I know there've been too many diaries pushing one candidate or the other. If you go to the bottom of this one, you will find my preference too. But that's mostly not what this diary is about. This cycle, Democrats have an embarrassment of riches. Clinton, Edwards and Obama are all compelling. I've dithered for months - flitting from one to another like a bee in a clover field. I despaired that I could ever decide. I figured I might let the rest of America decide and tell me the answer. Then, I remembered that I've practiced, researched and taught management for nearly 30 years. Organizations are assembled from different types of people. We used to think in terms of 'jobs' (Pres. VP. Coach. CEO), but in an increasingly fluid and dynamic world, it's often easier to think of 'roles' (leader, visionary, healer, etc.).

So I reviewed roles that I associate with each major candidate. Not only did it clarify my understanding, it allowed me to (barely) select the one that I believe would make the best Democratic nominee for President. If you can stand to follow another one of these exercises, go over the fold.

Things are moving fast in Iowa and its all pretty good. The pundits are beginning to get the fact that politics is about the positive, not just the negative.

To me the message is that US is in such a mess that the American people have decided they will have to fight their way out - not just fight among themselves.

More over the fold.

The Bush Administration's stunning managerial incompetence (at least on anything remotely related to effective governance) seems so broad and deep that it raises its own research questions:

1. Is it possible for such massive incompetence to arise in a natural manner?

2. Why do incompetents hire so many other incompetents? Why don't they mask their weakness by hiring competent people to cover for them?

Yes, Virginia, there is a science to incompetence. Like any other natural phenomenon, scientists can study it - and they have discovered a few interesting things about the way that incompetence actually works. Follow over the fold for the deeper truths.

There's been lots of great diaries that explored America's healthcare and eldercare system and the myriad ways that it fails to deliver to deserving Americans. However, this diary relates a slightly different twist - where the system "works", but almost too well.

My in-laws are fugitives. My wife and I have imprisoned them several times in the past 5 years. Occasionally, they make a break and return to their home in Florida. The latest escape attempt is nearing its end. The Florida system has them trapped and we're negotiating their surrender. We should haul them back to the pokey in a week or so.

Strange as the previous paragraph may sound, it is reasonably accurate. Even more strange, when you understand the history and situation, it makes perfect sense. Therein lies a serious concern (possibly an indictment) about the "system" that we have designed to care for our most vulnerable citizenry. More over the fold.

This is a short diary.

From the comments to Kos' diary, it appears that the military has announced that the letter to Jordan Fox asking for the return of his enlistment bonus is a 'mistake'.

A little Google searching suggests that the only mistake is that the Military has been allowing these letters to go out for years - and did nothing about them. More over the fold.

This Gallup Poll on 2007 Mar 26-29  registered public perceptions of politicians' interest in key issues. It contains a number of thought-provoking results, most of which are reasonably good news or Democrats, albeit fairly predictable. However, I want to focus on the American public's perception of Washington's concern for small business.

Many of my small business colleagues believe that Republicans are their champions. Yet, these are the same people that are being torn up by health care costs, excluded by big business purchasing practices and generally ignored by a government that behaves like the bankers in the Capital One ad. So, when you go over the fold and see the survey response, please stick around long enough and offer any of your ideas for ways to fix this problem. I'm hoping that a little bit of brainstorming might generate something worthwhile.

It's the mantra of progressives and democrats (gad, even Lou Dobbs) that the middle class is under attack and needs to be helped or saved or rescued or supported or ... something. Of course, my empathetic side stands up and cheers. The middle class is the bedrock of every modern, democratic society. It is the heartbeat of civility and the engine of creativity and productivity. It is the strongest protector of the weak and the greatest champion of collective optimism. In short, it is a really, really good thing.

But then my practical side kicks in and, being an unreconstructed academic, I am compelled to wonder: "What does 'middle class' mean?"

Being lazy, I go to the wikipedia article on the 'American Middle Class'. But its first sentence says: "The American middle class is an ambiguously defined social class in the United State" Not hopeful. Then, as I read more (Google has 11.4M hits for "middle class" so I may have missed a few), most writers lament the vagueness of their definitions. So, I figured why not explore the definition with a posse of brilliant Kossacks? So come over the fold and pitch in.

