Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

vaya Monba vaya

when are you going to pick the democratic vp's?

No way will someone like Lindsey Graham or Haley Barbour be picked as veep. Their folks already vote Rep. Colin Powell would've been a smart choice before the WMD hearings, but he's got way too much baggage. Condi is too closely connected to W to be of any real use; she may be a very, accomplished person, but she is incompetent in her current position. If he wants to lose big, he will pick Lieberman.

I think the best thing McCain could do for his chances would be to pick Romney & focus on the economy.

Uh-oh, here we go again: Meet Obama's new pastor

"The man slated to become chief pastor at the Trinity United Church of Christ has called blacks "lepers" with a "skin disease," claimed U.S. entertainment corporations operate with "disdain" for black people, and in a fiery sermon claimed retired pastor Rev. Jeremiah Wright was "lynched" by the media and compared the embattled pastor to Jesus.

Otis Moss III, lauded this week by Obama as a "wonderful young pastor," also recently refused to deny claims by Wright that the U.S. government was involved in distributing illegal drugs to minorities or spreading the AIDS virus to blacks.

The 37-year-old Moss, nicknamed the "hip-hop pastor" by congregants, will become the head of Trinity Christ in June, taking over for Wright, whose controversial remarks landed Obama in hot water.

While slamming Wright this week, Obama told the New York Times he will continue his membership in Trinity. He referred to Moss as "wonderful."

"Well, you know, the new pastor – the young pastor, Rev. Otis Moss, is a wonderful young pastor. And as I said, I still very much value the Trinity community."

(Yes, I know it is WND)

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=63153

And in the end Johnny Mac will choose...

Dick Cheney.

And hug him so.

Thus separating himself from George Bush!

9 - That may be the best line all day. Certainly a disturbing image. I still wonder what McCain will do down the road; will he break with GOP rule of law once in office?

good morning gang....

yeah.... it will be interesting to see who McCain picks as vp..... as I'm sure that pick will be thought of as the front runner for the Repub party for 2012.......
and I agree with Blue that Lieberman is the kiss of death.....

Craig.... I see you have one of those bird clocks..... I got rid of mine.... it drove my cats nuts....

For those who have not seen Otis Moss III :

Barack Obama's NEW Preacher of Hate

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XupKU36iM0&eurl=http://noquarterusa.net/blog/

GORDO...

If you were really a Democrat and as passionate against John McInsane as you are against Obama you would be doing more good for the Democratic Party than you are now with your continual bashing of everything Obama.

God Bless.

9/11....
you got investments on the work of a lifetime...... good for you!

isn't it great to spend your days involved in your passion instead of just doing a job....... I feel so blessed....

anon - Well, I'm a life-long Dem (at least to this point) and agree with Gordo. Your statement is much like W's, "You're either with the terrorists or you're with us."

Obama-ites say: You're either for Obama or the terrorists win/you're a racist/you're a closet Republican, etc. It's a false argument meant to put people on defense; it's fried baloney.

AP -------------------------

I am not a Kool-Aid drinker. Obama is a fraud!

Barack Obama: There Will Be Bamboozling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuB_W8o_UsU

Seriously, what Obama supporters should be doing is trying to convince HRC supporters to join them. But instead, we have received nothing but arguments/insults of how bad HRC is for our country.

If Obama supporter were in sales, they would never close a single deal. No commissions, they would fail miserably.

It's not enough to tell someone who they choose is bad, you have to inform as to why your candidate is superior.

I think we could come up with an extensive line-up of the name-calling projected towards Clinton supporters, by Obama supporter, pundits, and opposing politicians.

Just an FYI, that is not a proven way to gain support. And it does not reflect NEW politics, or CHANGE or Hope, or any thing decent.

It's stupid and creepy.

mornin' all.

renee, craig, LOL at the bird clock - we have one & I took the battery out of the warble part because it drove Mrs. P nuts - and she doen't even like cats. Of course I'm sure it was way out of synch, and I couldn't tell the chirp of a titmouse from the warble of a, well, warbler if my life depended on it.

blue, you've hit the nail on the head. AP, replace Obama with Hillary and turn that statement toward yourself. Newfound self righteousness of Obamites who have provided nonstop Hillary bashing is stunningly hypocritical. My sense is that everyone here who supports a dem candidate, Gordo included, has at one time or another criticized McCain.

FWIW, I think he'll pick Romney.

Burrito: This is the question I have pondered for weeks and months. When is Obama going to ask for my vote? When are the new Obama surrogates going to stop calling Clinton supporters Attack Dogs? Perhaps if the newly converted came to us with arms open instead of spewing vitriol it would be more likely for us to circle the wagons. As it is, it seems like a lot of frat boy antics. I gravitate toward authentic men like Ed Rendell a hell of a lot more than the frat boy types of Joe Andrew and David Wilhelm. Those guys just come off as slimy. And what I liked about Rendell was his tendency to ride the fence a bit because I think he was well aware that Obama was the likely nominee. He is loyal and, I believe, honestly thinks Hillary is a better candidate and wasn't willing to sell out his soul...

ub, amen.

In the same honorable and selfless intent Fred Thompson ran for the presidency, we see and hear his words ring true every single time;

"I thought I had an opportunity to do some things in a different way and if I was successful I could lead in a different way but, that didn't work out. I am interested in absolutely nothing else other than doing what I can to help those who are trying to help this country, and be a good citizen and do those things that I can do now in the private sector to help these kids and grandchildren but that does not involve going to state funerals in faraway places. " - FDT

"when are you going to pick the democratic vp's? --Posted by: emmy"

as soon as someone gets the magic number for the dem nomination, we'll play DEM vp

i love my bird clock, btw

Should McCain pick an unknown, junior senator, who has also participated in a few years of community service?

I don't think so. That would be viewed as a negative.

McCain would never pick someone that wasn't qualifies to become the president in case it was ever required.

And one more thing, frequently I do go to Gordo's links. And a funny thing happened: Much of the stuff he linked to in the past started out as internet fodder. That was until a little news outlet called ABC decided to run with it. So, while HOPING that some of this stuff is just goofy right wing propaganda is a pleasant way to dismiss it, don't think for a minute that Obama has been fully vetted in the eyes of the media or the Republicans. Some of us are just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Here's one for ya, AP - a twofer - Krugman bashing Obama AND the repugs.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/opinion/02krugman.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin

If McCain is smart, he'll choose someone like Charlie Crist or Bobby Jindal, someone with some mojo to spare.
Much as I admire Obama, unless McCain picks a disastrous running mate, I don't think Obama can win in the general. If Obama's the nominee, I will vote for him and do whatever I can, and I also know that my son is an Obama supporter and voted for him in the primary. But honestly, Clinton has the necessary "bad-ass" factor and can beat McCain in the general election. That's why I hope she's the nominee, though I'm not terribly optimistic about it.

And one last thing: I say Romney will be the Veep. The only issue might be the FLDS thing down in Texas. Some folks may not be able to separate the LDS with the FLDS. I'm sure there is polling going on with regard to this issue. (Of course, why poll? Who cares about electability anyway?)

Mary: Crist is my second guess, especially if Obama is the nominee. Locking up Florida would be a smart strategy.

Oh I forgot: Happy Friday everyone!

It's gray and cloudy today, hopefully the sun will peek out. Got to get moving. Have a good one!

~ Peace

Now I have to re-watch the video to take a look at a "bird-clock " , whatever that may be ? A coo-coo clock?

I'd like to play that Electoral College map game again now that we have a better idea of who wins where...

Okay, saw the bird clock - Does the bird clock have the different bird voices (calls) on the hour ?

Oh my, I am late - got to go. Have fun everyone. : )

Ally, Crist would do that, but McCain doesn't need it - Obama has made clear to FL dems that he doesn't value their votes. It's the approach the Obama supporters here have adopted - crossed ams and a hale and hearty FU.

Pogo: I mean to say if "Clinton is the nominee." Sorry...I think Clinton would make Florida competitive. If its Obama, I don't think he needs Crist. It's Friday...I'm exhausted and have a FedEx deadline looming.

Good Morning Nick!

Ally, tired or not, you made sense. Obama needs Crist for FL, Hillary doesn't.

"Does the bird clock have the different bird voices (calls) on the hour ? ... -- Posted by: unlikely_burrito"

yes, tapes of the real birds too, not some computer generated cyber sound -- in fact, the Belted Kingfisher just warbled 9am

i see that Pawlenty is trouncing poor Phil Gramm with 85%. Rice and Romney also runaways.

