Craig Crawford's Trail Mix

Good morning lovely people! Am I first?

U are indeed first Alicia.

Greetings from rained out Amsterdam
Am I second?

Interesting map Craig.... I ma stduying it...
Not agreeing that Ohio is still up for grabs though......

Oooooo, sorry for the typo´s.......Forgot to proof read :-)

Morning all,

You're here early, Alicia. How ya doing?

As far as Craig's post, I can't even begin to pretend I know who will
win the presidential race, at this moment. Everything I've read and heard suggests the race is tightening up and neither candidate should feel too confident.

I know it's become a cliche to say this, but it's still baffling to me that Obama isn't way ahead everywhere, all things considered.

Hi Jason,

Are you still studying?

"Are you still studying?"

Professor Marcia,

Give the kid a break--it's raining, already.

PM

I think the trend is currently favoring Mr McCain.

Did someway say raining? The hills across the street from me here
in southern California are so dry that if someone dropped a match
the entire neighborhood would burn.

Flatus,

"trend is favoring McCain"

Isn't that odd to you? I mean, all things considered.

Good morning all, interesting article- Democrats Losing Ground in Louisiana

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=93687301

Cool map. Might be right that VA is leaning GOP. On the other hand, I've been noticing some interesting things about the car bumpers in my town near Quantico Marine Base -- everyday I see vehicles with USMC insignia and Obama stickers. Usually a car with a globe and anchor sticker would also have a Bush Cheney sticker --I don't see those much anymore.

PM

Not terribly. I'm trying to think of some way of charitably saying that many 'working' people sense that he is not there for the greater good. I guess that _was_ charitable.

And now, there are those continuing pleas for more money when he had money coming out his ears a couple of months ago, and was so confident that he reneged on public financing. I just don't think that sits well.

And now I'm off to Orangeburg for my monthly infusion.

Hey Jason! It was 94 degrees yesterday in VA. I'll take some of your rain in Amsterdam!

LOL @ Marchia & Flatus..
It is indeed raining.
But three weeks ago I handed in the first 4 chapters of the dissertation. Only 2 changes and they are minor, That means I can go on and write the final chapter.....
This boy is immensely happy.
I also was offered a job in Amsterdam.....
This month was not too bad for me....

I just heard Obama on CNN. He was giving a stump speech. He said
he would give every working family in this country a big tax break.
I may be a skeptic but where is all the money going to come from, since
Obama is also promising all sorts of social programs for the poor, for
universal health care, for education. Am I missing something?

Hi Marcia -- It's been a busy summer -- and I can't believe it's almost over. Kids go back to school in two weeks, but school employees are back to work this week and next week, so their kids are over here at my house.

Jason,

Good for you! I know how hard writing for advanced degrees can be.

Are you going to take the Amsterdam job? I bet it is gorgeous there.
(in Amsterdam, I mean).

Ohhhhh
Interesting Louisiana article......
Anyone with me on Ohio....? Dad says Fla is certainly a lost cause for BO.

Please peopel come take the rain, PLEASE. We only have one more summer month to go and it pours everyday...One thing I don´t like form this country.

Is there any polls with regard to the evangelical forum?

Hello Alicia,

How do you manage? I mean, you must be supper organized especially in
the summer.

Here's one from Big Dawg- wish they posted the rest of his speech

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/

Jason -- My own poll on the evangelical forum is that I am sick of seeing snips about it on TV.

Sorry, don't know about Ohio, but find it interesting that all those vaunted Obama caucus states are strong GOP -- did people actually believe that Obama could win those in the general?

No Prof Marcia, you're not missing a trick. I read an article somewhere, wish I could find it, in which they dealt with the cost of all the campaign promises. It wasn't a pretty picture. Will look around for it later at lunch.

oldsea,

Thanks. I'd like to see the article.

Oh. In the stump speech I just mentioned, Obama also promised
that he would bail out all the homeowners with more money, too.
Again, who is going to pay for all these financial giveaways?
Isn't it always the middle classes who pay? I mean the truly wealthy have
so many tax loop holes they don't wind up paying their fair share.
I guess I'm just a skeptic.

Will BHO's full name be listed on the presidential ballots in all states or just the Republican Governor controlled one? (We pay more attention to these details since the Butterfly ballot fiasco of Florida.) One the one hand, it would be a state-assisted cover-up. On the other, it would be state-assisted ????. How are listings determined and by whom?

Another post of Obama campaigning

The theme of the Obama town hall was workplace discrimination against women and the family strains on working women.. A tad too hypocritical for me.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/18/obama-appeals-to-working-women-in-a-low-key-way/

Dateline: Orlando
Warnings issued !!

Lots of Tropical Hot air created an unpredicatable environment which may be damaging to the State (and other areas) The Path now has Orlando directly in its sights. The dark clouds are already here and no one can absolutely confirm that it will complete its course. It is very unpredictable and full of change.

Thats right, Obama is on his way to make a speech.

Oh yea, and the tropical storm Fay is on its way also.

A broader map from Eugene Robinson...

'Obama will probably talk more about engagement and the "international community," while McCain is likely to sound more confrontational. I'm pretty sure, though, that neither will come clean about a central truth: Our future is being decided not just in Washington but in Beijing and Moscow -- and in Riyadh, Islamabad, New Delhi, Dubai, Caracas, Abuja, Brasilia. . . .

'We still have the wherewithal to lead. But we're deluding ourselves if we believe we won't have to adapt to the new reality'

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081801848.html?hpid=opinionsbox1.

" That means I can go on and write the final chapter.....
This boy is immensely happy.
I also was offered a job in Amsterdam.....
This month was not too bad for me...."

Good for you Jason!!! Congrats!

I know it's early -- but came up with this one yesterday and didnt' have time to post, so for a future Happy Hour:

DEM Victory Punch

2-3 quarts grain alcohol (aka Moonshine)
4 gallons prepared Kool-Aid (any flavor)
10 Florida Oranges (cut into wedges)
1 -2 jars (at least 8 oz. each) Maraschino Michigan Cherries
Dry Ice

Prepare Kool-Aid according to package directions to make 4 gallons and chill.

Mix Moonshine with Kool Aid in a large (7-10 gallon) Igloo or Rubbermaid water cooler. Add in Florida Orange Wedges and Maraschino Michigan Cherries. Throw in a few chunks of dry ice to keep the elixir cold and bubbly. The dry ice also adds a cool foggy effect to the drink.

TO AVOID EXPLOSION, DO NOT PUT LID ON COOLER IF DRY ICE IS USED.

Serve by ladling the elixir into various drinking vessels, based on demographics, i.e. martini stemware for the Erudite Urban Elites, mason jars for God and Gun clingers, plastic party cups for the College Crowd, compostable PLA cups for the Greenies, etc.

Serves several dozen registered voters.

good morning gang....

saw the HBO special on Helen Thomas last night...... it was short, but very good.... she sang a song to Geraldine Ferraro... it was hilarious....

Lardass..... good for you for sticking up for newspapers..... I'd still be polite to Mudcat as he was Craig's guest.... but I think we forget how much we owe to newspaper reporting..... god knows we quote them enough here on the blogosphere....

HarborW..... the Mudcat that played baseball was Mudcat Grant....

prof Marcia..... I've been thinking along the same lines with Obama's promises and Pelosi's quote of "much will be expected of us if we win back the WH and we'd better meet those expectations".....
how in god's name will this country pay for those promises...... I honestly think we are going to have to tighten our belts and have to learn to live with lower expectations for more than a few years if our economy is to straighten out..... thanks Bushy....

McCain is visiting Las Cruces this week --

http://www.lcsun-news.com/news/ci_10241459

When Obama visited, it was a closed, invitation-only event. Very controlled with the help of Bill Richardson -- almost sneaking Obama in and out of the city without any fanfare. To me, this just feeds the Obama elitist myth here in southern New Mexico. To the north in Albuquerue and Santa Fe, it is Obama country. Here in the southern New Mexico, it is still Hillary country and McCain country. The ranchers are pure republican here.

Good Morning Renee -- Mudcat was here? Really? When? What happened? Why did you feel you needed to be "polite" to him? Was he being a jerk?

Marcia -- My summer organization method is to throw all the balls up in the air -- and try my best to catch the most important ones -- the others I will pick up off the floor later. LOL.

One more- It's No Longer Just about Hillary
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/08/its_no_longer_just_about_hilla.html

What's all this talk about no candy? Yes we can have it all! We'll stop spending so much on the war with Iraq, start zillions of new businesses pursuing independence from foreign oil, all that money will be flowing into the economy again and that will give the feds more money to spend on free universal health care, free college tuition for people who volunteer for community/national service, free universal preschool for all 4 year olds, free mortgages for struggling homeowners. It's all there on the Obama.com website, which has it all figured out!

