Best Yard Sign EVER !!!!

Right To Work States, 2008 Red States, and Swing States

My employer, Jukt Micronics, is about to open another factory at a location on the east coast.  (One of the east coast states is going to give us a deal on land, building, and equipment that will make the deal you gave us on forklifts look downright stingy.  Thank you so much, all you little people in the 99%.  PLEASE, please, please, keep voting for Democrats.) 

While I was researching the area, I looked up a map of the Right To Work states.  Places where you aren't forced to give money to a labor union. 

Mitch Daniels of Indiana has somehow managed to convert his state from Hoffa to Choice since this map was produced.  That's the only exception I've found.  Color Indiana red.   

 
The work map looked familiar. 
I looked up an electoral college map of the 2008 elections. 

Wow. 
The only outliers are Hawaii, Nevada, Montana, Iowa, Missouri, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, Indiana and Florida. 

Ok, here's a map of what CBS calls the Battleground States for 2012:

Of the outlier Union Vs. Choice states, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, and Iowa all made the CBS list.  (Some other Battleground/Swing State lists included Missouri and Indiana!) 

If the economy is supposedly the #1 issue, then whether or not a worker should be forced to give money to a union is the filter through which the issue is seen.
Fascinating stuff, I think. 

The State Department wasn't the only one playing Footsie with Gaddafi

Muammar Kaddafi was "Dictator Du Jour" on this site a few days ago.  It's a new program I've started to honor the murderous dictators that our State Department blesses with lots of free stuff - training, military hardware, etc. 

(Note: I'm no longer even trying to spell this guy's name consistently from link to link.)

It gets better and better.  This is from The Business Insider:

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) promised to help former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi obtain U.S. military hardware, as one of the United States' partners in the war on terror," according to a U.S. diplomatic cable released Wednesday by anti-secrecy website WikiLeaks.

If the Nobel Peace Prize committee wants to atone for giving the prize to The Teleprompter Jesus, they oughta give it to Julian Assange, the founder and publisher of Wikileaks. 

The meeting, which took place just over a year ago on Aug. 14, 2009, included other influential Americans, such as Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Sen. Susan Collins (R-SC) and Senate Armed Services Committee staffer Richard Fontaine, the document explains.

McCain opened the meeting by characterizing Libya's relationship with the U.S. as "excellent," to which Liebermann added: "We never would have guessed ten years ago that we would be sitting in Tripoli, being welcomed by a son of Muammar al-Qadhafi."

"Lieberman called Libya an important ally in the war on terrorism, noting that common enemies sometimes make better friends," the cable continues. "The Senators recognized Libya's cooperation on counterterrorism and conveyed that it was in the interest of both countries to make the relationship stronger."

Part and parcel to that relationship: military hardware, including helicopters and non-lethal weaponry, meant to ensure the security of Tripoli. In exchange for this and assisting the nation in rehabilitating its image with other lawmakers, Gaddafi pledged to send Libya's highly enriched uranium supplies to Russia for proper disposal.

Note that the article doesn't say "in exchange for this, Gaddafi gave us money".  It just says that "in exchange for this, Gaddafi pledged"....to do something or other. 

The cable does not mention anything about the senators pressing Gaddafi for democratic reforms. 

Quote Of The Day

Quote of the day, sent to me by The Whited Mama:

"I take great exception to folks saying that Bernanke, Obama, Reid and Pelosi are spending like drunken sailors.


When I was a drunken sailor, I quit spending when I ran out of money."

~ Sen. John McCain

I've checked with Snopes.com to see if the quote is legit.  If it's not, it oughta be.  The picture of the drunken sailors came from here. 

If Obama and McCain had NASCAR uniforms

A writer named Bob Bader has a proposal in the Lodi News-Sentinel:

....for the sake of simplicity we should more clearly identify the primary players, their partners and sponsors. To start with, the various individuals who have their snouts in the public trough should be obliged to wear uniforms of a sort. The politicians' clothes might resemble those worn by NASCAR drivers and their crews, hard hats and all. Their political affiliation should be clearly marked by big "Rs," "Ds" and "Is" displayed on their chests sort of like the big red "As" that outed some less-than-distinguished persons many years ago. The politicos' sponsors' logos would be prominently sewn on their clothes and caps. That way, when you are out hustling their favors and votes on one matter or another, you'd know who else is kissing their rings to garner favors — it'd say so right on their uniforms. That way, you could temper your ardor based on the competition or lack thereof.

This is similar to something I once saw in "Good" magazine a couple of months ago.
Here's a picture of Obama and McCain with their NASCAR-style logos:

Click here to see the full-size original. Look at the logos that appear on BOTH uniforms. Bailout/bankrupt companies, one and all. Billions worth.

And people say that corporate sponsorship doesn't pay off....

Caption This..... Pre Election Voter Fraud Edition

I need a caption for this picture....

Jonestein, The Browncoat Libertarian, won the caption contest last week.

Uh oh....wait a minute. The Competition Committee says that we have a problem. There were ballot issues (hanging chads) with last week's votes.

Plus, ACORN did a voter registration drive for The Browncoat Libertarian, and 119% of the eligible Ohio voters cast a ballot.

The entire Dallas Cowboys football team cast ballots from Las Vegas.

Fembuttx has been accused of intimidation tactics in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.

We will go forward with this week's contest, and try to resolve last week ASAP.

Colin Powell Endorses Barack Obama

On "Meet The Press" yesterday morning, General Colin Powell endorsed Barack Obama for president.
Among the many reasons he gave?
Temperament. Steadiness. The conduct of the campaigns. The Economic crisis.

