Quick Roundup 84

AMLO Denied

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, leftist Mayor of Mexico City and rabble-rouser extraordinaire, has been denied the full, vote-by-vote recount he has been demanding since he lost the 2006 presidential election.

By a unanimous decision, the seven-member Federal Electoral Tribunal agreed instead to recount ballots in about 9 percent of the more than 130,000 voting precincts nationwide. The recount will begin Wednesday and last until next Sunday in half of the country's 300 electoral districts. The recount includes about 4 million votes, potentially enough to reverse the election, although the areas under review are considered strongholds for Lopez Obrador's opponent.

An enraged Lopez Obrador, 52 -- whose supporters have been blockading key streets and occupying the central plaza in downtown Mexico City for a week -- vowed Saturday evening to continue his movement's "peaceful civil resistance" in order to win a full recount. [bold added]

Recall what AMLO said before? "We don't want to affect the citizens. This is not about blocking highways." Right. But it does place today's leftist (non-) "apology" in its proper light: "This isn't a personal matter. I'm not obsessed with power."

Uh-huh.

Another Scary Mayor

Awhile back, I said of Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Frank Melton's high-profile posturing on crime:

Consider Mayor Melton's attempted actions again. He was willing, based on a couple of violent crimes (in a city that has had way more than its share for quite some time), to impose elements of martial law! So because the government -- by failing to punish criminals adequately and thus creating an "emergency" -- has proven unable or unwilling to protect individual rights, it is thus entitled to run over individual rights and install military troops? For what other pedestrian reasons will we have government officials declaring "emergencies" and what will they capriciously decide to do about them? This trigger-happy willingness to declare "emergencies" seems like the real emergency to me.

Is it any surprise, then, that a man so contemptuous of the need for checks and balances would also break the law himself?

Federal authorities have told the mayor to quit packing his pistol on commercial airline flights. The mayor has said he receives almost daily threats and needs protection.

Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood told him to stop wearing police gear, and Faye Peterson, the district attorney in Jackson, has said he is breaking the law by impersonating a police officer.

I think the man quoted at the end of the story is wrong in giving the Melton a pass based on his good intentions. How is a society that needs law and order supposed to regain them when the men in charge of enforcing the law openly flout it?

Pajama Bottoms: A New Trend in Male Fashion?

Yeah. I'm probably out of the loop, but in this case, it's a badge of honor. I took advantage of Texas' annual tax-free day (and a few gift cards) to replenish my wardrobe this weekend and was shocked by something I found in great abundance at Sears, of all places.

No. I am not a fashion disaster. I do know how to dress myself. But Sears, since they bought out Lands' End and introduced a few other brands to their stores as well, has been a worthwhile shopping destination. Usually, I can find a few decent shirts there, and the prices are good, so I go.

This year, and not just at Sears, but everywhere, it seemed that the casual choices fell into three general categories I try to avoid: the sloppy, the foppish, and the boring. It was slim pickings all around. That was bad enough, but I managed to navigate my way around all that reasonably well.

But the shocker was this: There were racks and racks of what looked and felt like pajama bottoms on sale where there should have been pants. I don't even know where to look or who to ask about what's going on here! Hell. They're probably not even called "pajamas" although that is exactly what they are.

It will be a cold day in Hell, of course, before I wear this intersection of the foppish, the sloppy, and the dull in public, but I am still curious. What in the world is going on here? I'd be relieved to hear that I'm wrong or even just nuts, but this is so inane that I am almost certain that my impression is correct....

-- CAV