A while back, I was reading a Salon article about how Iraqis were surprised that Saddam didn’t fight back when the troops found him. The article quoted a man who is employed by U.S. troops as a security guard. He said of Saddam’s capture, “We lost our only hope and now we are stuck with the Americans.” So that’s comforting.

In the past, I’ve tried to remain detached in the primaries. Once I choose a candidate I like, I tend to be fiercely loyal. If that person doesn’t win the nomination, I feel like a traitor when I ultimately vote for the other guy.

I spent last weekend helping Bryan with the Howard Dean campaign. He did site advance work, and I was the advance person for the hotel, which means that I missed the concert and Dean’s speech because I was watching the press core’s luggage. Though I learned very little about Dean himself, I’m hoping he gets the nomination simply because I shook his hand in a parking garage at 6 a.m. after collating his press briefing. That makes for a lame anecdote if doesn’t get elected.

Ataxia: Loss of the ability to coordinate muscular movement.

More good stuff from “What I’ve Learned:”

Bob Lutz says, “Being able to “think outside the box” presupposes you were able to think in it. ”

Last weekend, a little group of us went to see the Dance Along Nutcracker. It was exactly as it sounds: hundreds of little girls in fairy-princess costumes, and dozens of drag queens who had the same idea. Tutu rentals were $5 and worth every penny. There were toy soliders, and mice, and many a sugarplum fairy. There was also a woman who, inexplicably, took a length of pink tulle and tied a toy lamb to her head.