First round ends May 6: http://innovation.cq.com/vpmadness

and Giuliani is getting clobbered by Kay Bailey Hutchison, that's a bit surprising

Craig any early predictions for NC or IND. I say Hillary wins by 10 in Ind. and Obama by 6 in NC.

One thing I noticed with regard to the dueling Fox interviews. Hillary got loads of attention with her O'Reilly interview. However, Obama's interview with Chris Wallace received little or no attention at all. Is this a reflection of O'Reilly's ratings, the Wright issue explosion, the desire of the left to keep the fact Obama went on Fox on the downlow or the fact that the interview was kind of a dud?

Gordo

You published all that crud yesterday. Are you trying to rack up the Google numbers again? Constant nagging doesn't impress anybody.

Giuliani is a political dead man walking and KBH is one of those "it's never got that late and I've never gotten that drunk" kind of women. When she flashed her legs in those damn red boots at Dumya's first inaugural, I thought I'd hurl. And ever try to pronounce party like Phil Gramm? Pwaowrty, or something like it. Maybe putting a couple of marbles in your mouth as you do that would help. Mrs. P calls him Mister Pwaowrty.

Obama and his wife were on the Today show yesterday and that also did not get much attention. Was it a dud too?

"Seriously, what Obama supporters should be doing is trying to convince HRC supporters to join them"

Burrito, The principle reason people gravitate towards Sen. Clinton are experience and maturity. It doesn't help Sen. Obama's cause that the majority of his supporters act like frat boys on a panty raid.

"Craig any early predictions for NC or IND. -- Posted by: vadaryl"

not yet for me, waiting for the weekend to see what those pesky undecideds are doing -- as in PA, those double-digit undecideds are the numbers to watch when they start moving

And the reason I bring the Chris Wallace interview up is that Barnicle said on MOJO yesterday that on MTP, all of our questions are going to be answered about Obama and Wright. How often did he go to church? What exactly did he hear? etc. etc. etc. Is this good or bad and do you think Russert is really going to go back to the Wright well for a drink? Seems like it would be better for Obama to just move on. Why bring it up all over again to be dissected and analyzed ad nauseum from scratch?

O'Reilly is going to interview McCain next week, Obama should go on too. If he's going to be the nominee then he needs show what he is made of and can handle people like O'Reilly.

Vad: That interview on the Today show got tons of attention on MSNBC (obviously) but I didn't see it covered on Fox or CNN. Sometimes I think Michelle overshadows Barack and you could tell she was itching to take over that Today Show interview. She held back but I'm sure it was hard on her because you can say a lot of things about her...boring and dumb ain't on the list.

Craig...
I LOVE Belted Kingfishers......
the backyard of my childhood home abutted a small pond..... there was a half-dead tree growing along side of it that every spring became the site of a pair of Belted Kingfishers' nest....

Pogo..... don't laugh..... I never thought about taking the battery out of the bird calling part.... stupid me..... I threw the whole clock out....

I think McCain is going to be very careful with his pick of vp...... he knows he's got a good shot at finally being president.... after rising from what looked like sure political death, I don't think he'll blow this....

Vad: I am going to be brutally honest with you: Not many people can handle O'Reilly the way Hillary did. Call it testicular fortitude if you like. The only way you can go up against that blowhard is if you know your s$%t backwards and forwards and she does. If you pause for just a second to get your bearings, he will fill in and dump on. That's what he does.

Obama wants the Wright thing to go away, any candidate would, but since it's now become a big character issue of his and he has said some things that don't add up then Tim has a right to question him about it.

Ally, that will be a refreshing change if it happens. I have not had the feeling that anything has ever been explained by Obama, either in interviews or in debates. His two constant companions, Bob and Weave have dominatee those venues.

Craig, your right the undecided will affect both states. The last I saw it was around 13%, that's a lot this late in the game.

Here's the latest in porcine cosmetology.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/business/02econ-web.html?hp

OK, renee I won't laugh (but I may burst).

... dominated.

Obama will do his latest country song "How can I miss you if you won't go away/" on MTP.

When CNN interviewed Michelle, why did she have to have Kennedy sitting next to her. She can hanlde herself alone. Also they better be careful telling the press what to do. The press has been pretty kind to them up until now. All the press needs is something like the Wright issue and they can change in a heatbeat.

Jamie -----------------------

"You published all that crud yesterday."

Just what "crud" are you referring to?

Is it: "Uh-oh, here we go again: Meet Obama's new pastor"

This has a dateline of: Posted: May 01, 2008
11:40 pm Eastern (on WND)

Perhaps you got that "crud" confused with this other "crud":

"Father Pfleger & Rev. James Meeks: Who They Really Are"

I posted that last "crud" at 12:12 AM on May 1.

It's getting difficult to keep up Obama's hate-filled friends and pastors. Guess I'll have to put up a wall chart!

But is it smart of Obama to go on a show and rehash it yet again? Because if he is inconsistent (hardly went to church) when prior he said he was a regular churchgoer (except when his girls were babies), doesn't it just invite MORE scrutiny? (Is he really a Christian? Is he a liar? Did he join the church for political reasons? Does he believe in the black cause? Did they really never discuss politics? Did he really not know that Wright was a egomaniacal demagogue? Did he not take African American Studies in college? He really didn't know about Black Liberation Theology? Blah blah blah). Why not just drop it? It is what it is. MOVE ON.

keep up WITH Obama's

Where is Chuck Hagel's Name !!!!!!!

Yep, Obama is in a bad place with this issue. I imagine he, Michelle and slimy are practicing their asses off for this appearance.

Like I said, he's going to be singing "How can I miss you if you won't go away."

Clintonites: MOJO talked about Clinton being at the top of her game this morning:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxraXh4ePZs

We can move on from Wright but the problem I have is if he's not telling the truth about this issue then if he becomes president will he be truthful about other issues. We have a president now that we don't trust, I don't want another one.

Good morning folks. Craig, if you're still here, I wanted to thank you for your answer to my question yesterday. I couldn't sign in or post anything yesterday evening when I got home, I really hate my ISP!

I just wanted to say, that this will be the first time I can remember that Kentucky's actually had a voice in the primaries, and we're all really excited here. Even Mitch McConnell's shelling out a little advertising money this year, all the new voters have him scared, I guess.

BTW, I have the bird clock too! (sans batteries), and also the butcher block table & chairs in one of the other videos. How weird is that?

Some poll info.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/742191/indiana_poll_data_analysis.html

"Where is Chuck Hagel's Name !!!!!!! -- Posted by: Skylark"

he's paired off against Condi Rice in the 1st Round: http://innovation.cq.com/vpmadness

jeejee, we could use a Kentucky Trailspotter, keep us posted on the campaign there

Jamie, in an article in today's Lexington paper, Hillary Clinton says to pick the filly for the Derby!

http://www.kentucky.com/

I'm going to try to do a link here to their website, check out the picture. Love her Derby hat.

Was Wright right when he said Obama is doing the political thing? I thought Obama wanted to change that image. He's not doing a good job of that. He's just like any other politician in handling this issue. So who is he trying to fool. This is a character issue to me.

Craig do you think Edwards will endorse anybody this weekend or stay on the sidelines.

Just played VP madness...a well-thought out "game."

Craig, I have always been amazed at the percentage of undecided in the primary contests. I can't fathom anyone not having an "cemented" choice by now...I have always been 'suspicious' of the undecided in the voter focus groups. But, given how the SDs keep switching, the 'undecided' will most likely decide the race.

9/11 sending you tons of energy. Glue knows, I have more than enough!

Craig

The primary gave everyone a good look at Giuliani and they didn't like what they saw. Being on the Rep ticket as VP wouldn't improve anything. I doubt that Hutchinson will make it through the second round since she has the same Cruella Deville feel as McCaskel. My top three for Rep VP would be Sanford, Pawlenty or Palin..

The Indiana polls look good, but I'm really not all that excited about a win there - it's been a red state for over 40 years. NC is much the same. The momentum aspect may mean something,though.

"Craig do you think Edwards will endorse anybody this weekend or stay on the sidelines. -- Posted by: vadaryl"

if ever he does, now would be the time wouldn't it? my hunch is he'll keep his powder dry

Here's the link on Clinton's Derby hat. I understand Chelsea is attending. She should have a ball as a VIP. Eight Belles is a good horse, but she is in a difficult post position for a filly. They must have high hopes though, they pulled her out of the Oaks to put her in the Derby.

http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2008/05/01/politics/fromtheroad/entry4063911.shtml

"My top three for Rep VP would be Sanford, Pawlenty or Palin.. -- Posted by: Jamie"

not a bad top 3, jamie. Palin is interesting, a socially conservative reformer and former Miss Alaska contestant

I think if Hillary's the nominee McCain will go with either Condi Rice or Colin Powell. Because playing the race card appears to be the most effective way of beating the Clintons, who would've thought.