WE can be the spare change we've been waiting for! Yes, we can! And don't say we can't! (Plugging ears with fingers) lalalalalalalalalalalala...........

For those of us who are concerned about the democratic process being upheld, here is a tribute to The Denver Group
,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qqIjPMf6zI

LOL @ "WE can be the spare change we've been waiting for! Yes, we can! And don't say we can't! (Plugging ears with fingers) lalalalalalalalalalalala........... "

Alicia....
you probably know who Mudcat Saunders is..... I'd never heard of him until yesterday afternoon.....
he came on this blog around 4pmish as Craig's invited guest.... he had trouble logging on and didn't have much to say.....

what?!!!!..... you mean I really can believe in the fairy godmother, the Easter Bunny AND Santa Claus!...... no way, girl....

Rene, Alicia...LOL. I probably should have been more polite to Mudcat. But somehow, I think he would probably laugh about it either way.

Still on stormwatch down here, as PingPong said.

Good news: Fay turns out to be a pretty weak sister.
Bad news: She's taking off her coat and staying awhile.

Alicia...thanks for the recipe for the dem political punch.

Alicia,

You crack me up! How can you be so funny this early in the morning, girl friend?

Seahag -- I wouldn't agree that NOW and NARAL need to be replaced. If the New Agenda ladies want to have their own organization, fine, I welcome them. But I can't support their agenda if they think that voting for McCain is the way to correct the DEMs or the other women's rights organizations for that matter.

The right way to do it is to stay and fight for what you believe in, taking on the leadership if necessary. Saying that NOW lacked a response to the Ludicris song calling Hillary and is not true. NOW was out there protesting all manner of sexism throughout the primaries. There were protests outside of NBC in NY calling for Matthews' and Oberman's heads for their sexism. Were these women out on the barricades with us? Our protests got very little coverage and nothing changed since our society still seems to think that sexism is tolerable. Creating another women's organization doesn't change the societal problem, especially if they are going to attack the women who have been out there all along fighting for them.

Spike stopped by last night and gave us the Intrade Vice-Presidential Futures Markets, numbers.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/08/thats-enough-church-talk.html#comment-129675

This morning on GMA they were speculating on the dem choice. They seem to believe the decision is made and will be announced this week.

Jack

"Rice warns Moscow about its bomber runs off Alaska"
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/227/story/49125.html

Next up, Putin at the UN banging on the podium with his shoe.
Can duck and cover be far behind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RHj15wVXec

Time to stock up the old bomb shelter.

Jack

My dad continues to squabble with me that it all lies in the hands of our homestate Florida. I say, Ohio is at least equally important.
I have to say thoujgh that the 51 million he received last month in donations is massive. He knows how to pull in the big bucks and that was something HRC failed to do. You gotta give the man props on that....

@tonyb39. Two weeks till Madonna arrives here in the Amsterdam Arena, only deluxe tickets left. I purchased a golden circle ticket for a massive € 260...Her song is still at no 1 here for a 5th week.

This morning on GMA they were speculating on the dem choice. They seem to believe the decision is made and will be announced this week.

Jack

Posted by: whskyjack | August 19, 2008 9:06 AM

Who did they speculate about Jack? Were there names?
In Holland everyone seems sure that it will be Evan...

Jason

His fund raising is impressive but his burn rate is too.
How much of the money is wasted.

Jack

Just the three on most lists. Byah, Biden and Kaine.

Notice that Biden is in Georgia playing shadow SoS.

Jack

I think the difference in height between Obama and Biden might work for them or it could look a bit comical. I am sure the comical might add to the allure of the campaign.

Last night Spike laid out a good argument for Byah. He brings many of the strengths to the ticket that it lacks, is a FoB and DLC so it throws a bone in the Clinton direction. Most importantly, he is quiet and boring so when the spotlight needs to be on Obama he will easily disappear.

Jack

You might be right about Byah, Jack. Obama may be like David Lee Roth...according to urban legend, DLR wouldn't have any groupies that had better hair than he had. He didn't want to be upstaged. Political theater may or may not be different from rock theater.

So Craig, what was the idea with mudcat yesterday? Maybe he needs tospend more time playing with his computer and less time noodlin'( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noodling )
;-)
Jack

None of the three on the DEM wish list ring my chimes. Meh. Kaine would just anger me and quite a few other DEMs around here who feel like he's done nothing to help our state -- and he'll be leaving to gallivant on the campaign trail when he needs to be here working on his current job -- which he obviously feels is too hard for him. http://fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2008/082008/08192008/403867

Jack is there any proof of his burn rate?

My dad got the sms that he wil be the first one to know when the Veep is announced.... The poor guy was so frustrated he immediately turned off his phone. :-) The thing is: he never was on any BO mailing list what so ever and never donated to the campaign...

Anywho,
What is the story on Kaine by the way. is he a serious contender. On the news they said that Sebelius was definitely out because they do not think she can garner the Hillary women. So imo, if that was the ratio.....

BW

The first and main job of a VP candidate is to do no harm. After that he can be the pitbull that the candidate can't be because he needs to look presidential.

Jack

Meh.

Posted by: Alicia Knight | August 19, 2008 9:47 AM

Sometimes, one little word can make my day.
Today it has to be this word....I can actually hear you say it :-) MEH!

Jason

An article from WSJ about both campaigns money

http://online.wsj.com/article_print/SB121902127288748417.html

Jack

Thnx Jack.

The words of Mudcat, love him or hate him, are some of the most colorful and hilarious in the political sphere today.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/245uswoq.asp?pg=1

The state put up a new road sign a few days ago out here in front of my house, and I've been saving it until you get here. They're having a revival over at the church so we'll be having supper on the grounds tomorrow evening. The service shouldn't last too long because Orville got drunk the night before last, rolled up his windows, locked his truck, and forgot to pull the snakes out of the cab. By the time he came to at 4:00 yesterday afternoon, they were cooked. The Klan meets right after church so we can all walk over together. The Grand Dragon has scaled the weekly program back a bit. We were planning on burning seven crosses tomorrow night, but with gasoline prices being where they are, we can only afford to burn two. I know how much you like to fish. I'll take you to a hole over behind Cousin Gertie's trailer, but you must fish alone for awhile as I have not seen Cousin Gertie for several months and need to get "caught up." You can stay in the spare bedroom, at least until she warms up to you a little bit. We probably won't be able to sleep much anyway because nobody can cook up a mess of Crystal Meth like Cousin Gertie. The next day we'll fish the fast water where the big-city Yankees ride them rafts. There's only one thing an Appalachian boy likes to do more in the summer than fish, and that's to catch a Ned Beatty look-alike as he leisurely makes his way down the river with no idea he's floating livestock. We thought we had us some Yankees last week, but when we sneaked up on them, it was just the Crowell boys dumping an old refrigerator and washing machine in the river. I can't stress strongly enough to bring extra ammunition. Your friend, Mudcat

Jack,

I thought one of the main jobs of the VP was to take over as president if anything happened to the president? Or am I just being picky?

Now, the question becomes would any of these three make a good president--Byah, Kaine or Biden?

McCain's pick may even be more important in that regard.

Marcia -- Tim Kaine can't even run the Commonwealth of Virginia.

To: Ping Pong: Preparing for Tropical Storm Fay from Keystone Heights, Fl. which is in the path from Orlando to Jax. Sunny and calm right now; amazing how fast those conditions might change.

IMO, all politicians say what they have to say to a specific group; even when we get to the debates, one has to believe that at least some of what they say is known to be impossible to enact. So you use your one vote for the party that you beleive in or for the candidate you trust the most. This is a hard one for me this year, Slowly, I am convinced it will be the democrat and Obama I will vote for in Nov. After all these eight years with Bush and Co., how can I not vote democrat.

PM

I believe that would make a good monty python.

Everyday sitting around waiting for the prez to kick the bucket.
Knock on the door just to check.
"Hello, ya OK, just ckecking, wondering if your still alive, See ya tomorrow."

You do have to admit from the presidents point of view the VP is excess baggage. After all the only time a VP is useful is at a time the prez is not worried about governing.

Jack

Alicia,

I'm interested in your take on Tim Kaine, since I know absolutely nothing about
him other than tidbits I've gathered recently.

Why do you think Obama has him on his short list if he's apparently
not very popular in your state?

Jack , thanks for your post about the bomber runs, hope it all gets nipped in the bud.

Jason -- Glad to make your day less "Meh." LOL.

I think VP took on a whole new meaning during the GW Bush presidency,
since Cheney was like the co-president.

