No thanks to the plane, we are still alive
All right, well I live in a new state now. Just so everyone knows, law school is going fine, inasmuch as I have yet to take a class. Several experienced members of the NYU Law family have suggested that if you work hard enough to get a B or B+ in your classes, you will probably get a reasonable approximation of your dream job. And thanks to the widest curve this side of Britney Spears (oh tag), pretty much everyone gets a B or B+. So I am not likely to end up destitute.
I regret coming here wholeheartedly. No, I just made that up. Speaking as someone who thought of Raleigh, NC as a huge place with tons to do and everything so close, it is surreal to be literally a block from a Best Buy, with a McDonald's, several hot dog stands, some type of wholesale liquidators, and Subways of the sandwich and transportative kind, all in between. The law school students are friendly and funny and interesting, as expected. I'm not getting enough sleep (nap today though) and I am already worried about not doing enough work, so those are both good signs for my long-term success.
Anyway, I'm boring myself writing this, so I'll leave you to email me if I'm omitting anything. What I really want to write about today is Gov. Brian Schweitzer of Montana. Montana politics went through a bit of an upheaval last November when Democrats took over the governor's office and both houses of the state legislature, thanks in large part to Schweitzer's down-home progressive populism. I really like the guy. He claimed he was bipartisan and picked a GOP running mate to prove it, and when a new liquor store opened up in Montana, he showed up for the opening - and downed a shot for the press. Read this fabulous profile in Salon to find out more, but at the very least see what he looks like:
And there's nothing I love in a great politician more than their reinforcement of my admiration. Apparently Schweitzer thinks he can actually lower gas prices - nationally - and the crazy thing is, it just might work. Let me excerpt the best parts:
Montana's governor wants to solve America's rising energy costs using a technology discovered in Germany 80 years ago that converts coal into gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.The Fischer-Tropsch technology, discovered by German researchers in 1923 and later used by the Nazis to convert coal into wartime fuels, was not economical as long as oil cost less than $30 a barrel.
But with U.S. crude oil now hitting more than double that price, Gov. Brian Schweitzer's plan is getting more attention across the country and some analysts are taking him very seriously.
Montana is "sitting on more energy than they have in the Middle East," Schweitzer told Reuters in an interview this week.
(For the record, this is from a week-old must-read DailyKos post.) Apparently the maniacs are suggesting this could cut gas prices to $1/gallon, some more reasonable people are suggesting prices cut in half, but in my mind, anything that helps get us the f off foreign oil is good by me. Despite acclimation from Democrats desperate for a progressive who can win nationally, Schweitzer has said explicitly that he's not running for president in 2008. If he can actually be the guy to lower gas prices, though, he may not have a choice.
(P.S. I would be remiss in writing about Montana Democratic politics without writing about Jon Tester, who looks like a gym teacher, is having a Pearl Jam concert as a campaign event, and I'm absolutely convinced will beat Conrad Burns to become Montana's next U.S. Senator. This is what Tester looks like:
He launched his campaign with a statewide tour in an 18-wheeler. On the back of the truck it said, "You're behind the right guy." Check out his awesome campaign website here.)