Ms. Palin has also tried marijuana (when it was legal in Alaska), but she didn't like it. She would help McCain with the youth vote. She also supported the constitutional amendment against gay marriage in her state.

i like those odds for Colonel John (and nice to be with Gidget)

Probably won't be Charlie Christ if FL's "resign to run" law is still in effect. Traditionally the media would shame into resigning any state official who stays in office when running for a federal post even though the law only applies to state offices. But then, Charlie has no shame. IMHO, unless he thinks it's a sure thing, Charlie will wait until 2012... that is if he still has his tan and hair.

But what do I know, being that I have two bird clocks. One with bird calls taped by Cornell and the other by Audubon. Have them set a minute apart... get two birds for one hour that way.

Vad: Is there anything Obama could say on MTP that would change your mind about Obama's credibility on the Wright issue? People either believe he is being honest or they don't. Bringing it up again just invites more scrutiny and more opportunity to play gotcha. From a tactical standpoint it might be a mistake for his campaign. That's my only concern.

This is interesting.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120969261919261663.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

for what it's worth i woke up this morning with the image of a McCain-Rice bumper sticker in my head -- Prophesy or nightmare?!?!?

Rove reacts to Clinton interview and Obama

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGEZhE0FD7s

Night terror, Craig.

I woke up with a McCain-Romney bumper sticker in my head and a Hillary-Wesely Clarke, Obama-Richardson. I also saw Hillary-Byden one that quickly went away.

Nightmare.

Nightmare Craig

How about a McCain/Clinton ticket?

Clinton/McCain

Eight Belles for me Jamie.

Why not have McCain and Hillary team up and they could use Obama in their cabinet. Bring in all the candidates that ran for pres and give them a position. What a team that would be.

I think it will be Clinton/Feingold or Clinton/Clark

Or Obama/Olbermann

No Quarter reported the following : 5 new del for Hillary.
Msnbama reported only 2 - Cuomo & DiNapoli..

BREAKING/ JUST IN: FIFTH superdelegate in Connecticut endorses Hillary (press release below).

Four New York Automatic Delegates Back Hillary: Cuomo, Fields, DiNapoli, Arroyo named NY Automatic Delegates Today [UPDATE with Harold Ickes Memo at end of story.] Read the rest

Jeejee

Good picks...add Obama/Matthews

Craig

Which do you think will have the most impact: Obama with Russert on MTP or Clinton with Stephanopolis and the open forum from Indiana?

I would think the Stephanopolis (even with the Clinton employment history) since MTP even with its cache is still a show for political wonks while the forum is likely to draw viewers from the two states up on Tuesday.

"How about a McCain/Clinton ticket?"

Well certainly there's common ground there, especially on the bomb, bomb, bomb Iraq and Iran.

McCain/Rice would be great for Democrats. Worst National Security Advisor in history? Bring her on. Wahoo!

jamie, i'd think a draw on the relative impact of those interviews

btw, here's a very interesting piece by Joe Trippi on the Edwards factor: http://www.campaignsandelections.com/articles/?ArticleID=9A91C199-1422-17E0-F88C7DABA23AAE8B

McCain-Rice, still cant get it out of my head

IMHO, the Wright/Obama story will never go away...do we want a President who doesn't pay attention in church? I woke-up with an image of Wright as Foghorn Leghorn scolding the little black duck, Daffy --"Now, pay attention to me son!"

http://www.toonopedia.com/foghorn.htm

It is unbelievable, that BHO, didn't hear and understand what was said during those twenty years...but, I believe he didn't want to step forward until Wright dissed him. Now that he heard loud and clear.

Oh yeah . click on the slideshow feature when directed to the other page. Oh and I meant *SWEEPING*

damn, those are some fine tulips, corey. i had to cut the stalks on mine yesterday, all the blooms gone. cant wait for next year

Clinton/Feingold would be quite a team assuming she wasn't forced to take Obama.

Sen. Obama was sounding like his usual snarky self about the gas tax issue. There are ways to say you don't think something is a good idea without sounding as if you are saying nyah, nyah, nyah, nyahnyah. It really is his most irritating quality.

Julie do you have the press release about the delegates.

Earlier I posted the wrong link to the Hillary at the top of her game MOJO link. The one I posted was more about Obama's failures. Sorry about that. Here is the correct link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhVICkeedF8&feature=user

Some still aren't in bloom yet. The two pics with the tulips on both sides of the photo are pics of Tulip Lane. There really isn't a way to take a picture of that street that would do it justice.

Corey...great photos...I had white tulips (my favorite flower) at my wedding.

My tulips did a really weird thing this year: The leafy part of the stalks were super duper big and then the blooms took forever to bloom. So, by the time the blooms came out, the leaves on the stalk had gotten all droopy. I don't know if it was because the winter was so harsh or what. And, none of my red ones even came up. But I loved your photos Corey...thanks for the link.

If NBC and MSNBC do their job Meet the Press should have more impact but since they have favored one candidate over another the Town Hall may just have more impact this time. The Town Hall may be viewed by more people due to it's time slot and who the host is.

IMHO, the Wright/Obama story will never go away...do we want a President who doesn't pay attention in church?

Posted by: Blonde wino Author Profile Page | May 2, 2008 10:52 AM

Sleeping through sermons is an American tradition. If Obama wants to appeal to white male working class voters, perhaps he should say he has a weakness for snoozing through sermons on Sunday.

Frank: You'd have to be a pretty sound sleeper to snooze through those sermons. Or have a really bad hangover (I kid Obama...I don't think he is a drunk.)

Vadaryl

Here is information. The connecticut Delegate was AFL-CIO man.

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/05/01/hillarys-four-new-superdelegates-lead-in-gallup-national-poll/

Julie

Good point, Frank, but sleeping through a Wright sermon? Mrs. Obama and the kids must have been awake.

Can't sleep through services here, or the rattlesnakes will bite you.

Thanks Julie

"he should say he has a weakness for snoozing through sermons on Sunday"

Anyone who could sleep through a service in a black church was carried in unconscious or dead and there is no guarantee they wouldn't wake him up.

They have "Make a joyous noise unto the lord" down cold.

Good point, Frank, but sleeping through a Wright sermon? Mrs. Obama and the kids must have been awake.

Posted by: Blonde wino Author Profile Page | May 2, 2008 11:08 AM

The good point about a Wright sermon is that you can snore loudly and no one will ever notice.

jeejee...LOL, you are on a roll today.

I used to sit next to my friend Chris when I went to church as a teenager. During the sermon , my Mom would give us a pen and paper and we would play the word game "Hangman". Yeah , we screwed around more than we should. Mostly just to amuse ourselves , although we knew others were watching us. After we were alcolytes one Sunday this woman walked up to me and said, "I was in such a bad mood this morning and I didn't wanna go to church. But , watching you two cracked me up this morning. You two made me feel so much happier!" Best compliment we ever got. When I was 16 and 17, I would tell my Mom that I had to go to the bathroom when the sermon was about to begin. I would then make my way to the childrens nursery to spend the rest of church talking to either Stacey or Greta (the girls who watched the kids in the nursery). LOL! But , my Mom always came and got me for communion!

it's getting nasty out there on the stump.

http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/01/mccain-ambushed-with-obscene-word-question-at-town-hall-event/

Actually , I had French toast and a ham patty at Russ' this morning. Good breakfast , it was.

Craig...thanks for the post to the Trippi article...do you think Elizabeth Edwards' illness may have impacted his decision? And it is that "gut feeling" I have about BHO that makes me leary of him. The stomach has been called the "second brain."

Off topic:

Anyone receive DD Stimulus monies this week? Just wanted to know if the "out early" is BS or not.

May 16th for me.

Democratic showdown narrowing.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/world/view_article.php?article_id=133943

Off Topic:

Anyone searching for a Wii they are available at Toy-r-us dot com.

Craig , it's kind of easy to find polls that say what people want them to say , isn't it?

G-man. . Many read it, I do on occasion since it's a free mailer, courtesy of my ISP.

Thx Corey. . . Is that earlier than you first expected?

btw, yesterday someone asked if the stim. money will be taxed as 2008 income.