Nut Romney is the sure VP pick for McC isn´t he.....?

jason, a virtual gift for you
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/8753/

Obama has Tim Kaine on his short list because Tim Kaine has a man-crush on Obama. When Kaine was first elected he was riding the coattails of the wildly popular and hugely successful Gov. Mark Warner, so the illusion was that Kaine was popular too. I liked him, mostly because I love Mark Warner. Ann Holton, Kaine's wife -- is a Richmond judge who has a large following of her own. The First Lady's breakfast at the Kaine inauguration was an instant sell-out. Plus, her daddy was GOP Governor, Linwood Holton, who i regularly trotted out to add a little sheen to the Kaine veneer.

The hard-core Kool-aid drinkers are still in love with Kaine, but even they are a little grumpy at the idea of Kaine not sticking with his first responsibility as governor. Also should Kaine actually become the VEEP, we'll be stuck with a GOP wing-nut Bill Bolling, the current Lt. Gov. to fill out the rest of Kaine's term, which ends in DEC 2009. Virginia only allows one term for Gov.

Thanks, Alicia, for your "insider" views. It seems like Kaine would be
not threatening to Obama and that seems to be important to the O-team, too.

This shirt must be worn to the convention next week.
Anyone up for it? MEH! :-)

PM -- "I thought one of the main jobs of the VP was to take over as president if anything happened to the president? Or am I just being picky?"

You're being picky...The VP is the primary caretaker of a warm bucket of spit, remember?

PM

The cheny vp position and influence will be fodder for many a doctorate disertation. And should kill many trees just to supply the paper for the books to be written. It is also why I expect the next several VPs to do a lot of ribbon cutting and other important stuff like that.

Jack

What are the pros and cons for Biden?
I really thought he said: I do not want it!

I think I made this comment along time ago....But Judas is definitely out right! LOL. I can´t help it to laugh hysterically loud.

Other thing...haven´t watched CNN in ages, but how is Carville stacking up.

it is also mysteriously silent amongst Donna Brazile and her confidants. It is almost D day for her right? If it comes to super D´s voting to make the difference, she should quit the party....That is what she said way back in March....

It is also why I expect the next several VPs to do a lot of ribbon cutting and other important stuff like that.

Jack

Posted by: whskyjack | August 19, 2008 10:34 AM

But that is for royalty to do?
And according ot BO the Kennedy´s are royalty...So let us leave it up to them to do the ribbon cutting.

Aspiring Obama VP Candidate Wins Olympic Gold

"Tim Kaine, Governor of Virginia, and rumored to be on the short list to be named Obama’s Vice President candidate won the Olympic Gold in the Ass Kissing Sycophant competition. Kaine credited Barack’s call for a UN Security Council meeting with convincing Russia’s Vladimir Putin to stop his invasion of Georgia. Check it out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0njdTjo0b4A

Someone needs to alert Governor Kaine that there is a guy in France by the name of Sarkozy who actually brokered the deal. But, when you are focused on smooching Barack’s backside why worry about facts."

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/08/13/aspiring-obama-vp-candidate-wins-olympic-gold/

Iowa might be closer than it appears...One of the local TV stations conducted a "Kernel Poll" over the course of the recent Iowa State Fair. 45,000 of us lined up one at a time to put a kernel of corn in canning jars for either Obama or McCain (they hand you the kernel so there's no jar stuffing),

Results: Obama 50.2%, McCain 49.8%.

Craig -- sorry you missed -- the cows were to die for...

Will Ferrell campaigns for VP on Letterman.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/22/will-ferrell-campaigns-fo_n_114291.html

"Someone needs to alert Governor Kaine that there is a guy in France by the name of Sarkozy who actually brokered the deal. But, when you are focused on smooching Barack’s backside why worry about facts"

The nice thing about reading a wide variety of blogs you get to spot the idea theives. Guess the folks over at noquarter ran out of original ideas and are just cut and pasteing their talking points from the National Review website.

Jack

cannot be threatening to Obama

what horse crap

Matilda

That would be a donkey.

Jack

whatever. its crap

why isnt Obama further ahead? do you read what you put up?

Looks like I struck a nerve with poor 'tilda.

Good Morning All

Alicia/Renee

I'm clapping as hard as I can. What do you mean Tinkerbell died?

Another example of SoetorObama info either missing or "locked up".
==============================

Obama-Ayers records blocked at U of I Chicago

"This is getting curiouser and curiouser...

Records detailing the workings of a 1990's charitable group working to better education in the city of Chicago that are housed at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) are being shielded from the prying eyes of reporters. The significance of these records is that the foundation in question was run by none other than Barack Obama. And the foundation was formed by none other than William Ayers, the radical Weather Underground terrorist who Obama has referred to as "just a neighbor."

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/08/obamaayers_records_blocked_at.html

MEH T-Shirt

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/8753/

MEH T-Shirt
http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/generic/8753/
jamie, jason's already bought some for us to wear to the convention.

For the animal lovers of MEH

http://blog.littleoldone.com/images/meh_cat.jpg

a. I am not satisfied w/ the map. IN and VA are still undecided, and NM and NH are leaning blue.

b. I want dick cheney to reprise his role as VP. And, I'd like to see Valerie Plame run for VPgainst the war criminal.

c. Obama has campaigned way too conservatively and has not played meanly enough to get the job done. If people still think john mccain is a war hero who won't take old folks' social security away and make them move in with Junior, then Obama has not been getting it done. You don't win by protecting a lead.

Okay. Where do I go to sue for plagiarism? :-)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-almond/dear-barack-the-veep-choi_b_119424.html

For the ladies....

http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts/ladies/8aa2/

mornin' all.

Well, after going back to look over the posts from yesterday after I left while Mudcat was trying to visit, I think I can say without reservation that he'd be an idiot to come back here and Craig would be an idiot to invite any guests in the future.

Forget his lack of FP experience, Kaine looks too much like across between Brezhnev and Mao to be VP. My money's on Bayh - Obama would want Biden as SoS. But I've been wrong before.

interesting comment from our friends overseas:
"If we seek to understand American foreign policy in terms of a rational engagement with international problems, or even as an effective means of projecting power, we are looking in the wrong place. The government's interests have always been provincial. It seeks to appease lobbyists, shift public opinion at crucial stages of the political cycle, accommodate crazy Christian fantasies and pander to television companies run by eccentric billionaires. The US does not really have a foreign policy. It has a series of domestic policies which it projects beyond its borders. That they threaten the world with 57 varieties of destruction is of no concern to the current administration. The only question of interest is who gets paid and what the political kickbacks will be."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/aug/19/usforeignpolicy.russia

xr, I agree with (c). Maybe after the convention

Okay. Where do I go to sue for plagiarism? :-)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-almond/dear-barack-the-veep-choi_b_119424.html
Posted by: Jamie

you've got an airtight case jamie, it's almost word for word...or at least idea for idea as best i can remember your prior posts. maybe almond's one of the big name lurkers that craig was telling us about. as a minimum, you should get a cut of his commission.

patd, people get paid for writing stuff like that?

patd

I always assume that a programming idea as good as the Obama tap on the Clinton shoulder in the middle of prime time just has to be thought of by more than one person.

If not, well it wouldn't be the first time I've heard my words or ideas turn up elsewhere. I always get a kick out of it which is why I always put a "steal this idea" disclaimer on anything that amuses me.

Pogo
about the mudcat hyjinks yesterday. It was an idea but that is about the best you can say about it. It never got rolling. I would find it interesting if he would get a key then show up every once and a while to throw a bomb in. but i never figured out the plan yesterday.

Jack

Also
I think mudcat is used to showing up on sites like TPM and getting beat on. He seems to be able to hold his own.

Jack

Jamie

It's the way of the world. We have all the brilliant ideas and the world steals them.
But as I told my wife when we were doing neighborhood work, Ideas are the easy part , i got a dozen of them, making them work is the hard part.

Jack

Speaking of work

Back to it.

Jack

Word on the blogs in VA is that Obama will announce Kaine as his VEEP pick tomorrow when he comes to VA. Now I've got people calling me as if they've already gotten the announcement, like they *know*. Hmmm....

Craig? Can Mudcat come back?

It's Biden

Alicia

I think we are still in the "Those who talk don't know, and those who know don't talk" stage of things. Of the top three contenders mentioned, I think Kaine would be the worst. He would take blah to a new low.

Hey KGC! That's what I told the folks on the phone -- Tim Kaine and the Big O are going to meet Biden' plane at Dulles. O's gonna go, "Eeny meeny miney moe, catch a VEEP by the toe.." And then he'll pick Biden -- and Kaine will be second lady, after Michele.

I think the cost to VA of picking Kaine is too high and Biden well is a perfect attack dog

Alicia....
"Kaine will be second lady, after Michele"...... ROFL!

Jamie.....Tinkerbell died...... please don't make me cry....
did you know that's my nickname for Ms Noonan.... her voice is so dripping and sweet..... how could it not be anything but an heroic effort to be Mr Pan's cohort.....

This recent piece by Zakaria in Newsweek was interesting...

http://www.newsweek.com/id/151731

Renee...

