Notes From D.R. | Random Thoughts on the Passing Scene

Liberal moonbats try to brand Mitt Romney a racist. Lord love a duck! Can you imagine just how ballistic they’ll get if Democratic gubernatorial candidate Deval Patrick loses in November? More from Dan Kennedy, Jon Keller, the Herald and Hub Politics.

Miami Vice tops the charts.

I really hope all this stuff about Mel Gibson isn’t true. More from Power Line, Patterico’s Pontifications, Captain’s Quarters and the New York Times.

UPDATE: More from Fox News and the New York Times.

Ted Kennedy whines, moans and complains about the judicial philosophies of Samuel Alito and John Roberts.

Violent anti-Semitism in Seattle. More from Michelle Malkin.

Massachusetts GOP gubernatorial candidate Kerry Healey doesn’t simply have to defeat an opponent in the 2006 election; she has to defeat an entire movement.

Healey must triumph over the same elitist forces that denigrated Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, Newt Gingrich in the 1990s and George W. Bush in the 2000s. She must conquer the same entities who regard any deviation from left-wing orthodoxy as abhorrent and intolerable.

Healey’s enemies are numerous: imbalanced ideologues who regard current Governor Mitt Romney as the root of all evil, zealots who feel that her positions on same-sex marriage and illegal immigration are "homophobic" and "xenophobic," economic illiterates who actually believe that tax cuts would harm the economy, and disgruntled Democrats who wish that voters would finally forget the bitter legacy of Michael Dukakis.

Healey’s enemies cannot be allowed to triumph. The risks are much too great: if they win, their policies will dismantle this state’s economic engine, lay waste to our legal system, allow criminals to receive even lighter punishments, and effectively evict the middle class. Make no mistake about it: to return a Democrat to the Corner Office is to sign a death warrant for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Speaking of mistakes, we have seen in recent weeks the sad spectacle of a fringe candidate exploiting the tragic death of a young mother in an attempt to position himself as the true anti-Democrat. His actions are politically perverse. This fringe candidate didn’t even wait for rigor mortis to set in before he endeavored to make himself the center of attention. This candidate, heretofore known for his jokey radio ads, turned a young woman’s untimely demise into a joke. This fringe candidate, however, is the punchline.

Voters in the Commonwealth must not fall for cheap imitations. They cannot give in to exploitation. They should not settle for the store brand.

There is only one contestant in this game whose win will bring about positive economic and social change for the state of Massachusetts, and that’s Kerry Healey. Bay State voters should ignore the ideologues, scoff at the spin, and most importantly, accept no substitutes.

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman Matt Amorello, who supervised (and mismanaged) the Big Dig for four years, finally resigns. More from Boston’s CBS-4, the Globe and Herald.

Washington State’s Supreme Court says no to same-sex marriage. More from the Washington Times.

Carl Brashear, the trailblazing navy diver portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr. in the 2000 film Men of Honor, passes away at 75.

In a bizarre political development, Michael Steele, the Republican US Senate candidate in Maryland, bashes Bush and the Republican Party. I know Maryland is a deep-blue state, and Steele does have to pander to the anti-Bush vote to a certain extent, but did he have to go this far? I fear that he may have torpedoed his chances for victory in November. More from Red State and National Review.

UPDATE: More from the Washington Post, Power Line, the Washington Times and the Baltimore Sun.

The Senate passes major pro-life legislation.

Mako Iwamatsu, an actor credited with opening doors for perfomers of Asian descent in Hollywood, passes away at 73.

Alan Dershowitz takes on left-wing anti-Semitism.

UPDATE: Condi Rice in Lebanon.

Alan Dershowitz takes on left-wing anti-Semitism.

UPDATE: Condi Rice in Lebanon.

Saddam Hussein hospitalized.