As I understand it, No is the answer, since this is an early rebate on 08 taxes, although it will have to be reported on their return, but they will get a corresponding credit, which will make it a wash.

Unless of course Congress changes something again before then.

also worth noting that Zogby poll released on friday before Pennyslvania showed Clinton 47 -- Obama 43, but Clinton ended up more than doubling that spread with breaking undecideds over the final weekend (actual results 54.6-45.4, which is almost exactly the spread Zogby showed on primary day):

Friday, 4/18 -- http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1483
Tuesday, 4/22 -- http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1487

corey, end-of-race polls are more accurate than reported -- if only everyone would look at all of the numbers instead of just reporting the topline matchups

thanks nick, hope you play the game too: http://innovation.cq.com/vpmadness

Rezdog

My son got his. He was in the earliest of the Social Security number sequences.

Craig said: "Not sure and other: 16 percent in both states -- once again, the undecideds are the deciders."

Dumya will always be the ultimate Decider. Some days I think I will miss Baby Shrub. Great Moments in Presidential Speeches just won't be the same without him.

Trusting a Zogby poll about Obama any sooner than the 24 hours before the polls open is rather futile. The methodology is heavily slanted in Obama's favor and hasn't been right yet. He usually releases a correct one on the day before just to be able to say he got it right.

Thx jamie. I guess early meant early

"He usually releases a correct one on the day before just to be able to say he got it right."

Maybe he has the Derby pick. ;-)

ABC has article /poll/- Clinton TIED w/ BO for N Carolina

whooooo Hooooo

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote2008/story?id=4772397&page=1

Leading in Indiana !!
GO HILLARY

Julie

"Trusting a Zogby poll about Obama any sooner than the 24 hours before the polls open is rather futile. ... posted by Jamie"

that is the bottom line, Jamie, yes -- and probably true of all polls with these big bubbles of undediceds -- but i do not blame the pollsters, they cant help it if so many voters wait until the last minute -- my beef is with media reports that do not even mention this angle, it really would not be that difficult to include "undecideds" and "other" on a graphic, even on TV -- i usually have to go to the pollsters web site to dig it up

"I've always found Pat's analysis to be unbiased no matter what."

If you're referring to Buchanan, he's the biggest racist of all.

JMO and if you like that, meet me after school at the bike racks.:)

Former Dodgers GM Buzzie Bavasi dies at age 93.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmW5GDK60g1gNQj5TlxcByM5nYcB?slug=ap-obit-bavasi&prov=ap&type=lgns

correction: don't like that

9/11

Thanks so much for the Prokofiev. It's all been downloaded and unzipped and I've listened to snippets of each. I'll be saving the entire file for the end of next week when Stinky and I fly to Korea for our first visit there in 40-years.

People having real fun with the musical arts makes me think of 'Homage to Gerald Moore'. I'm going to have to dig it out, too.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/05/vp-madness-is-here.html#comment-75984

Julia - Young 73, here we go again -- your ABC link does not report undecideds in Mason Dixon North Carolina survey (it is 9 percent, so with its nearly 5pt margin of error, Obama's lead of 7 pts might or might not be real, or it could be lots higher)

kudos to Greensboro New-Record for the being the only report i've seen to include undecideds in this poll: http://www.news-record.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080501/NRSTAFF/841574168

Pat Buchanan is awful, just awful.

But he has been making a lot of sense lately.

Or maybe the rest of the world has just gone crazy.

Rez....
don't know if you saw my answer to your question yesterday.... we live in New Ipswich.....

I know Enfield is very close to Hanover and I was wondering if you went to Dartmouth College.....

and whether you like Pat Buchanan's politics or not (I don't)..... his political analysis is usually pretty good....

Corey..... great slide show..... that first shot is of you and Julia in Las Vegas, isn't it?

damn!..... now I want to go out and buy another bird clock....

Pogo, Yes it was on the east side and the farm was between 480 and the turnpike.

Like many rural properties when the original family owners died, the land passed to their heirs. Finally, with some in the 5th generation and the shareholders numbering in the many dozens, greed won out and the property was sold.

I argued that it should have been allowed to return to nature with family ownership being retained in a trust in perpetuity. I lost.

The whole affair left a decidedly unpleasant taste in my mouth and has resulted in some severed relationships.

As I type, houses are being built on it.

Jeejee: I tell my husband that the fact we now think Pat B. makes sense (on occasion) could be evidence that we have gone off the reservation. I like your explanation better that it is the rest of the world that has gone crazy, not us.

However, in Pat's defense, he did step in 2000 and Palm Beach and say that those votes probably weren't intended for him...not that it mattered in the long run.

Here ya go peeps:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8lvc-azCXY

Lighten up...it's Friday.

Craig

I will give over to your posting regarding the polls-

But boy did they make me feel good for a While !

But ah shucks,

Couldn't you have maybe waited another hour or so?

Julie

Hi Renee,

We (ex) lived in beautiful Enfield one summer .I had a summer job with Pike Industries. But I was in the area for school and as I recall through the haze and daze (it being the early 70s), I stumbled around Hanover, in and out of classes. :)
We(2nd) visited last October for a memory lane trip and fall foliage. Flew into Manchester. Man, has that grown up. Hope to get back for a 35/40th reunion and spent some time with friends in Beantown.

flatus,

If you'd like, take this as well...

Prokofiev: The Tale of the Stone Flower

Noseda | BBC Phil

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=D71ICYJ6

Yes , it was , Renee. Thanks!

Thank you Rezdog for the correct tax update...from Turbo Tax --

Will I have to give the rebate back at some point? Or will it be taxed next year and reduce my refund?
No.

However, you might have to report it on your 2008 tax return. But it will NOT be taxed.

While most people refer to it as a rebate, the IRS is calling it a "stimulus payment."

It’s money the government wants Americans to spend to boost the economy. The money will be borrowed by the government and added to the federal deficit.

Jamie,

Could we please declare a winner at the 3/4 mile pole?

I think it's only fair.

regarding Gallup, about the only poll spread they show outside the margin of error these days is McCain's lead over Obama: http://www.gallup.com/poll/106966/Gallup-Daily-McCain-Moves-Point-Lead-Over-Obama.aspx

Flatus and Zoey...Smooth Air never became the "Wiseguy Horse" Odds at 25/1 at http://www.bodoglife.com/sports-betting/horse-racing.jsp

Boy Craig. You are a meanie.

Ally, I have to admit, I'd never even heard of Pat Buchanan in 2000. I wasn't really paying attention at all, until election night in November. It was like coming out of the Matrix-everything was good, Al Gore was ahead in popular vote, then someone(I think it was Dan Rather) wrote the word Florida, and everything changed.
Next time, I want to take the blue pill.

Jeejee...you are cracking me up. Have you seen the previews for the HBO movie about the 2000 election? Recount?

If Obama were to be the nominee, and that's looking less certain each day, I wouldn't be surprised if the Democratic Party filed annulment papers before November.

Off to telephone for Hillary and a little sign holding...

what will be hard for Dem's to explain is why is it that when people vote in a booth like an Ausie - Clinton wins more then not??

But when the public pressure of the party caucus changes the dynamic and peer presure BHO seems to do well?

Craig: You m ay think this is sillly, but I think it's a big deal. I was working this am and sort of half listening to MSNBC and thought I heard anchor say that Obama was smoking at an event in either Indiana or NC. There hasn't been a presidential candidate who smoked in public in 60 years! Obama made a HUGE deal about quitting smoking as part of his campaign announcement, and now on the even of the N Carolina primary, he lights up!?!?! Do you know if this is true. I'm a public health advocate by profession, and I think this is horrible. If he needs to smoke in private, that's one thing...

I don't have HBO, but I am looking forward to the Hillary Swank movie about women's suffrage. Of course, it won't play anywhere around here.

Well actually the NYtimes was already counting Kirk

May 2, 2008, 11:33 am
Superdelegate News, or Not
By Ariel Alexovich

Barack Obama’s campaign on Friday announced the official endorsement of Paul G. Kirk, a Massachusetts superdelegate who was chairman of the Democratic National Committee in the late 1980s.
Some news organizations — The New York Times included — already had listed Mr. Kirk among Obama supporters.
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/05/vp-madness-is-here.html#comments

even the Obama campaign admits he was counted by most news organization

To hear MoJo & Matthews tell it, Russert is the king-maker. I really think Hil'ry's forum will do more to connect with voters. BO is playing it safe, in a studio; he can't think on his feet the way Hil'ry does.

Ally - Your bulbs may be too deep; time to replant?