Thanks for the 7:50 AM post clearing up my Mudcat/baseball player confusion! Mudcat...Catfish...who knew?

Obama is supposed to be out with Jim Webb at a Town Hall meting in Lynchburg tomorrow. Has anyone seen Mudcat?
Mudcat for VEEP! Praise the Lord and pass the Kool-Aid!

One thought about Senator Biden. Perhaps his selection, would in the long run, be a mistake because it would highlight O's lack of preparation to be President of the United States.

O's "above my paygrade" comment will be a problem in the election.

Question for Delegates: How many Citizenships has Obama had?

"Here are two point-blank questions for the Democratic Delegates to the Denver Convention:

1) How many foreign citizenships has Barack Obama held in his lifetime?

2) Does he still hold any foreign citizenships?

... I don’t think it’s too much for the people of the USA to want to know what other nations a potential President might have had some kind of loyalty to throughout his lifetime.

I would guess that Senator Obama has held three citizenships other than US: British, Kenyan, and Indonesian. I could be wrong, but who knows, because the guy who’s running for President won’t say. And if I had to guess, I would guess that he has had two foreign citizenships as an adult."

http://texasdarlin.wordpress.com/2008/08/19/question-for-delegates-how-many-citizenships-has-obama-had/

A good laugh and a "eew" today already: Alicia's trash can punch for the big bash in Denver & David's post about Bob Barr & whipped cream on the OT.

Where's Ron Paul these days?

Barack Obama is like the new, fresh,shiny kid who arrives as the new student at a high school.

1. Everyone is intrigued
2 At his last school,the new guy,supposedly was the greatest athlete other than Michael Phelps
3. Everyone swoons
4. The experienced, hard working, loyal longtime student is devalued
5. The first practices of the season begin
6. Doubts about the shiny new kid develop
7. Disappointment sets in
8. Things never change

Thought for the day..

Progressive talik radio has become just as offensive and innane as Rightwing radio..

Crackpots come in all political persuasions.

Ron Paul.I heard recently that his wife was seriously ill. Does anyone know about that..Off to work..

Oh, the suspense is killing me...LOL.

Jack

" i got a dozen of them, making them work is the hard part."

Which is why I've always given mine away and didn't try to make them a source of regular income. :-)

Obama making his Saddleback performance even worse

"Old Man John McCain took young Barack Obama behind the woodshed Saturday night and gave him a good ole fashioned whooping. The once Messianic Obama is now having a hard time not stumbling over his own rapidly falling halo.

Saturday a seeker-sensitive preacher and a moderate opponent exposed Obama for who and what he is....an immature but arrogant child seeking the most important job in the world, yet afraid to take hard stands in the process. "

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2008/08/obama_making_his_saddleback_pe.html

OD

Ron Paul's wife in hospital

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/08/12/ron-pauls-wife-hospitalized/

"(I)n fact, frequent or excessive yawning does accompany a wide range of pathological conditions, including frontal lobe tumors, epidemic encephalitis, supranuclear palsy, certain gastric diseases, brain stem lesions, some forms of epilepsy, motion sickness, narcotic withdrawal, and chorea (Barbizet, 1958; Comroe, 1974; Graybiel & Knepton, 1976; Heusner, 1946; O'Brien, 1976; Rudolph, Barnett, & Einhorn, 1977). "

http://www.questia.com/googleScholar.qst?docId=5000192516

Renee

You call perfectly pouty petty peggums Tinkerbell?

In that case, I'll stop clapping.

Thanks for that link, Jamie....different politics, but I certainly have respect for Ron Paul. This surgery sounds serious.

The "pay grade" comment won't be the problem. BO isn't a theologist & he isn't a scientist, so, he didn't hold himself out as an expert. OK, so maybe it was the equivalent of voting "present" yet, again.

The point he made about reducing unwanted pregnancies & leaving Roe v Wade alone is what the GOP will go after.

Free association Trailmix-style: Mudcat, Catfish Hunter, Hunter S Thomson...

Why isn't Jim Webb on the short list for VP? What am I not vetting?

Blond Wino

Jim Webb stated very forcibly that he didn't want the job and wouldn't take it if offered.

PS -- Jack, sorry to disappoint on the mega cocktail birthday...but we all went to an early dinner, came back for a piece of rhubarb pie (my pick over cake), and then my sister and I gave my daughter the night off to go to a new bookstore she'd heard about. Sis and I brought out the puppet theater and puppets I had bought for little Maria's birthday, and we spent the rest of my big day putting on shows for the grandbaby. A perfect evening!

(Now I need to shop again for Maria's birthday....ha!)

Thanks, Jamie...did Webb give any specifics?

Jamie....
uh oh.... I hit a nerve about some cherished childhood icon.....
just for you..... I'll stop calling her that....

Blue..... Mudcat, Catfish Hunter, Hunter S Thomson, Thomson's Water Seal....

pasti - Happy Belated Birthday.

Since Corey's birthday is on election day this year, we will have to do something special to celebrate no matter the outcome of the election.

...Heidi Klum's husband, Seal...

"Free association "

Blue -- I love tracing back thoughts. One from my house this morning....

bird feeders
favorite birds
storks
Bjork's swan gown
fashion critics can't take a joke
nobody can take a joke
everybody needs to chill

LOL
Patsi, I new you couldn't resist.
A long time ago I quit the birthday for random gifts as i see something fun.

Jack

That's the BIG SURPRISE! Webb is just there to lend Scots-Irish glory to the VEEP crowning of Biden. Delaware is kinda close to VA, as in DELMARVA.

"Who should Barack Obama choose as his VP?
Ask Craig in a live online discussion Wednesday 1-2pm EST"
where???on trail mix???

Okay -- another tidbit -- Rick Siger is now on Team Obama as director of travel for the Veep nominee. Siger used to be director of Advance for Time Kaine during the Gov race in 2005.

Not that it means anything.

patd - Wed - 1-2, if it's not too late.

Oh you can go on calling her Tinkerbell. It's just Tink is such a positive image, unless you consider she almost died because she was trying to poison Wendy. Now that persona fits Peggums and her poison pen quite well.

10 - 11 AM for the west coast folks.

Blong

Here's some info on why Webb said no way on the VP

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/2008/07/webb-to-remain.html

