primary.

Your Maximum Leader had said previously that he would likely support John McCain. But allow him to take a step back for a moment. Now that Mitt Romney has dropped out of the race, does John McCain really need your Maximum Leader’s vote? Also, your Maximum Leader hears that many evangelical Republicans (of which there are many in the Old Dominion) are galvanized to vote for Mike Huckabee. Your Maximum Leader has heard from more than one plugged in source that Mike Huckabee will give McCain a run for his money in VA - or even win outright.

So… What is your Maximum Leader to do? He could vote for McCain. But his vote may not matter much on the Republican side. Although Huckabee might pick up another state or two, McCain will win the Republican nomination.

Your Maximum Leader has decided to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote for a candidate who really needs your Maximum Leader’s support on Tuesday.

Yes… Your Maximum Leader will vote for Senator Hillary Clinton on Tuesday. He feels he must do his part to help John McCain get a Democratic nominee he has a chance of beating. Hillary is that nominee.

Sure your Maximum Leader would never dream of voting for Clinton (any Clinton frankly - and to be frank he doesn’t think he could vote for another Bush any time soon) in a general election. But in the primary this vote is an attempt at being strategic. Your Maximum Leader doesn’t believe that McCain can pull off a win against Obama. Clinton’s high negatives and general weariness with 16 years of Clinton and Bush with the possibility of 4 or 8 more years with another Clinton is easier to run against than a young and vital man who promises a fresh start (if not much else).

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader was out looking for something quick to post… And here is another quiz, the results of which please your Maximum Leader.

Which Epic Poet Are You? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as P. Vergilius Maro You are Vergil, author of The Aeneid. Your epic meditates upon broad themes of history and fate, as well as especially glorifying Rome and your patron Augustus. Your perfectionism is notorious; it was said you would start a day with forty lines and end with four. P. Vergilius Maro 80% Torqauto Tasso 50% John Milton 45% Homer 45% Dante Alighieri 40%

Your Maximum Leader was a little surprised that he wasn’t Milton - whom he has always enjoyed a lot. And for the sake of being honest, your Maximum Leader has never heard (or never remembers hearing about) Tasso prior to this quiz…

Your Maximum Leader was recently talking about Vergil with Villainette #2 who is studying Ancient Rome now in school. He even pulled out one of his many copies of The Aeneid to have her read some. (She read in English, but saw the Latin on the opposite page.)

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader saw this quiz over on the interestingly named Dad’s Deadpool blog and took it. He likes it a lot and finds that the results suit him well.

Which Great US President Are You Most Like? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as George Washington 1st President, in office from 1789-1797 Born: 1732 Died: 1799 George Washington 74% Ronald Reagan 71% Dwight Eisenhower 64% Abraham Lincoln 59% Theodore Roosevelt 57% Thomas Jefferson 52% John Kennedy 52% Harry Truman 48% Franklin Roosevelt 45% Woodrow Wilson 36% Lyndon Johnson 36%

Interestingly, while taking the quiz, and when pondering its results, your Maximum Leader was reminded of James MacGregor Burn’s book on leadership and was contemplating the nature of presidential leadership. He thinks there might be a post in trying to apply an academic analysis of presidential leadership to the current crop of candidates. Your Maximum Leader will have to file that one away and see if he can write up something on that topic.

Carry on.

Credo in unum Deum,
Patrem omnipoténtem,
factórem cæli et terræ,
visibílium ómnium et invisibílium.
Et in unum Dóminum Iesum Christum,
Fílium Dei Unigénitum,
et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sæcula.
Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero,
génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri:
per quem ómnia facta sunt.
Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem
descéndit de cælis.
Et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto
ex María Vírgine, et homo factus est.
Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis sub Póntio Piláto;
passus, et sepúltus est,
et resurréxit tértia die, secúndum Scriptúras,
et ascéndit in cælum, sedet ad déxteram Patris.
Et íterum ventúrus est cum glória,
iudicáre vivos et mórtuos,
cuius regni non erit finis.
Et in Spíritum Sanctum, Dóminum et vivificántem:
qui ex Patre Filióque procédit.
Qui cum Patre et Fílio simul adorátur et conglorificátur:
qui locútus est per prophétas.
Et unam, sanctam, cathólicam et apostólicam Ecclésiam.
Confíteor unum baptísma in remissiónem peccatorum.
Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum,
et vitam ventúri sæculi. Amen

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader sometimes sits in the Villainschloss and wonders if he should have brought children into the world. He loves his three children. He would trade his life for them. But he really worries about the world he’s brought them into. When he thinks about the future he doubts the viability of the species. If he was placing bets, he’d put money on cockroaches. (But then again, who wouldn’t? During the Cold War if you had to put a bet on which species would inhabit the Earth in 500 years you’d have chosen the cockroach over the human. Frankly, the cockroach is a good bet in any political/economic/environmental future-casting situation.)