Hmm Smokin again.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/obama-is-smokin.html

"Could we please declare a winner at the 3/4 mile pole?"

What do I know? I'm betting two long shot hunch bets in Cool Coal Man and Bob Black Jack. None of the racing pundits think Cool Coal Man will do any better than 7th and they think Bob Black Jack will be lucky to finish at all. :-)

My kids are on Z Fortune and Tale of Ekati, but the favorites are Big Brown, Colonel John, and Pyro.

jeejee....
it wasn't Dan Rather...... it was Tim Russert who printed the words FLORIDA, FLORIDA, & FLORIDA on a piece of cardboard....

BTW... welcome back to the blog.....

I know it is not easy for a smoker to stop smoking or someone who has a drinking problem to stop drinking but in this case we have a candidate who made his stop smoking an important issue and now it's possible he went back to smoking and not being upfront with the public about it. Should we be concerned about it or let it go. He wants to be a different type of politician, one new change would be truthful about things.

Russert? Yikes! I feel dirty.........

this Paul Kirk thing is so ridiculous. He came out for Obama when Kennedy did. Boston Globe has had him on the Obama list since Februrary: http://www.boston.com/news/politics/gallery/021208_superdelegates?pg=26

Craig what do you think about this possible smoking thing?

Paul who? Just kidding.

Craig, as I said yesterday...

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/05/clinton-still-needs-a-game-cha.html#comment-75602

havent a clue about the smoking thing -- it was always what i liked best about him, and as a struggling quitter myself i will not cast blame if he did fall off the wagon

Craig, you chewing gum, wearing patches, chewing pencils, eating mints, just eating more?

They say to stop smoking you should change your routine and quit doing the same things you're used to doing. Maybe he should stop running for office all the time.

i don't want to talk about it, pogo. it's been too painful. and obama should be left alone about it

Craig: My concern is not whether he fell off the wagon. It's that no public leader in this day and age should be smoking IN PUBLIC. To my knowledge, the last President to smoke in public was Roosevelt for God's sake. There's a good reason for that! If he wants to be president, he should do his smoking in private like Laura Bush.

Thanks vadaryl. MSNBC thread going on the smoking thing if you want to post:

http://boards.msn.com/MSNBCboards/thread.aspx?threadid=652276&boardsparam=PostID%3D17869913

Brain...so surprised at your attitude...you had mentioned during the Spitzer scandal that New Yorkers were "above" that sort of thing...more mature than the average American.

Obama's smoking has already been an issue.

Obama is Smokin'
April 03, 2008 9:29 AM

Last August, I ran into Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, outside the Senate chamber in the Capitol.

This was before the Obama surge, before he had omnipresent Secret Service agents, back when you might see him strolling solo.

We chatted for a second, mainly about the Pakistan speech he'd recently given and about how the media had covered it. He was in good spirits.

As any close friend or family member can attest, I have an unusually keen sense of smell and immediately I smelled cigarette smoke on Obama. Frankly, he reeked of cigarettes.

.....Except….last night on MSNBC's Hardball, Obama admitted that his attempt to wean himself from the vile tobacco weed had not been entirely successful.

“I fell off the wagon a couple times during the course of it, and then was able to get back on," he said. "But it is a struggle like everything else.”
http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2008/04/obama-is-smokin.html

Tapper -it's not the smoking, it's the cover up.

"HBO movie about the 2000 election? Recount?"

I was tortured living through it. Why watch it for fun. Of course Katie and the twins might add comic relief.

I believe they call this the money quote
from Tapper's column

"Obama ran off before I could ask him if he'd just snuck a smoke, so I called his campaign.

They denied it. He'd quit months before, in February, they insisted. He chewed nicorette.

But I knew what I'd smelled and I asked his campaign to double-check and to ask him if he'd had a cigarette.

They reported back that he had told them he hadn't had a cigarette since he quit."

Can I get on the Visionaire bandwagon (in memory of Barbaro, same trainer, Michael Matz)?

JeeJee

I reprinted the article about "Iron Jawed Angels" on my blog awhile back. You might like to read it.

http://jdurward.blogspot.com/2008/03/how-women-got-vote.html

re: BHO smoking

Didn't Michelle threaten to take him out of the race if he smoked again?

craig, fair enough - my mom never could kick it- and it killed her. Relax, garden, drink heavily, do whatever you do to avoid it.(Note - I haven't chimed in at all about Obama and his smoing - and I don't care whether he does or doesn't as long as he doesn't try to make what has no place of any significance in the presidential race a frickin' piece of his campaign. My experience with smokers, whether quitting or not, is that denial is part of the gig.)

jeejee

It shows here tomorrow on HBO. If you have On Demand even though you don't have HBO, you will be able to see it.

Here is the web page with all the links and schedules

http://www.hbo.com/films/ironjawedangels/

When This Man Was 9 Years Old, Ayers Bombed His Home

"Barack Obama reminds everyone that he was only 8 years old when his friends, domestic terrorists Bill Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn, bombed their way through America. (However, Larry Johnson has proved that not only did Ayers support and promote Obama’s campaigns from his first in 1995, but that Obama worked for Ayers for eight years.)

Well, John Murtagh was a bit put out by that remark because he was 9 years old when the Weather Underground tried to kill him and his family on February 21, 1970. Mr Murtagh wrote an April 30,2008 op-ed for the NY Daily News entitled, Barack Obama’s Pal Is An Enemy Too.

Murtagh’s father was a judge hearing a case against the Panthers21, a group of Black Panthers who were being tried for planning the bombing of several landmarks and department stores in New York .

According to Murtagh, those two upstanding citizens — from New York Weather Underground Cell — detonated three gasoline bombs at his home."

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/05/02/when-this-man-was-9-ayers-bombed-his-home/

Craig - Go to the hypnotist ... honest, really, it will help.

Obama's smoking or not smoking is an issue in the campaign. It already has been. When McCain's age/health issues have come up, the response w/regard to Obama has been the impact of 26 years of heavy smoking.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-stier/obamas-health_b_97436.html

Unfortunately when you run for president everything is on the table and to pretend otherwise is living in an alternate universe,

http://www.gabrielweinberg.com/blog/2008/04/obamas-smoking-makes-me-just-say-no-on-422-in-pa.html

Ivy Green

Visionaire it is.

Thanks, Jamie. I guess I can get someone to Tivo it for me.

My input on the smoking issue: please, let's drop it before someone brings up cigars.

Oh, and I have a new Derby pick-for the year 2010. Lentenor, who is a full brother to Barbaro. He's a yearling now, they have videos of him on the kentucky.com website. You can get there from the Derby page.

Re: Obama smoking

Maybe he switched to cigars. That would be more in presidential.

I loved Iron-Jawed angels. I thought it was really powerful.

Recount looks really fun and it has that tall drink of water Denis Leary in it. Yummo! (Not to mention lots of other fabulous actors including Kevin Spacey, Ed Begley, Jr., Laura Dern, Bob Balaban, Tom Wilkinson and John Hurt.)

I just watched the Hillary Clinton interview with Bill O'Reilly. She really was able to stand up to him in a forceful, factual but not disgruntled way. She is adept with facts and history, much more so that I even thought before. This woman needs to be our President !!!

Ivy Green,

Here's a treat for you. He will start racing this summer:

Barbaro's brother, Nicanor

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/nicanor/archive/2008/04/13/long-awaited-pictures.aspx

Lightening rarely strikes twice, not to mention three times with an even younger brother following behind, but keep your fingers crossed. He is beautiful.

denial is ppart of that gig too

I believe I mentioned about a week ago that Obama is acting like a guy who is trying to quit smoking (agitated, distracted etc.). Having endured this phenomenon with my husband (twice), I know the signs quite well. Nicotine addiction is really, really powerful. The only time my husband has thrown anything at me was during withdrawls (a nice bowl on one occasion and a clock on the other.) I am prone to give Obama a pass on this one because I know how addictive those cancer sticks are. Better not to ever start but hindsight blah blah blah.

G-man,

Those wouldn't happen to be the Black Panthers who had an attorney named Hillary Clinton?

I guess the real question is what does BHO do with his cigarette butts? Does he litter?

I wanna move to New York and get into politics. LOL!

I'm not going to criticize Obama's smoking until I match the height/weight chart at the doctor's office.
I do wish he and everyone else would stop though.

Wino, Zoey

I just scrolled through the link Wino gave--talk about addictions! Some of those things are so way out.
http://www.bodoglife.com/sports-betting/horse-racing.jsp

I think at this point I'll just go down to the payday lending place and see if they'll do an advance on my social security and pension. I'm going to dump the whole mess on Smoothie to win!

