Some changes

Get ready for a few changes around here. For one thing I am heading to Beirut this summer and will used Unreined to talk about my experiences in Lebanon. Expect lots of pictures, video and stories as I will be documenting all of it.

For another there is a big midterm election season coming up and it appears that the GOP's momentum may be slowing a bit. Given the recent success of Obama administration policies and positive economic data, anyone who is now prognosticating November's election results is out of their mind.

A good case in point is the Florida Republican Senate primary where arch-conservative Marco Rubio now holds a huge margin over moderate governor Charlie Crist after trailing by as much as 50 points just months ago. There are two game-changers at work as this race transitions from primary to general election: One is the potential for Crist to run as an independent with enough influence to split both the GOP and the Democratic electorate. Two is for an IRS investigation into Rubio's use of state Republican Party credit cards to turn up something serious.

There are senate and house races across the country that bear watching just like the one in Florida. Before the Beirut trip, I will take a look into all of them for you.

Obama should appoint a liberal to the Supreme Court

With the recent announcement of John Paul Stevens retirement and resignation from the Supreme Court the Obama administration has the opporunity to maintain the balance on the Court by nominating a liberal judge to replace him.

Though Justice Stevens was appointed by Republican Gerald Ford, his decisions and opinions had drifted to the left over the last few years and he served as a counterbalance to the court's powerful conservative bloc led by Bush-appointed Chief Justice John Roberts. Obama now has his second opportunity to appoint someone young to the court who can carry on the president's legacy long after his term ends.

If recent debate over Obama's nominees is any indication, there is potential for a nasty battle over the next nominee as Republicans hypocritically stand poised to try to use the filibuster yet again, even though the current short list for the court seat is quite moderate by today's standards. I believe that such a conflict would work to the Democratic party's favor going into the election season as the majority of Americans would prefer to see ideological balance on the Supreme Court. It would be in this country's best interest for Obama to meet the party of negativity head on by nominating a strong liberal to the highest court in the land.

Belated HSR funding coverage

As the first post for my new public transit advocacy blog, I take a look at where the Obama Administration is spending $8 billion in recovery act funds dedicated to high speed rail.

Head on over to 'The Steel Backbone' and take a look.