Make that BLOND

Years ago, I read something that the referred to the veep office-holder as "Your Superfluousness." (Cheney didn't get the memo.) BO would definitely need someone to pad his resume & do some actual work.
Fox Noise is still ?ing Hil'ry, but they only want her on the ticket to sully her for 2012.

~~~Obama VP watch~~~

Obama uses Biden's name in VFW speach

"Saying that he supports aid to Georgia for rebuilding, Obama also invoked the name of "my friend Sen. Joe Biden" of Delaware, who just returned from a visit to Georgia and is calling for reconstruction aid"
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/49229.html

Did anyone here actually sign up for the service to get the text-message VP announcement from Obama?

I'll be curious to hear whether that will truly be the first word, or if it will get scooped by a few minutes.

I'd do it myself, but I don't have CABLE News on in the background routinely...so I'd make a lousy test subject.

Speaking of Biden

They are already finding good material.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/bensmith/0808/Biden_88_as_McCain_08.html
from this old Biden campaign ad

A classic Joe Biden ad from 1988, which begins: "The White House isn't the place to learn how to deal with international crisis, the balance of power, war and peace, and the economic future of the next generation. A President has got to know the territory, but that's not enough."

Jack...

Interesting ad. There are some pretty good lines in there that Obama could use as well, about restoring America's moral leadership in the world, etc.

1988. Who knew?

The treatment of women candidates in general and Hillary Clinton specifically in this is sad. However what makes me furious is the way Senator Clinton has been treated by the very women that she has always supported. First there was Claire McCaskill. I remember all the calls and letters that came from McCaskill and Emily's list and other women's groups that basically said support her because we need more qualified women in leadership and I did. The same with Kathleen Sebilius and Janet Napalatano. Give them money because they were qualified women and we need more of the in public office. Then Hillary Clinton runs and these same women forget about all the support they got from women because they were women and support Sen. Obama. It could not be because he was better on women's issues because he wasn't. NARAL who for years has asked for contributions to support a women's right to choose just stabbed Sen. Clinton in the back with their endorsement of Sen. Obama and it was not because he was a stronger proponent of choice because he was not.

I appreciate Emily's list for supporting democratic pro choice women for public office but I think all of these groups are having the emphasis on the wrong part of the equation. They should be supporting women who support women and who are also pro choice. I surely appreciate those women who for years have been asking for the support of women realize that getting that support means giving that support to others.

Richard Ben Cramer's "What It Takes" is a classic campaign book and a definitive take on the 1988 campaign from the point of view of several candidates, including Biden. That book will be a rich mine for info too, should Biden be chosen as VP running mate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/us/politics/19ethics.html

OK, anyone even thinking about voting repug needs to read the linked article above. If this doens't make you change your mind out of sheer embarassment, I don't know what the hell is wrong with you.

"And if the lawmakers want to listen to brand-name musical entertainment, they are going to have to reach into their own pockets. For a corporate event featuring the Beach Boys at the Republican National Convention, $25 is being collected in advance, and the same is true for a party featuring the disco group K. C. and the Sunshine Band."

Get down tonight, get down tonight.

Pogo...LOL.

But on the other hand, I guess those choices aren't too horrible, considering the alternative was that "It's Raining McCain" girls.

Here's a pretty good video-assisted roundup of Biden gems and gaffes just posted at Gawker, along with some interesting commentary:

http://gawker.com/5038900/joe-biden-bad-choice

I signed up for the "hear it first" so I will have to keep my email open from Wednesday on.

Jo I agree with you whole heartedly, but I have to be very, very quiet. If I say "Hillary" too often tar and feathering or at least a pillow fight with all the pillows coming my way could happen.

LL, yeah, the entertainment at the RNC could be worse - I guess... but disco?? Hell it was horrible the first time around, and KC Etc. defined it. I can just see a bunch of McRepublicans dancing in white platform shoes, synthetic shirts, poly pants and gold plated necklaces with huge medallions to "I'm Your Boogie Man".

Pogo

Republican men can't move fast. Their toupees and combovers get all messed up.

Dancing slowly, I guess, jamie.

Pogo

went to the local walmart for socks and underwear. some of the new walmart styles(yes i know that is an oxymoron) weren't quite leisure suits but the same philosophy. They had a shirt/slack combination that screamed all that was bad with 70's fashion.

Jack

Obama Tells Allies He Is Ready to Hit Back

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/18/AR2008081802177.html?nav%3Dhcmodule&sub=AR

Oh really! The gutless wonder who threw the joyous Rev. Wright, his "typical white" grandmother, and any position that is available for a svelte panderer under the bus. As an exasperated Maureen Dowd often complained that Obami was a spineless debutante when dealing with Hillary during the primary. A backbone can't be bought by his prodigious fundraising or borrowed form Deval Patrick or fed to him by race baiters J. Clyburn or Jesse Jackson Jr. Obami's weakness is his noblest trait.

PUMA/Clintons4mccain

toast

OK, Jack, you trying to scare me or what? The Twin Cities' Walmarts better stock up now. I hope they do Tony Manero proud.

I can proudly say I have never owned a leisure suit, but I did own a Disco Sucks t-shirt back in the 70s.

McCain's latest drill here, drill now, drill forever BS.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/washington/AP-McCain-Energy.html

Couldn't he have just said, who you gonna believe - me or your lying eyes?

Who knew that the Iowa State Fair could be so much fun? I mean, is that a SNAKE in your pocket or are you just happy to see me???

Check out the vid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rk8_ezPC-Vg

Here's Obama's answer to McCain's drill here, now, always strategy (from the NYTimes article I linked above):

"McCain's visit came a day ahead of the Minerals Management Service's lease sale in New Orleans to auction off 18 million acres of the western Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas drilling. The tracts could potentially yield as much as 400 million barrels of oil, but that amount would only meet the nation's oil needs for about 19 days, and it would be at least seven to 10 years until oil started flowing."

It takes drilling 1,000,000 acres of the OCS in the Gulf to meet our energy needs for a day, and between 7 and ten years to get that oil - and John McCain thinks that is the answer to today's high gasoline prices. Even T. Boone, the Texas Republican oil man who paid to Swiftboat John Kerry doesn't believe that lie. What is McCain, nuts or what?

Can't see the vid, ET, but a cop did shoot a 7 foot Burmese Python to death after it attacked a truck. Don't guess that's what's in that vid.

From that article Pogo.

Something's off.

"McCain traveled 130 miles by helicopter to tour the massive facility, which produces 10,000 gallons of oil each day."

What's that about 220 barrels.. real massive.

US uses 20 mil barrels a day.

too bad you can't see the video and NO that's not it. It was the weather man on stage at the Iowa State Fair live on television. It's hilarious!

I don't care who Obama chooses as a running mate, though it will be great just to have that issue over and done with. As long as it isn't a right wing nutcase, I'll settle. My first choice is obviously not being considered regardless of her credentials.

I'll vote Evan Bayh based only on the "looks" department.

I should add that I meant "vote" for Evan Bayh for vice-presidential running mate. I sort of wish the US still did elections where the highest vote getter is President and the second highest is Vice-President. Anyone know when and why that changed?

Has anyone watched the video? Am I the only one amused? ;-)

"They had a shirt/slack combination that screamed all that was bad with 70's fashion."

Jack, you're buying at the wrong store. I buy something similar at Sears. They're 100-pct cotton, exclusive of fasteners, and come in a single denim shade that fades really nicely.

They last forever, are comfortable, go equally well with steel-toed boots, or boat shoes, and can be worn with one shoulder strap or two.

If they were good enough for Li'l Abner, they're good enough for me.

They call them overalls.

Rez, yeah, impressive isn't it? There are a lot of platforms out there - can't say how many acres one platform covers. btw, how much fuel does it take to fly 260 miles by big chopper ? Between 150 & 160 gallons for one of those big Sikorsky twin turbine jobs - 1.5% of that rig's output for the day.

Has anyone watched the video? Am I the only one amused? ;-)
Posted by: EuroTom

i liked the banner in the background that read "ridiculously high standards"

flatus, I'm sure you cut a dashing figure in your overalls at the disco. lol

Biden had an excellent reception here in Columbia when he spoke with a largely Republican group.

ET...

That's one of the funniest videos I've ever seen! I laughed 'til I cried.

pogo...Do whatever you have to in order to see that video...bookmark it...something.... It's that good!

"Haha, Jack Caferty just did a funny bit "

And provided you with yet another bit of bullshit.

EuroTom,

I didn't watch the whole video because my eyes were watering from laughing. I agree with PatD the banner in the background helped make this priceless.

PUMA/Clintons4mccain

toast

Posted by: Milquetoast | August 19, 2008 3:22 PM

Milque...

I haven't criticized PUMA people over their angry re: primaries and caucuses. I do understand the anger, even if mine has subsided a bit. And while it's been said before, I want to state that even in my darkest despair I don't think I could vote for the Repug candidate. I don't think we need a president who looks as old as Daddy Bush and acts like Junior Bush. Enough is enough of these people.

For people who remain totally pissed off and are unable or unwilling to support Barack Obama's candidacy, I'd just like to toss in a protest vote idea for Cynthia McKinney of the Greens Party. Who knows? Perhaps there could be enough votes to make the Greens an even more viable party come 2012. The USA sure could use proportional representation based on voting patterns. The dominance of the two party system, IMHO, does not serve us well.