That sounds like the straightforward, conservative way to approach this betting thing.

And, then, tomorrow morning I'm going to start smoking again because I deserve it.

Flatus...I wonder how many stimulus checks will be spent that way? However, buy American, I say!

Rezdog

You've been believing your emails again. : )

http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/panthers.asp

patd - not to be confused with a river in Egypt.

My Mom's minister said it would be nice if everyone at their church donated their stimulus checks to the church after they received them.

Your Mom's minister isn't building a 10,000 sq. ft. mansion, is he?

"There are, according to one poll, a surprising number of Americans who care whether their president smokes. In a 2007 poll conducted jointly by the Washington Post and ABC News, 21 percent of respondents said they would be less likely to vote for a given candidate for president solely because that candidate smoked. .............

I know that when I've told friends who are Obama supporters that he was until very recently a cigarette smoker, I've seen a perceptible change in them. More than one -- including one who's a smoker herself -- said it changed their opinion of him for the worse. "
http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2008/04/03/obama_smoking/

flatus - you will deserve it because you blew this month's SS & pension payments or because you hit at 20/1?

Pogo, I deserve it because I did such a nice job on the yard this morning. Cut the grass, poked holes in the lawn, and fertilized everything. Even Stinky said I did a good job.

Finished at about 11 when it was still in the 60s. Right now it's 86. Will be transplanting tomatoes before I know it.

hope everyone has their mint julep mix for the weekend. Old Honey Barney is my fav: http://www.atasteofkentucky.com/shop/product_info.php?products_id=696

Colonel John rocks!

You certainly do deserve it, Flatus - although IMHO there are better ways to reward oneself for a job well done. That's well beyond what I normally do to my lawn - a little turf builder (which btw does a much better job than I ever thought it would) and a lawn mow is as close to lawn maintenance as I get.

Craig,

Smoke your LAST cigarette and then go wash your mouth out with soap.... Julep mix ... sacrilege, and there you are living in Jason Wilson country. He's close enough to hunt you down.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/04/29/ST2008042902338.html

On second thought, just take a taxi to the Willard. They've been making them for a 100 years or so. : )

Just had a chance to watch the 2nd half of Hillary-O'reilly interview . We had tornadoes here last night. It was interrupted for runnin for shelter.

She was forceful, knowledgable, and stood up to O'reilly. It was a tough interview. She is Presidential material .. for sure.

Julie

jamie, don't be too hard on ol' craig - all that muddling and agitating can be sooooo tiring.

Thanks once more 9/11. I'm busy learning more about Stone Flower. I'll take the notes along with me, too. You should be proud of yourself--it's not every day that a person is motivated to become interested in things that were particularly enjoyable in the past. You're doing that for me. I appreciate it.

Not on the list and the best choice by far for McCain is Tom Ridge. Former popular Republican Governor of Pennsylvania. Known as a centrist who got votes from Independents and Democrats. First head of the Department of Homeland Security who had the impossible task of bringing 22 government agencies together under one roof. What one agency runs efficiently, well enough 22? And he did bring them together and we haven't had a terrorist attack on our soil since he created DHS. Decorated war hero with squeaky clean image. McCain would hit a home run with Ridge. Not to mention how important Pennsylvania's electorial votes are.

yep, BadgerOne, Ridge is a fine choice -- and a great golfer, btw

Rezdog--------------------------

"Those wouldn't happen to be the Black Panthers who had an attorney named Hillary Clinton?"

If you and others did not see or go to Jamie's link:

"Clinton, a Yale Law School student a the time, played a “minor” role in the doings that year, said Paul Bass, a journalist who spent years researching the Black Panther case for a book he co-authored called Murder in the Model City. She co-chaired a committee whose main role was to prevent violence at a May Day demonstration, he said.

Clinton’s committee also offered legal advice to demonstrators who got arrested and to monitor the trial for civil rights abuses, Bass said.

But if that civil-rights monitoring ever happened, said two sources interviewed by the St. Petersburg Times, one thing is certain: Clinton was not an every-day trial watcher, as Morris claims. Nor did she “help” the defense.

Hillary Rodham (as she was known then) wasn't a lawyer then, either. She was a Yale law student,...

In any case, her tangential participation in the trial in no way helped "free" the two Black Panthers tried for the murder of Alex Rackley: they went free because the state failed to sufficiently prove its case, and after several days of deliberation the jury was unable to reach a verdict."

http://redblueamerica.com/truthornot/2008-02-20/did-hillary-clinton-defend-black-panthers-1086

Pogo, if I was to start smoking again I would be giving up a quit that is 9-yrs, 7-mos, and 2 days long. No way in hell that I'm going to start from day one again.

ha jamie, i'll admit it, i am a lazy mint julep maker. i don't even bother with the fresh mint garnish. off with my head

Well, it's 80, sunny and I've had enough. Gonna go get Little P and go have some fun. Everyone have a good one, and GO CAVS, GO Z HUMOR. And please, craig , mix your own - a tsp of sugar, two splashes of sparkling H20, a few sprigs os mint, 2 1/2 ox bourbon - and ice - really, only a few drinks are easier.

Gordo, IMO the St Pete Times is less than objective when it comes to Mrs Clinton and Mr Obama.

flatus, good to hear - do something more, umm, hedonistic. Bye now.

Flatus,

congrats on 9yrs + I quit some 10 years ago right after my dad died from his second heart attack. I am like you I don't want to have to start from ground zero again. Friend of my wife gets some script she takes to keep her from smoking and she says it seems to work. I have heard there is a chance taking that medicine might cause some to consider suicide.

yo soy Horsedooty!

craig

just Maker's Mark and a little imagination...

so is a mohito a cuban version of mint julep

please excuse... Mojito

http://www.tasteofcuba.com/mojito.html

You all & your mint juleps, what a bunch of elitists!
All I need is a piece of hard peppermint candy.
Drop it into that clear liquid in the mason jar that's in the back of the fridge, & it'll give you the same effect.
Only a lot, lot quicker.

well..... I have plenty of Jose Cuervo Margarita Mix on hand for tomorrow's horse race..... and lots of fresh limes too.....

Jamie.... thanks for the heads up on the virus..... I don't worry about that stuff.... I have a Mac...

hey... I just heard there's been some really bad flooding in northern Maine....
I hope Nash is alright....

could Hillary win NC

http://www.reason.com/news/printer/126287.html

Thanks, Doots. You may be thinking of Zyban. It helped me get past the rough spots:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bupropion

I took it for something like 60-days. After the first dozen days, the physical need to smoke was significantly diminished. The rest of the time was spent getting rid of the nicotine that was in my system, and adjusting to not smoking.

I had tried the chewing gum things and the patches. For me, they were nothing more than an alternative delivery system; they did nothing in helping me overcome my addiction.

I know if I had a cigarette right now, within a week I would be back up to four packs a day.

Congrats to you, too. Sorry yours had to be under such sad circumstances.

It's okay Craig. I'm going to be even more sacriligious, sipping on the Glenfiddich.

Kentuckians would ride me out on a rail complete with tar and feathers.

Ridge is off the table because he is pro-choice, correct?

Ally...Ridge is on the VP Madness Round 1...he is going against Haley Barbour.

And I don't know why Craig picked Barbour over Ridge.

If you have ESPN2, they are about to run the Kentucky Oaks (the girls). It is pouring rain.

I voted for him on the VP Madness game. I just thought he was out of the question (according to McCain) since he is pro-choice. I think it was on the Hardball College Tour...

Flatus,

you are welcome. I used the one step patches. Only needed one set actually. I learned a few things about myself during that time. I told my kids that if they saw me sitting in my chair with a chain saw just keep walking on by. I learned that the "cravings" could be over come. I learned how to change my mind and think about something else for a while. But it don't mean a thing really the only thing that matters is not picking up one and starting again. I am like you one would lead me to tomorrow and a two pack habit post haste.

keep up the good work,

yo soy Horsedooty!

Ally...I am thinking like a dem, not a repug. If the repugs want to appeal to indies and dems, maybe they need to start looking at choices like Ridge.

; )

It will be really interesting to see how the repugs react to the dem nominee. It is obvious that there is more democratic money and interest this year and the repugs can attempt to pick-up those disgruntled dems by a favorable VP choice. It goes hand-in-hand with revenge voting and if McCain (because of his age) selects a middle-of-the road VP, it may attract those disgruntled dems. The indie vote has gone for McCain in the past. Just an interesting thought. It is my belief that hardcore repugs will still vote for McCain and moderate VP rather than ever vote for a dem.