OK. Now its official.

The Bush Administration doesn't give a damn. We always suspected that they never did, but now we know for sure.

The Scooter commutation is a blanket FU to everyone that opposes or disagrees with them. Opposing views don't matter. The law doesn't matter. Nothing matters. Fuck em all. You can just see the adolescent rebellion oozing out of every crack and seam in the White House facade.

"OH YEAH! I'll show you!!"

This is the second diary in a series on outsourcing. I decided to write the series to explore the mechanics, technologies and finer points of global supply chain operations and product quality. In this one, I examine some of the technical issues associated with inspection of products to find defects. A number of recent diaries have demanded inspections of foreign-sourced products, especially foodstuffs. Hopefully the material over the fold will be useful to those discussions.

And yes, I discuss melamine in pet food. If you are impatient, I suggest that you go to the bottom of the diary and read that section, then go back and read the first part to understand what the heck I was talking about.

I've read with interest the recent diaries on trade deals, foreign suppliers, and food safety. These are hot issues. However, many diarists and commenters don't really know the ins and outs of the global supply system and outsourcing. They know the problems, but not the mechanics - and details can matter.

Since it's been my academic field for 20 years, I'm starting a diary series to explain some of the mechanics that drive the global supply system. The series is intended to be technical and non-partisan. However, I promise that understanding how trade and outsourcing works won't weaken your next rant - it may give it a sharper edge.

This diary examines ways that purchasers deal with quality in sales transactions. Since most international trade is business to business (B2B) rather that business to consumer, the discussion focuses on that. I'm not expecting a big readership for this one, but I plan to link back to it from future installments. If you have questions, please ask them. I will either update, or add the answers to the later installments.

For the umptyumpth time, I've listened to some half-baked pundit peddling the line about how, if we tell the [insurgents|Al Qaeda|militia] that we might leave Iraq at a set time, they will just 'wait us out'.  

Hot Flash: Of course they will wait us out - they live there!

To see how this might play out, cross the fold:

Lou just published an editorial commentary on CNN's website about the Middle East. For some unaccountable reason, the generally obnoxious SOB had the balls to say the hitherto unspeakable truth: Americans are not smart enough to understand the Middle East.

Yay. Huzzah. Hooray. Hot Damn. Right On. Damn Straight. Duh! - follow past the fold.

Yesterday, Lucky-Ducky's diary triggered still more emotion. A lot of people asked a simple question: What do Southerner's want and why should I care? Personally, I believe that the answer lies in the following observation: The South is the biggest, most long-lived, most stable and most complex SOCIAL SYSTEM in America. It is a force unto itself and it seems to be growing. I believe that we must understand it as a system in order to deal with it. For my take on that, jump the fold:

Here's my teaser: What type of international electronic conversation strikes the greatest fear into the heart of the Bush Administration?

My scary answer over the fold:

A good example is the apparent mystery about why Fitz didn't charge Scooter with the underlying 'outing'? Consider Fitz's own account in his press conference: (more)

In the immediate aftermath of Katrina, people needed basics: food, water, air and shelter. To breathe, they ran from the flood. For the rest they went to the Superdome and Convention Center. For the rest, they depended on the government. The government let them down. Children and elderly dehydrated. Blood sugar went haywire.

But there was plenty of food and water in New Orleans. There always is. Everywhere. All the time. ... over the fold.

• Where will residents go?
  
• Can they go home?
  
• If so, when?
  
• Will their home be habitable?
  
• Can it be repaired?
  
• If not, who will pay to demolish and remove it?
  
• Once it is gone, can they rebuild?
  
• Will they owe property or other taxes in the meantime?
  
• Can they retain title to the land till they rebuild
  
• The SCOTUS sanctioned eminent domain. Will they be victims? Louisiana has legislation pending. Will it be passed?
  
• Will essential public records be saved?
  
• etc ... etc ...