Take care,

Tom

Hey Tom --- If we're looking for cute, I would vote for Bayh too. But honey -- my fave pol at the moment is definitely the Governor of Maryland -- Nobody's cuter than Martin O'Malley.
http://www.omalleysmarch.com/anfymartin/martinmain.htm

what's the likely dem count in the senate gonna be if senator o and senator vp win, given the fall out of sen seats up for grabs? enough to be fillabuster proof?

Alicia I see your point !! And he plays Irish music. hmmmmm....

ok off to sleep... Will be dreaming of the former Governor of Indiana, the current Governor of Maryland and a certain snake at the Iowa State Fair. :-)

hw, I'll watch it when I get home. With people crying because it's so funny and ET's teaser, how could I miss it?

But now, I must sign off for the day.

Pogo,
Actually, wore them the last time I bought a new car. Went to two dealers where I was pretty much ignored. Then, at the third dealer, a sales person raced out of the showroom in really foul weather asking what kind of car I wanted to see. Told her, she said she had just what I wanted (it was on the display floor), we decided on a price, and did a cash deal.

Those overalls sure helped me separate the serious sales people from those who were spending the day at their dealerships.

" I'd just like to toss in a protest vote idea for Cynthia McKinney of the Greens Party. Who knows?"

I have thought about doing that, Euro -- a couple of strong additional parties would help our system.

OD, when I was a senior in high school we had a guy transfer to our school from another school that was about 30 mimnutes from us. Rumor had it that he was the star QB for his old school's football team. He was expected to be the savior for our football team. It turned out that he wasn't all that great. I remember one day at school someone had asked him to pass something to them in class. The guy then said, "Nevermind. I've seen you pass. I'll walk over and get it." The whole class started laughing.

Cafferty was his usually fossilized, woman hating self. What else is new?

Sebelius was in Michigan today and I missed her:

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/NEWS04/80819033

Tom,

Milque...

I haven't criticized PUMA people over their angry re: primaries and caucuses. I do understand the anger, even if mine has subsided a bit.
Posted by: EuroTom

First let me state that my wife and I have NEVER supported a Repug candidate before. I still remember the words of Carl Bernstein, a regular on CNN who stated on Super Tuesday that and I quote, ""We must take Clinton down." I will not let the perversion of the MSM go unpunished. A vote for Neville Obama Chamberlain is to accept the corrupt behavior of the DNC, Pelosi, Clyburn Matthews, Olbermann, Herbert, Rich to name but a few.

My resolve is enforced by the belief that Obami's weakness of character puts our country at risk in an era of increased menace exacerbated by a now resurgent, angry expansionist Russia. I far prefer McCain at the helm and the safety of divided government.

regards,

toast

Hey Jason
I'm just catching up, sorry I missed you this morning.Its funny I was actually thinking of you today as I drove through the wind and rain of tropical storm Fay with "Hard Candy" on the I-Pod. What a treat your in for!! I can't wait to here about the "Stickey and Sweet" concert from you......

Patd. The Senate races are beginning to look like a perfect storm for GOP losses. 35 seats are up for election (33 regular, 2 special elections ) of these, 23 are GOP.

Five GOP Senators are retiring:

Wayne Allard -- CO
Larry Craig -- ID
Chuck Hagel -- NE
Pete Dominici -- MN
John Warner -- VA

In VA -- Mark Warner has a commanding lead over his predecessor as Governor -- Jim Gilmore. Warner is strong all over the state -- in SW and Central VA he is reverse coattails for Obama, and the high turnout predicted for the black vote can only help Warner.

In NM -- Tom Udall is leading GO Steve Pearce 59-34%

In Alaska -- The ethically challenged Ted Stevens is trailing his likely DEM opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 20 points. The AK primary is next Tuesday, Aug 26., but it's likely going to be Stevens vs Begich in the general.

Oregon's Gordon Smith is holding his own against the DEM nominee Jeff Merkley, but still polls at less than 50% so he's considered to be vulnerable. Obama might have coattails for Merkley here.

In Colorado, Mark Udall is up by 9 points against his opponent Bob Schaffer, who is touched by the Abramoff scandal.

Could "m" possibly be right with this Carl Bernstein Super Tuesday quote? Bernstein may have said it, but it doesn't make sense to me that these would have been his own words.

What "we" would he have been speaking for, or to?

Was he appearing as a partisan pundit? I can't say I follow the guy regularly, but I thought he was still calling himself a journalist.

I assume "m" is giving an honest report, but it all puzzles me.

Ed,

I agree, CB was then recently hired as an analyst for CNN during the primary so I would like to have a link to that myself. It doesn't compute although he is described as an expert on the Clintons.
A quick Google didn't yield the source, but that's not definitive.
Hopefully m has the link.

EdVB

Carl Bernstein was making the MSM rounds touting his highly critical unauthorized bio on Hillary Clinton, "A Woman In Charge". Here are a couple of links to his appearances. He was pretty rough on her, so it comes down to whether or not you think Bernstein is an over the hill hack raking it in from past glories or a trustworthy source.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18981558/

http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3217016

EdVB - I agree with you about m's post. I have heard Bernstein put down Hillary, but also give her credit. It's hard to imagine his saying straight out that he sides with dnc hierarchy (now that is a tricky word - spelling-wise) to the point of working within it. But, one never knows.

m did make some points, tho. So far, he hasn't changed my vote. Obama and his people are playing this too close to the chest. He has to take some chances, soon, or he's gonna lose people.

Before I forget, I believe on ESPN at 7:00 tonight they are going to show a segment on a former Duke basketball player named Reggie Love who is now working for the Obama campaign. Obama is also interviewed during this segment.

I cant find a video, but Senator McCain is a sounds exactly like Johnny Carson as Floyd R. Turbo, American.

I feel kind of bad about the way Mudcat was treated yesterdy. I mean he was a guest of Craig and I think the bloggers responses might have been an embarrassment to Craig. I hope we didn't hurt Craig's feelings. He is such a kind ,wonderful person. Mudcat is quite a character too bad we didn't get to see more of his colorful personality yesterday.---

I feel kind of bad about the way Mudcat was treated yesterdy. I mean he was a guest of Craig and I think the bloggers responses might have been an embarrassment to Craig. I hope we didn't hurt Craig's feelings. He is such a kind ,wonderful person. Mudcat is quite a character too bad we didn't get to see more of his colorful personality yesterday.---

Jamie,

Must be boring today to get into this back and forth :)

But,

"so it comes down to whether or not you think"

is much different than what was posted :

"I still remember the words of Carl Bernstein, a regular on CNN who stated on Super Tuesday that and I quote, ""We must take Clinton down."

Rez

I was just letting Ed VB know where I had heard Bernstein say similar things.

As to the "hack" remark, that is just my personal opinion of him and was formed long before he wrote this book, so it had nothing to do with Clinton.

Nuclear Energy
"And what's all this fuss about plutonium: how can something named after a Disney character be dangerous? So what if an atomic plant blows up? The people who say that, they are afraid to die. I'm not afraid to die because all my life I have lived by the Good Book, the American Legion magazine...They say atomic radiation can hurt your reproductive organs. My answer is, so can a hockey stick, but we don't stop building them....Sure, nuclear leaks will affect the forest animals. So what if a deer grows up with two rear ends? They're easier to shoot...So in my simple way, I'm asking that you support nuclear energy. Remember being an American means being powerful, proud and pushy, and in conclusion, let me finish by ending...Thank you."

Military Drafts
"This station wants no draft. They want to deprive a boy of the Army. The Army is educational. The Army teaches you how to do dental work with the butt of a rifle....how to tell what time it is by making a sundial out of a dead person...how to make beer out of bird droppings and also how to make a rubber girl out of an inner tube...In conclusion, I say we should not end the draft. We should increase it. We have a moral obligation to give Bob Hope soldiers to entertain. Fellow Americans, it is an honor to be drafted and to serve your country. Thank you, bye-bye, and buy bonds."

[e Hunting
"If God didn't want us to hunt, He wouldn't have given us plaid shirts; I only kill in self defense—what would you do if a rabbit pulled a knife on you?"

What happened with Mudcat yesterday? I went back and read and I couldn't see where anyone was particularly mean. Did I miss something?

I want Mudcat to come back. Craig, can you fix his typekey so he can log on and not have to deal with the captcha thingie?

Jane--

I was the main culprit in the rude treatment of Mudcat last night, and I apologize to anyone here who was offended or taken aback. Sometimes things just set me off, and in this case it was the fawning, "celebrity" treatment a standard-issue (although definitely colorful) political operative got from this normally hard-bitten group of politically savvy regulars (not to mention his own inability to say anything of substance).

But I should have recognized what you are saying now. That he was Craig's special guest, and it was wrong for me to criticize him the way I did. So I'm sorry about that. It was rude of me. I apologize to our host Craig as well.

Meanwhile, if it's any comfort to you, I honestly don't think it had any practical impact on Mudcat, though, because my comments were mostly a reaction to his appearance a few hours after he'd left, and I was just reading through the thread later.

--Lardass

Alicia...

Nothing happened to Mudcat directly. I just commented later that I thought he was basically just another political hack, and why were all so starry-eyed about him. (see apology above)

It was stupid of me. I'm sure Mudcat is a perfectly delightful man.

Oh. Is political hack an insult? Gee. I didn't know.

speaking of high horses. Matthews is back. Let's see how mad he can make me in one hour. :-)

Alicia...