What is causing your Maximum Leader to be so melancholy when thinking forward? Is it Super Tuesday results? Nope. Is it the Packers not making it to the Super Bowl? No. What then could it be?

Try this on:

Britons are losing their grip on reality, according to a poll out Monday which showed that nearly a quarter think Winston Churchill was a myth while the majority reckon Sherlock Holmes was real.

Egads!

It gets worse:

The survey found that 47 percent thought the 12th century English king Richard the Lionheart was a myth.

And 23 percent thought World War II prime minister Churchill was made up. The same percentage thought Crimean War nurse Florence Nightingale did not actually exist.

Three percent thought Charles Dickens, one of Britain’s most famous writers, is a work of fiction himself.
Indian political leader Mahatma Gandhi and Battle of Waterloo victor the Duke of Wellington also appeared in the top 10 of people thought to be myths.

Meanwhile, 58 percent thought Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Holmes actually existed; 33 percent thought the same of W. E. Johns’ fictional pilot and adventurer Biggles.

Great jeezey chreezey! There are still people alive who knew Churchill! There are still Britons alive who knew Churchill. Humm… Let your Maximum Leader think on this… How about… Oh… The Queen. As your Maximum Leader recalls, Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill was Queen Elizabeth II’s first Prime Minister. Yet 23% of Britons believe Churchill to be a myth.

Your Maximum Leader is (surprisingly) willing to give (stupid) people a pass in thinking that Richard I (the Lionheart) is a myth. With all the Robin Hood stuff out there and every single crusader movie ever made having some sort of Richard cameo popular culture has helped to push society towards the mythic Richard.

But Winston Churchill a myth?!?!!!!!

Your Maximum Leader weeps for the future.

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader, as he is typing this, is seeing that the early returns on this Super Tuesday are giving Georgia and Illinois to Barack Obama and Oklahoma to Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side. On the Republican side of things it looks like Romney gets Massachusetts, Huckabee gets West Virginia, and McCain gets Illinois, Connecticut and New Jersey. Your Maximum Leader is amused to see that some political types are speculating that Ron Paul can win the Alaska primaries.

Way to go Alaska!

You will recall that just a few short weeks ago your Maximum Leader mused that the Republicans could go to their convention without a clear nominee. Now he is beginning to think that the Democrats can go to their convention without a nominee. This is especially plausible considering the Democrats tendency to use a fun and exciting system of proportionally dividing delegates.

Depending on how things go tonight, your Maximum Leader is beginning to think that John McCain will wrap up the Republican nomination by the end of February.

Your Maximum Leader is attempting to look at these races as dispassionately as possible. He is not (admittedly) thrilled by any of his choices, so being dispassionate isn’t too hard. He’ll not lament that none of the candidates thrill him. (However since he did just mention it, none of the candidates thrill him.)

As your Maximum Leader mentioned a few lines ago, proportional division of convention delegates on the Democratic side of these primaries could really keep the Democratic candidates duking it out for weeks. Perhaps your Maximum Leader is the only one thinking this, but does it seem as though the Democrats are doing every thing in their power to weaken themselves during this primary season? By this he means that by making their nominating process more “fair” by not using many “winner take all” primaries, are the Democrats prolonging their nominating process and cutting into the time that their eventual candidate can raise money and campaign against the Republicans? Your Maximum Leader seems to think that this is the first step in the quadrennial march of the Democrats towards self-destruction. They always seem to find a way to snatch defeat from the jaws of electoral victory. And if there was ever a year where the Democrats would have to intentionally sabotage themselves to lose the presidential race, this would be the year. Your Maximum Leader can hardly see how the Democrats can lose this race – all things being equal…

Lucky for all of us… Not all things seem to be equal. The Democrats have raised boatloads of money compared to Republicans. That is a big advantage for the Democrats. Pretty much everyone but the most committed party partisans dislikes George W Bush – and by default many Republicans. That is an advantage for the Democrats. The economy is not very strong, and possibly in recession. People (rightly or wrongly – frankly more wrongly) tend to blame the economic situation on the sitting president and his party. This is another plus for the Democrats. There are lots of positives out there if you are a Democrat.

Of course, on the negative side for the Democrats, the two remaining candidates have issues. Do Hillary Clinton’s negatives need to be repeated? Your Maximum Leader thinks not. Barack Obama’s big negatives are inexperience and a perception among many as not having much substance. Of the two Democratic candidates, Barack Obama’s negatives can be overcome by hammering home the empty theme of “change.”