Let's hope that McCain picks Brownback. Go Jayhawks!

(somehow I don't think we will be that lucky...)

Patsi's here! Yippee!

It's just too bad that all they have on the internet is bad Clinton stories. No good stories about Obama.

We should also start a poll to see if that "This guy is a dork" comment I made about Obama on his Youtube page was approved last night.

It's been fun, but I'm out of here today. I'm going to buy some batteries, get the bird clock going, and the meowing cat clock(which was a gift, I swear) and set them both for the same time. Maybe I can recreate Tuesday, when my cat Toby brought the dove into the house.

Patsi,

Do you have a horse in our Trailmixer Kentucky Derby?

Ally.

Look for McCain to pick Brownback only if he can't bring the conservative Christians on board. In other words if by August he needs Brownback then he is in real trouble.
Ridge or Pawlenty would be good choices because they would deliver a key battle ground state.

Jack

Jack: I was teasing...Brownback would drive away moderates and make a Democratic victory more likely : )

If anyone sends you a clip of a video purporting to show Mickey Kantor making a racist remark, refer them here http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0508/Pennebaker_Clip_Doctoered.html

Film maker says video has been doctored.

Smoking is legal - so that is a non-issue.

Jamie will you be wearing a fancy hat while you watch the KD? I love all the hats. : ) The Derby seems to be one tradition that continues like it was so long ago. Maybe tonight would be a good night to watch Seabisciut ? That movie has outstanding photography and sound.

Are mint juleps good? I never hear about anyone drinking them any time but Derby time.

Proud Spell, the stable mate of Eight Belles, just won the Kentucky Oaks. Her buddy might do it tomorrow in the Derby racing with the boys.

McCain made a major gaffe today. Just saw it on Hardball. This is what he said at the end of a townhall in Denver:

"My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will -- that will then prevent us -- that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East."

OUCH. EEK. OY.

It depends on whether Hillary wins the nomination. If Obama wins then I would suggest Powell with the idea Powell would run in 2012.

Gordo, keep it up. Anoan's comment is typical. Moss did not denounce Wright so why is Obama still at Trinity? Just look at Moss's scholarly B> And future bombs to drop will include LINK and what Obama thinks are moderate pro-Arab points of view...LOL

Don't you just love this comment thread below?

http://weblogs.chicagotribune.com/news/politics/blog/2008/05/clinton_edging_obama_in_indian.html

Also Michelle's thesis is a gem

http://www.dontvoteobama.net/adobe/michelle%20Obama%20thesis%20part%203.pdf

Back from lunch: Wow, everyone got worked up because of some snarky remarks. Nervous folks today I guess..

Pogo . . .you're out, but i'll catch up later/manana

Jamie. . I just read your snopes file about the Panthers. I was just repeating something i had read days ago that mention HRC and the BP in the same paragraph. I wasn't trying to score points, just a little deflection from some of Gordo's crap links.
I think Hill did defend some Commies way back when or at least worked in a law firm that did. Hayden had a big article recently. I conflated it with another piece. No bfd

This all started because someone, Lynn I think, '"'overheard"
a piece on the TV about BO smoking again.Yeah, that's right "overheard" a news guy on TV. What a great news flash to go off on. And now all this indignation. GORDO, I won't even bother to respond to your comment on this.
i admit to being snarky earlier, but lying, not today. lol

Later all, . . back to the Casino. . I was lucky at lunch.:)

"was to walk soft or run like hell"

Patsi,

Two choices. Stand still and let them come to you. or stand still then step aside or start to walk away slowly.

Horses like to get acquainted quietly until they get to know you and that you aren't a threat. They don't like surprises and will spook if you reach out suddenly.

Even wild ones are seldom a threat unless they feel endangered or cornered.

For hikers etc. who don't deal with horses often but might come in contact with them.

http://www.bikeguy.net/horse.htm

Now that I have time to review the Kentucky Derby Field it was a hard choice, Z Humor is certainly a long shot.

After studying the merits of Pyro, Big Brown, Cork and Colonel John I have decided to recast my pick and go with

Colonel John

I'm hoping Big Brown gets some mud in his face....LOL
and Pyro flames out.

Jamie, you did get my switch?...thanks

I hope the only girl in the race does better than the only girl in the race.

Rezdog

No biggie. Given the number of years that have passed, I think everything from that time period is pretty well explained by nice Methodist girl from Republican family goes to university during very socially liberal time for people of her age, has early period of rebellion before settling down to middle of the road law career and marriage. Got older and wiser and is now (as with most of us 60ish women of the period ) older and wiser tempering our idealism with practicality.

Max,

Who cares about Obama.
Jeez man you missed the link to a new Handlesman animated cartoon.

Hey everybody I've posted this cartoonist before and everybody loved it

Enjoy this new one.

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/walthandelsman/blog/2008/04/animation_those_were_the_days.html

Jack

Oh man this one is rotflmaopmp( roll on the floor laughing my ass off ,pissing my pants)

A take off on the Its 3AM ad

http://weblogs.newsday.com/news/opinion/walthandelsman/blog/2008/03/animation_its_3_am.html

Jack

"And I don't know why Craig picked Barbour over Ridge. -- Posted by: Blonde wino"

i'll admit, blonde wino, that one was a really tough pick. and i hate to say it, but Ridge's hearing aid is what put me off. mccain just doesn't need that

Jack, I can just imagine the Obama cartoons should Obama win the primary. Of course, the Bush/Cheney duet was funny but it plays to the myth that NOTHING positive happened during the Bush years.

And for humor, money in a Congressional freezer, chads, Kerry losing, Lieberman winning, Wright dancing, MSM, Dean last night on the Stewart show talking,....okay, more sad than funny.

Oh, Jamie -- I should have said, my uncle raised quarter horses -- race horses, though, not those nice cordial normal quarter horses. His were tempermental as hell.....

And Jack, I just wanted to add some more humor that is relevant to the cartoon you posted.

Now this is funny

http://stubbornfacts.us/domestic_policy/social_policy/my_favorite_eighth_grader_kierra_bell_teaches_mrs_john_conyers_about_class#comment-14326

Does everyone get it? It is about discourse and it is about civility. We should ask ourselves what is distorted in our views. I have read many threads about how wrong it was for Hillary to be civil towards the Bush Adminisitration. How dare she denounce emotional outbursts from the Left. And I remeber quite clearly the low blows and personal attacks coming from the Obama campaign. I remeber the Monster comment and talk of the racist Clintons. Any moment Anon will descend and compare Bush to Hilter.

Such discourse is pox on us all.

Nowhere have I seen a follow up on the Bill to give qualified journalist extensions of the right of free speech. Craig, what's up with that. Do you support the Senate version or the House version?

Patsi

Nice to see you back.. missed you..

Julie

Patsi,

Have to admit I've never been around racing quarters and only barrel racers and cutting horses when I was a child. For the most part either racing thorobreds and they can be any temperment or nice comfy riding horses who just want another carrot. : )

McCain made a major gaffe today. Just saw it on Hardball. This is what he said at the end of a townhall in Denver:
"My friends, I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will -- that will then prevent us -- that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East."

OUCH. EEK. OY.

Posted by: Ally Author Profile Page | May 2, 2008 5:53 PM

The Hardball spin that it's all about oil for us is certainly one way to interpret it. It can also be said that oil revenues in the Middle East serve to fund terrorism.

If McCain meant the former, that certainly explains his "100 years" remark. If he meant the latter, he is mistaken that the US being energy independent of the Middle East infers that their oil market will dry up.

Frank: I think he meant the former. But the latter is correct too, you're right. Either way, he sure didn't sound like a Republican. The crowd seemed confused too!

Jamie: Thanks much! I'm keeping it bookmarked! :)

"He will start racing this summer: Barbaro's brother, Nicanor

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/nicanor/archive/2008/04/13/long-awaited-pictures.aspx

Lightening rarely strikes twice, not to mention three times with an even younger brother following behind, but keep your fingers crossed. He is beautiful.

Posted by: Jamie | May 2, 2008 2:43 PM"

[Second attempt after SE/submission error - sorry in advance if there's a double].

The Telegraph in the UK ranking our political pundits. Have fun arguing with them.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/forumOtherInsertThread.do;jsessionid=79F495B75D63539043585DCB060E65C0.drtomcat3

Ally,
Either way you interpret it, it makes no sense. I think he's lost it.