I'm not venturing further into those waters again. I've taken my medicine. :)

LL

And auto-biographies are written in cars, right?

Jamie -- Looks like Tweety is sporting the Strom Thurmond hairdo. Is that hair color found in nature?

I was just listening to a fascinating, seven-year-old Terri Gross interview with Michael Beschloss about his 2001 book on LBJ's secret White House tapes.

I guess with everything else that was going on then, I didn't pay enough attention to this project when it was being published. But the conversations LBJ taped -- with Hoover, with George Wallace, with Robert MacNamara are absolutely riveting. I now want to go back and buy all these books.

One thing I never really knew or thought about until hearing this: That RFK was actually a Vietnam War "hawk" in January of 1965, and fear of his disapproval (as the ghost of JFK) was one of Johnson's main reasons for staying in the war and ramping it up. Even that early, LBJ knew it was a lost cause and wanted out. How ironic -- given how Bobby ran against the war just a few years later, and the taint of the war brought LBJ down.

Sort of makes all the so-called "flip-flopping" on Iraq today pale in comparison.

I think that's a nice standard to strive for, especially when referring to comments made on a media blog devoted to politics.

Whether or not you think a particular person (source) would of, or is capable of making certain statements based on their motivations. I'll file that one for future reference. :)

As said before, it's a slow day.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4060135

LL -- Okay, sorry. I didn't mean to probe a soft spot. I just couldn't tell what all the fuss was about.

Cheers!

Fineman -- Obama is all about turning the page....

Tweety -- Well what if there's nothing on that page when you turn it?

Hahaha!

John Edwards downfall was his hypocrisy:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/giles-slade/john-edwards-george-washi_b_119468.html

Well, let me say this about that.

I have never been impressed by either Bernstein or Woodward. The didn't so much as blow the lid off Watergate ar they egged it into existence. I agree the Bernstein is a hack, and will add Woodward to that.

Of all the people to write a book criticizing someone
else's marriage, I would list Bernstein pretty close to the bottom. Woodward rather sabotaged himself by giving W's White House good press.

What amazes me is the motivation of the people around big names who are willing to tell such things as Betsey Wright. She supposedly doesn't care for Bill, but so what? How can people repeat intimate knowledge re someone's marriage without meaning to do them harm?

Frankly, I do not want to know intimate things re anyone's marriage - anyone's! No one knows what goes on behind closed doors, and that includes Bernstein and Betsey Wright.

Back on track, I'd like to see the link, also. All it would do is make me dislike Bernstein more, tho. He really is kind of a pig of a man.

Rachel Maddow Replacing Dan Abrams On MSNBC Effective Immediately

http://tvdecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/08/19/rachel-maddow-to-replace-dan-abrams-on-msnbc/

G'night folks. I'll be back in a few days. Meanwhile, I'll post one of my favorite poems of all time. I just hope it never comes to this in this country again, as it has in Europe, the Mideast, and so many other parts of the world:

O WHAT IS THAT SOUND
O what is that sound which so thrills the ear
Down in the valley drumming, drumming?
Only the scarlet soldiers, dear,
The soldiers coming.

O what is that light I see flashing so clear
Over the distance brightly, brightly?
Only the sun on their weapons, dear,
As they step lightly.

O what are they doing with all that gear,
What are they doing this morning, this morning?
Only their usual manoeuvres, dear.
Or perhaps a warning.

O why have they left the road down there,
Why are they suddenly wheeling, wheeling?
Perhaps a change in their orders, dear.
Why are you kneeling?

O haven't they stopped for the doctor's care,
Haven't they reined their horses, their horses?
Why, they are none of them wounded, dear.
None of these forces.

O is it the parson they want, with white hair,
Is it the parson, is it, is it?
No, they are passing his gateway, dear,
Without a visit.

O it must be the farmer who lives so near.
It must be the farmer so cunning, so cunning?
They have passed the farmyard already, dear,
And now they are running.

O where are you going? Stay with me here!
Were the vows you swore deceiving, deceiving?
No, I promised to love you, dear,
But I must be leaving.

O it's broken the lock and splintered the door,
O it's the gate where they're turning, turning;
Their boots are heavy on the floor
And their eyes are burning.

-- W. H. Auden

MSNBC.com Biden; "I"m not the guy."

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/19/1276323.aspx

I posted the link to this article yesterday. Remember it - could be the beginning of the end for SoetorObama. He is a far bigger liar than Corsi.

"Obama's childhood records vindicate Corsi book

Photo shows candidate registered 'as an Indonesian citizen and a Muslim'

http://worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=72667
================================
Might want to make your reservations without delay - you can join Jerome Corsi (the hottest author in the country - No. 1 New York Times best seller) on a 7 - day cruise through the Western Caribbean.

You'll be able to hang out with Corsi and other top WND personalities.

They are more honest than the DNC and SoetorObama.
================================
PUMA

Auden is my favorite poet as well. From the "Shield of Achilles" what it means to be tortured:

The mass and majesty of this world, all
That carries weight and always weighs the same
Lay in the hands of others; they were small
And could not hope for help and no help came:
What their foes like to do was done, their shame
Was all the worst could wish; they lost their pride
And died as men before their bodies died.

Jane,

Thanks. You took the words right off my keyboard.

I like Maddow and she has earned the slot. With Olbermann and Maddow in the lineup, I wish they would find someone just a shade more balanced and analytical just for variety.

Tweety's new hair color is actually pretty good. It's certainly an improvement on that "never found in nature" whatever shade of yellow straw he was sporting before the break. Also glad he is feeling better now that the pneumonia is past. He was looking pretty bad before the break.

“Annenberg-Gate” - It’s not the crime, it’s the cover up

"Ironic, that a public university would attempt to prevent a legitimate author and journalist - with a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Harvard to boot - from accessing documents legitimately housed in their library. Ironic, and possibly illegal.

Unfortunately for Senator Obama, what might only stink in Chicago - a relationship with an ex-terrorist who had an authoritarian agenda in mind for Chicago school kids - is far more damaging on the national political scene."

http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/08/19/annenberg-gate-its-not-the-crime-its-the-cover-up/

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/08/presidential-map-quest.html#comment-129947

Poor Rachel. The list of women hosts misused and tossed aside by MSNBC is lengthy. Deborah. Ashlee. Rita. Who did I miss? Actually, good luck, Rachel. Maybe she's the one who will buck the trend.

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2008/08/presidential-map-quest.html#comment-129931

No no LL, don't be apologizing for your Mudcat comments of yesterday. He's a big boy with many firearms, can take care of himself. However, he is computer challenged to the max and i'll get him back on here once i guide him through the learning curve.

Sorry to hit and run but off to msnbc for abrams show now. Hope you guys check into my online discussion at 1pm tomorrow (re: VP speculation), will post the link here in the morning.

Well that gives msnbc the anti fox slot.
Now if CNN would just get rid of lou dobbs and jack whathisname, send larry over to msnbc, then concentrate on being the real news network again.
lol
Yea I know,
but if you kick a pig hard enough he can fly. It just takes a really hard kick.
Cable, entertainment for the mindless.
Jack

Monica. I knew there was another one.

Jamie -- Maybe it was the color adjustment on my TV -- but it looked like a peachy-coral orange and reminded me of Strom Thurmond's do. Of course, Tweety's lacked the penciled in hairline several inches below the actual hairline that ol' racist Strom sported.

Ivy

She will have to be twice as good hve 3 times the audience then they will pair her with some man because that large of an audience can't be risked.

Watch see if it doesn't happen, that seems to be their method.

Jack

I hope Mudcat comes back. He is a hoot. If I can navigate here, anybody can. In my family, I am known as the one who the "computer genes" by-passed. Practice makes perfect. My suggestion would be to take on an assumed named during the learning curve.

Jack -- I was listening to "Wait , Wait Don't Tell Me" last weekend.
Someone on the show asked, "Why is Lou Dobbs so angry?"
Another said, "There is someone off camera poking him."
Another said, "Poking him with a stick?"
Then someone else replied, "Yes. In fact they've hired an illegal alien from Mexico to poke him with that stick to keep him *really* angry."

I just had to laugh.

Rachel M. seems like a nice person. She has been in the tank for O so MSNBC is the place to be..

Jack,

I totally agree. Rachel has to do her part and do it well. But MSNBC's management track record with female hosts is abysmal. In fact, their management track record, period, is abysmal. They better have their act together this time. I like Rachel, and I will be ticked off royally if they drag her through the mud like the others. I only just started watching again, and then not at all like I used to. But I am hoping to get back on the treadmill again. Literally.

Keith's getting ready to "break the news" we've already been discussing. Kudos to Rez..

Alicia

lol
There always seems to be the Lou Dobbs or Keith Olberman types who play to or worst instincts. Thenthere are the one ones who address the nobler side of us. It just seems it is not an era for the later to raise to the top.

Jack

Well, I'm actually feeling sad for Dan. I guess during this political year, there's just not enough "arresting" courtroom drama to hold our attention.

Ivy

Maybe it is for the best, he has a real news demeanor, maybe he can find a real news slot somewhere.

Jack

Hey
Here's one from AP..

http://www.rr.com/view/content/story.cfm?storyId=5632442&view=HOME&newsgroup=9000&sSect=HOM_1