If there is a term in (American) politics that your Maximum Leader has come to loathe as he grows older it is the term “change.” Walter Mondale promised change in 1984. His promised change was to not be Ronald Reagan. Bill Clinton was all about change in 1992. Bill Clinton’s promised change was to help the little guy and fix the economy. Bill Clinton was as obtuse as possible in detailing exactly what constituted change. In 2000 George W Bush promised a change from Bill Clinton and Al Gore.

Change really doesn’t mean much unless you are specific. And as we all know, most people don’t want to hear the specifics. Most voters want to hear good sound bite and start feeling good about the future. Change in the future is a fun and good thing if you put the right spin on it. Don’t like the economy being bad – Change! Don’t like the war in Iraq – Change! Fear for your job because of outsourcing or illegal immigration – Change! Think the Supreme Court is too Liberal/Conservative – Change! To promise change in a presidential campaign is not really to promise anything.

The emptiness of “change” is actually a huge strength for Barack Obama. Your Maximum Leader believes that if Barack Obama can wrap up the Democratic nomination (no easy feat in itself) then all he has to do to win the general election is just preach “change.” This is especially effective if the Republican nominee is John McCain. An Obama/McCain contest is going to be the election of 1996 writ large.

Do you remember 1996? Bob Dole was our bridge to a better past. Bill Clinton was building a bridge to the future. Bob Dole was an old and bitter man. Bill Clinton was a young horny man. Bob Dole didn’t feel anything and spoke in the third person. Bill Clinton felt your pain and finished your sentences as you uttered them. It was sad actually. At least it was sad to your Maximum Leader.

In the event of an Obama/McCain race, your Maximum Leader will gird himself for what will come. Bitter old man John McCain versus optimistic and young Barack Obama. Snippy McCain versus empathetic Obama. McCain is “old” and a “Washington insider.” Obama is “young” and a “fresh faced uniter.” Indeed, your Maximum Leader isn’t sure that John McCain can beat Barack Obama. Anything can happen of course. Politics are unpredictable. But it looks pretty damned tough.

That said… A Clinton/McCain fight. Now that would be a contest for the ages. Your Maximum Leader imagines that fight to be protracted and particularly nasty. He also imagines that John McCain wins that fight. Frankly, on the off chance that Mitt Romney becomes the Republican nominee, he can see Romney pulling out a win against Clinton. It would be very difficult for Romney, but Hillary is beatable.

At this point your Maximum Leader sees that the media are calling Super Tuesday thusly:
Clinton wins New York, Arkansas, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Massachusetts.
Obama wins Illinois and Georgia.
McCain wins Connecticut, New Jersey, Illinois, and Delaware.
Romney wins Massachusetts.
Huckabee wins West Virginia and Arkansas.

Slowly the story unfolds…

Carry on.

Greetings, loyal minions. Your Maximum Leader wanted to take a moment to thank all his loyal readers who opined on his recent post concerning Johnnie Walker and making cocktails using Scotch as a primary ingredient.

First off, let your Maximum Leader thank Thomas for informing him that there was Scotch liqueur other than Drambuie. Your Maximum Leader will keep his eyes peeled for a bottle of Lochan Ora. He has never heard of it before, nor has he seen it. But now that he has heard of it… He may try to pick up a bottle.

Secondly, let your Maximum Leader assure you all that he would never (never EVAR) consider using a top shelf scotch in a cocktail. When your Maximum Leader says top shelf, he is not restricting this to single malts. Your Maximum Leader has had many single malts that are (in the words of Quasimodo) suitable only for cleaning sinks and paint brushes. There are many fine single malts for which it would, in fact, be a crime to mix with anything (except possibly ice). That said, your Maximum Leader believes there are a number of outstanding blends that should not be mixed. Chief among these is probably Johnnie Walker Blue.

Excursus: Quasimodo, in his comment, disparaged Cutty Sark Scotch. Your Maximum Leader must opine on this slam of Cutty. Your Maximum Leader will state on the record that Cutty Sark is not particularly good Scotch. It is, at best, passable for a blend. Your Maximum Leader has a soft spot in his heart – if not his palette – for Cutty Sark. You see, in his youth there always seemed to be a bottle of Cutty Sark around for those inclined to take a drink of whisky. Cutty Sark was likely the first Scotch your Maximum Leader ever sipped. (Or gulped more probably.) So, although he hasn’t had any Cutty Sark in years, he does remember it fondly as his “gateway” Scotch.

Lastly… For those of you who are curious as to what Scotch resides in your Maximum Leader’s liquor cabinet… Here is the list… Craiganmore. Glenfiddich Solera Reserve (which is at the moment your Maximum Leader’s favorite – his favorite changes with his mood and the season, Craiganmore was the favorite a few months ago). Glenlivet (Oak barrel special reserve). Bowmore (12 year old). And one bottle of Johnnie Walker Black.

Carry on.