Chris Matthews just said Ridge is back in the running. The Repubs think Pennsylvania could be their firewall and Ridge could bring it home...

if loyalty is any guage, McCain would pick Linseed Graham.......he has been following McCain around like Robin follows Batman........

but Lindsay wouldnt do McCain a BIT of good......too bad, Little Grahamssss...........

Jamie,

horses are naturally "flight" animals. My dad used to say the reason horses are skiddish is because they know that they taste good to the animals that would eat them. A frightened horse will run a certain number of yards and then stop and turn and re-evaluate the threat and if it is there they will run that same distance again and repeat the procedure until they perceive that the danger is gone. Trainers use this knowledge in the round pen when they are starting to work a colt with lounge lines and halters. It just happens in a circle instead of out in the open in a pasture.

yo soy Horsedooty!

Whereas shetland ponies are "bite" animals.........

well.....that's kinda the impression I got, too. now you mention it.....
Not that it matters.............

senor pescado,

shetlands are to be avoided at all costs. most horses will bite given the opportunity.

:)

yo soy Horsedooty!

the only problem would be if he thought he oughta hide it..........but either way.........he's a jerk.

Rezdog ----------------------------

"just a little deflection from some of Gordo's crap links."

The subject of one of my "crap" links (today. 2:37PM) is on Fox News/Greta Van Susteran: 10 p.m. ET--- John Murtagh. He was 9 years old when the Weather Underground tried to kill him and his family on February 21, 1970.

I'm a little late to the horse subthread, but I can second the statement about shetlands biting. The one I rode as a child was mean as shit, bit, ran under low branches ... She was incredibly cute and adorable, though: red with a thick blonde mane.

And some more crap....Obama painted his mother as conservative. Rez dismisses Frank Davis and throws the whole line of of investigation out as nothing more than McCarthyism. Had the NYT been mildly journalistic they would have printed this

"Stanley Ann Dunham Obana Soetoro (November 29, 1942 - November 7, 1995), known as Ann Dunham and Stanley Ann Dunham, was an American anthropologist, left-wing social activist, and the mother of Senator Barack Obama. She was born in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas , to Stanley and Madelyn Dunham. Her father was a furniture salesman in downtown Seattle, Washington, and her mother worked for a bank. After a year living in Seattle , her family moved to Mercer Island, Washington, in 1956 so that 13-year old Ann could attend the Mercer Island High School that had just opened. At the school she was on the debate team and graduated in 1960.

Her family moved to Hawaii and Ann attended the University of Hawaiiat Manoa, where she studied anthropology.

When Ann Dunham arrived in Hawaii , she was a full fledged radical leftist and practitioner of critical theory. She also began to engage in miscegenation (inter-racial relationships) as part of her attack on society. Susan Blake, one of her friends has stated she never dated “the crew-cut white boys”, She had a world view, even as a young girl. It was embracing the different, rather than that ethnocentric thing of shunning the different. That was where her mind took her. In Hawaii she met Barack Obama, Sr. from Kenya in her Russian language class. Barack Obama, Jr. was born August 4, 1961.

Barack Obama, Sr. left Ann and their son in 1963 to attend Harvard inBoston . Press reports claim Ann Dunham and Barack Obama Sr. were divorced around this time; however, no evidence has yet been presented to show they were ever married. The senior Obama obtained a masters degree in economics at Harvard and returned toKenya in 1965 where he obtained a position in the Kenyan government. He was killed in an automobile accident in 1982.

Two years later, when her son was five, Dunham married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian oil manager and practicing Muslim whom she meet at the university. In 1967 they moved to Jakarta , Indonesia . While in Indonesia Ann got a job at the American embassy teaching English.

Barack’s half-sister, Maya Soetoro was born in Indonesia . Ann, Obama and his sister Maya moved back to Hawaii . Ann Dunham soon returned to Indonesia with Maya but divorced Soetoro in the late 1970s.

Dunham traveled around the world, pursuing a career in rural development that took her to Ghana , India , Thailand , Indonesia ,Nepal and Bangladesh . In 1986 Ann Dunham worked on a developmental project in Pakistan . Later that year Ann and her daughter traveled the Silk Road in China . In 1992 she earned a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Hawaii . Her dissertation, “Peasant blacksmithing in Indonesia : Surviving and Thriving Against All Odds,” was 1067 pages long. She worked for the Ford Foundation and promoted Microlending.

During Obama’s campaign for the 2008 presidential election he portrayed his mother as a conservative girl from Kansas ; however in reality she was a radical leftist and cutural Marxist. She lived in theSeattle area; spending her teenage years in Seattle coffee shops with other young radical leftist. Obama claims his mother’s family were conserevative Methodists or Baptists from Kansas . However his mother’s parents were members of a left-wing Unitarian church near Seattle . The church located in Bellevue, Washington was nicknamed “the little red church,” because of it’s communist leanings.

The school Ann attended, Mercer Island High School , was a hotbed of pro-Marxist radical teachers. John Stenhouse, board member, told the House Un-American Activities Subcommittee that he had been a member of the Communist Party USA and this school has a number of Marxists on it’s staff. Two teachers at this school, Val Foubert and Jim Wichterman, both Frankfurt School style Marxists, taught a critical theory curriculum to students which included; rejection of societal norms, attacks on Christianity, the traditional family, and assigned readings by Karl Marx. The hallway between Foubert’s and Wichterman classrooms was some times called “anarchy ally.”

Dunham has been described by her friends as “a fellow traveler…” meaning a communist sympathizer.

In an interview, Barack Obama referred to his mother as “the dominant figure in my formative years… The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics.”

Before she died Ann Dunham wanted to adopt a mixed-race Korean baby fathered by a Black American stationed in South Korea . Ann Dunham died in Hawaii in 1995 of ovarian cancer and uterine cancer.

Comment:

Appears to have been well educated and traveled. However, her upbringing and pre-collegiate education during her formative years; known Marxist politics and activities makes it really difficult to identify her as a conservative; and if she really was “the dominant figure in my formative years… The values she taught me continue to be my touchstone when it comes to how I go about the world of politics.”

My remarks. Was Barak lying to cast his mother in a lfictional ight for the people of Iowa? Isn't much of his spin the twisting of a truth he knows would not be recieved as well as the history he puts forth? I am probably wrong: Obama's mother, not Frank Davis is the more likely first mentioner of Yes We Can. And certainly Obama's life was a far cry different than those living in the South Side. It is obvious he went there to get some cred. Ayers and others however, seem a direct link to what his mother was searching for...

I third the Shetlands=mean-as-shit. In OK as a girl, this woman let us kids ride her horses if we brushed and groomed them. Everyone loved the two mares who were both gentle and VERY patient with a bunch of kids, but we avoided her Shetland pony like the plague. He was a biter. And I swear he would laugh at us...

yeah, it occurred to me......SC......Republican.......of course he would HAVE to hide it.......

NEW THREAD -- blogging NC speech night

Max, how in the world can you present something such as that without a single foot note sourcing any of the innuendos it contains?

The horse that I learned to ride on was a gelding named "Big Red". It was an accurate description as he was about 16 hands. He hated grownups but was gentle as a kitten with children. If they got above a certain height ... no more rides. He broke my fathers arm but took me everywhere when I was young. He lived a long, healthy life, and was eventually put out to pasture to be a happy horse, but was killed a couple of years later by a private plane making an emergency landing in his field.

NEW THREAD

Flatus,
Are you suggesting the article is wrong, or that you just want footnotes. I have read many articles and this article sent to FOX NEWS seems to be a combination of numerous articles. You can read the NYT article which colaborates some facts, such as her distain for white boys with short hair. You can research her High school and verify those facts about the Communist connection. Here is some help

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004334057_obama08m.html

What facts are you refuting?

What facts are you refuting?ROFLMAO

Just the facts ma'am,

Appears to have been well educated and traveled. However, her upbringing and pre-collegiate education during her formative years; known Marxist politics and activities makes it really difficult to identify her as a conservative;

You sound like a gov't man. LOL

For those wondering about gas prices.. I found this article on Yahoo money

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/104996/Why-Gas-in-the-U.S.-Is-So-Cheap

It states that the most expensive place to buy a gallon of gas is: Bosnia-Herzegovina at $10.86

In Belgium, we are the 8th most expensive with a gallon of gas costing $8.22

The United States, in contrast, is 111th most expensive out of 155 countries. Americans' lust for bigger and better things, (huge gas guzzling cars) houses with long commutes from work, rejection of public transport, etc. makes the effect stronger on the American lifestyle. And we have only ourselves to blame as we've seen warning signs for years (that's my own editiorializing btw).