I have liked Rachel Maddow in the past and was very disappointed when she went haywire over Obama, She worked very hard at defending him without its being defense. I got to the point, before I stopped watching David Gregory (whom I really liked), where, when she talked on his show, I muted her because she talked so fast and so emphatically I couldn't stand it. It was even annoying to just watch her gatling gun talk - the words came out like bullets.

So I hope she does well and is open to the idea of being less biased. She certainly seems like such a real person. Her success depends on Herr Olbermann, however. I suspect she has an independent streak in her, and if she bucks him, she's gone.

Hey
What's going on with the new CNN poll? I think Obama's VP pick is getting more important as time goes by...Hillary come on down!!!

Yay, Craig is on with Dan !

Actually, I'm sorry that in Dan's departure, no one is left to pursue the Don Siegelman case. Karl Rove must be celebrating tonight.

Back in the day, some friends of mine lived together in old Sears bungalow in Hyattsville affectionately known as the "Flophouse." The place was legendary for it's parties which featured a special punch that was somewhat like the DEM Victory Punch. They called it "Jungle Juice" because it made people want to swing from the trees after drinking it. Or at least join in the conga-line that went around the house, out the back door, around the backyard, side yard, front yard and through the front door again. Dancing and frivolity would continue until the PG Cops showed up to tell everyone to go home. The Flophouse Denizens later went on to open up a dance club called Twist and Shout, located in the Bethesda American Legion Hall basement, the same one immortalized in song by Mary Chapin Carpenter, who swears she never even went to the place. Yeah, right Mary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iHupQtJ_BM

Poor Obama..

He is tanking in the polls..

He is bested by a mediocre McCain in a religious forum.

He probably will lose without being saved by Hillary Clinton.

Wake up Democrats!

L.A. Times..Obama lead down to 2

Wake up Democrats!

12 steps - buddy

I am hoping Sibelius won't be it. I have certainly seen no personality from her at all, and I have decided that I think Obama needs someone with a real spark to him or her. I know that is a terrible thing to O's supporters, but I think his charisma is apparent only to them. He needs to get people to vote for him who are right now not all that enchanted with him The contrast might also lend the infamous 'gravitas' to him.

Some people, when I think of them, make me think of a tea bag that has been used too often. Sibelius is one.
Maybe I'm wrong, tho - she just hasn't shown any oomph to me so far.

I saw Carpenter about 1990 in Fresno. That tiny girl with the huge guitar just owned the stage. It was a great show. My favorite has always been on of the quieter songs: Halley Came to Jackson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxpSNABnGcM&feature=related

You know, it would have nice if Obama's hope show was real. Unfortunately, a cocker spaniel ( I like cocker spaniels) could figure out that he was a lighgtweight fraud.

Fortunately or unfortunately, each day more people are seeing him for what he is.

Wake up Democrats!

KC & The Sunshine Band - That's the way I like it (1974)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWf1MdHv80Q

Funkadelic - One Nation Under A Groove 1978

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msNgZ2nexC0

Bow wow wow yippie o yippie ae

George Clinton - Atomic Dog

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuyS9M8T03A

Jack
Hey thanks for KC,love it!

Disco flashbacks --

Don't Leave Me This Way -- Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5tqAIY-TzA

Wow Alicia
Bust my bubble!! I only knew about the Thelma Houston version...Thanks love Teddy P...

Some more Pfunk, George Clinton was by far the most fun of that era.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_GOZM9PbGg

That's all folks
Jack

Disco Flashback (c) 1978 -- Evelyn "Champagne" King -- Shame

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxNqRFBqWzU&feature=related

Pointer Sisters - Fire 1978

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

""Fairytale", a country song written by Anita & Bonnie reaches U.S.#13 and
makes The Pointer Sisters the first black female group to ever perform at
The Grand Ole Opry. "

A bit of trivia I didn't know, always thought of the pointer sisters as Rythm and blues/ soul performers.

Jack

yep, its country lol

Pointer Sisters - Fairy tales

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grDbUQJ0p9E

Jack

Jack -- Yes! George Clinton is the Mac Daddy of Funk. The Bop Gun will do you no harm..Paint the White House Black

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77rajWcysw0

"Patsi find a rock and crawl under it. "

Nope, cause I know who I'd find under there.....:)

Alicia

Love it, I think it is time to bring out the bop gun in here.

Jack

Pointer Sisters- Slow Hand

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l84d0OkhSIw

Night all

Jack

Dang, I was even on the TM all day and I find that I was being thrown overboard by Jamie! LOL

And a happy day to all!

Here's a good read from my home town boy Michael Moore,born and raised in Flint,Michigan just like me. "How The Democrats Can Blow It...In Six Easy Steps" "Millions of People,especially women,had high hopes for the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.Attention must be paid.And you don't pay attention to it by having your advisors run your wife through the makeover machine,trying to soften her up and pipe her down"

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/22249602/how_the_democrats_can_blow_it_in_six_easy_steps/

Late nighters.
OT:
Anyone buy any emusic from these guys or similar ones?

www.mp3sparks.com

Talk of picking Joe Lieberman. I don't even want to look at or listen to him - but would like for McCain to go with Joe. When McCain wins, Lieberman would be torture for the Dems. That would be so funny. I'd be willing to endure four years of it. Dems need to be punished for their betrayal of the Clintons. Lieberman would be 'Hell on Earth" for the Obamabots.

PUMA

McCain would never pick Lieberman. Lieberman is even more sanctimonious that Obama.

The GOP would go nuts if he chose L. It won't happen unless McCain is nuts.

I almost became ill when Gore chose Lieberman

Say it ain't so Joe, Anyone but Lieberman

"Wild speculation abounds on McCain's veep pick ...... narrowing in on Joe Lieberman. An idea enthusiastically endorsed by any number of right of center heavyweights. Look, I like Joe Lieberman. He is a good man, a good Democrat. He best embodies what the Democrat party looked like before it went off the radical deep end. And I respect him on foreign policy issues."

http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2008/08/say-it-aint-so.html

Mc Cain went off shore today, while Fay drifted over the "Sunshine State". But she may drift back to the very rig that John was on today, and when she gets there .... Fay may be the bitch we all feared. McCain's whole energy policy is based on the 20th century.

Some current facts :
10 % of West Texas total electrical power production is now coming from Wind plants.
Wind power in the United States has grown by 45% this year, and it's only August,
MIT has cracked the Solar problem , they have made Hydrogen and Oxygen production cheap and easy. It was announced on August 1St.
"The new catalyst consists of cobalt metal, phosphate and an electrode, placed in water. When electricity — whether from a photovoltaic cell, a wind turbine or any other source — runs through the electrode, the cobalt and phosphate form a thin film on the electrode, and oxygen gas is produced."
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080731143345.htm
(Stripping the Oxygen was always the problem , not getting the Hydrogen.)
Mc Cain wants more Nuclear power. There are 7 Nuclear reactors sitting in Japan for sale. ( The world's Largest Nuclear Power Complex ) 5 Billion per reactor X 7 = $ 35 Billion dollars . They haven't made a nickel of power in 13 months. Maybe, we can buy them cheap, because the Japanese are surely rethinking their investment.

"Drill more , drill now " ... That's so 20th century.

That's all Obama has to do ... Put John McCain in the 20th century, where he belongs.

Ok peepz.
Credible sources are saying it is 100% Joseph Biden!
WHEW.......

NOT

MEH!

Anyway, europe press is also saying it will be Biden. Kaine is definitely out due to plagiarism charges which will inter connect with BO´s plagiarism. (Have no clue what they mean)
And also they made up some weird thing agbout Evan being too much in HRC´s corner still. :-)
So Joseph is the one to be......

Jason

Wonder if they mean ,D. Patrick? He was the one that Obama was plagarizing. Perhaps Kaine was also using some of the same material.

Julie

People here in Kansas have sure been speculating pretty hard on Sebelius. She may still be in the running also.. Believe everyone thinks Senator Clinton is not on his list.

Julie

Hey Julie,

Heard yesterday that Sebelius is 100% out of it. She will not be able to carry the Hillary women to BO.
I beg that HRC be not on the shortlist...Please for heavens sake HRC should not be on the list.... But that is my personal opinion.

But as I said credible sources say it is Biden. Which I think is still strange, cause wasn´t it Biden wh said: I will not do it? Or am I crazy?

Jason, there is an article on polittico, Biden says he is not the one.. but that could just be smoke screen . CBS is saying the VP will be announced Friday. I thought they were saying it would be Wed AM.. EST

Diane Feinstein, who was to lead the California delegation at the Denver convention, fell and broke her ankle and says she will not attend convention. She is a Hillary delegate.

julie

MSNBC.com Biden; "I"m not the guy."

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/19/1276323.aspx

Posted by: zoey | August 19, 2008 7:38 PM

Huh?

Well screw my credible sources..... LOL.

But listen up, I have posted this question many times and no one seems to answer...What is happening to Judas?
Will he again be secretary of energy ? Maybe he will be the surprise nominee..... who knows. Actually very quite form that side and non one seems to be focussing on him....LOL

Ok Ok Tom, in the looks dept you r right. Should be Evan. But of course BO would not want to be upstaged in that area, wouldn´t he?

Here is a comment on Biden from the I'm not the Guy article. Never heard this before.

Hard to tell-Biden MIGHT have been excluded because of his well known attacks of plagerism-he lifted a speech from Sir John Layden, and got caught. On the other hand, with Biden, if his lips are moving, he's lying.

Took me a while to find this. Musharff out as presiden of Pakistan and possibility that he may wind up in New Mexico w Bill RIchardson.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/08/19/deposed-musharraf-could-e_n_119875.html

"I have seen wed, fri and Huf[po says sat.. "

I read on Monday that it will be Thursday.