Plus, Republican SENATORS continue to whisper to him that Obama is a Muslim. I got the impression that General Powell has had it with The Daddy Party (R).


Do they not watch television, listen to radios, or read newspapers? Haven't they heard of Reverend Jeremiah Wright, whose (Christian) sermons Obama caught hell for listening to for twenty years?
Powell also said something like "and if he is a Muslim, should it matter?" He went on to tell about this photograph....

Should it matter?

Please discuss.

The latest discussion between Mommy and Daddy about who is going to drive the family car over the cliff....

I got home from work just in time to watch tonight's debate, but didn't have the intestinal fortitude to liveblog it.


It's already been done.


The same lines, over and over and over again.



We had the introduction of Joe The Plumber, Bob The Builder, etc.


All I could think of was Dr. Ralph's McGregor The Fence Builder.

For a while, I considered answering the questions myself.... But most of the questions (from Fort Worth's own Bob Schieffer) had such an assumed bias of "how should government solve this problem?" that I blew it off.



McCain needed a home run, and he didn't hit it.



If you're wondering about the offensive anti-Sarah Palin T-shirts at the Obama rallies that John McCain mentioned? Click here.



I can't imagine anyone remaining excited about either of these guys.



We're 10 trillion in debt, the baby boomers'll be retiring soon, I can't find any high school graduates who can read a tape measure, the BiPartisans recently gave a trillion dollars to millionaires to keep the stock market from doing what it did today, we're in a war that won't be resolved in my lifetime, and the debate, once again, was over whether the candidates should be using hatchets or scalpels.

A pox on both their houses....

Go Bob Barr.

The magazine cover of the four dogs, like so many other good things in life, is from Counting Cats.

John McCain and Barack Obama Debate at Belmont University in Nashville

I promised myself that I wasn't to LiveBlog the debate tonight.
The previous two almost did me in.

That resolution lasted until Obama opened his mouth with some faux outrage about some AIG executives going on a $400,000 junket after the bailout. Obama says those executives should be fired.
Well Barack, you just gave them their share of 800 billion freakin' dollars ! What did you think they were going to do with it - put on haircloth shirts and eat McDonald's Value Meal #1's until they paid it all back? If some people run a company into the ground, and then get a gift from God, do you really think these leopards are going to change their spots? Good Lord in heaven, I wish we had a genuine competitive choice in this election.

Then McCain got up and said we have to stabilize housing prices.
No we don't. Let the market determine the price for each house.
How do we do that?
See what it sells for.

McCain just said he would consider EBay founder MEG WHITMAN for Treasury Secretary. He's been bringing her name up for the last 6 months as someone who would advise him on financial matters. He just did it again by pure reflex.

McCain is now objecting to the term "Bailout", while he prefers the term "Rescue". He's now detailing how much money Obama was given by Fannie and Freddie.

Obama is blaming the crisis on deregulation. (Whereas in reality, the crisis was caused by lenders following Fannie and Freddie and The Community Reinvestment Act's regulations to the letter.)

You know what? We started off as a great country. But once we discovered that we could vote ourselves money from the public trough, it was over.

Someone named Teresa Finch just asked why either candidate should be trusted with our money, when both parties got us into this crisis?

While Obama blathers on with cliches and boilerplate, let me take this moment to nominate Teresa Finch for President of The United States.
Obama says that we've had surpluses. Short term, yes. But you know what? We have entitlements that are about to come due that are going to plow through any potential surplus like Sherman went through Georgia.
McCain is blathering about how he's been able to reach across the aisle and achieve bipartisanship. Well, if that's the case, his Republican base shouldn't vote for him. They should vote him out immediately.
He's now talking about an earmark for a 3 million dollar overhead projector for someplace in Chicago. I can't wait to see what the fact-checkers do with that one.

Brokaw just asked McCain to prioritize several items for his administration. McCain says he'd work on all three at once.

Senator McCain, we're going to play Rock, Paper, Scissors. Which one do you think will win first? All three, Mr. Brokaw.

Obama, to his credit, says we'll have to prioritize. He's mentioned Energy first. Then Healthcare. Then Education.

Thank you for answering the question, Senator. It was very refreshing. It would also be refreshing if you'd advocate turning the oil companies loose on offshore drilling, encourage the medical schools to produce more graduates, and shut down the Department Of Education.

Brokaw asks what sacrifices we'll have to make.

McCain says we'll have to examine every agency and bureaucracy in government. He mentions defense spending. Earmarks.

I know what we can do, kids ! Let's have a spending freeze ! ! !

Obama is criticizing Bush for saying "Go out and shop" after 9-11.

I bet there are people in NYC who are grateful for that, Barack.

Brokaw: Who got drunk? The Government? The American People? Wall Street? The guy who is typing this drivel? (Beer is the only thing making this bearable....I really didn't want to do this tonight. If Obama hadn't opened up with that stupidity I might be in the recliner throwing popcorn at the TV screen.)

Obama: He disagrees with McCain about an Across-The-Board Budget Freeze. McCain wants to use a hatchet, while he wants to use a scalpel.

WE HAVE A TEN TRILLION DOLLAR DEBT, AND YOU WANT TO USE A SCALPEL???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

WE NEED A CHAINSAW. A LUMBERJACK SAW. SLEDGEHAMMERS. WITH A "HOGGER" BRAND CHIP GRINDER. Why isn't McCain bringing up the debt? Is he asleep?

Brokaw: Huge unfunded obligations for Medicare, Social Security? How are we going to pay for this?

McCain, he's giving you an open door here....

Obama: The straight talk express lost a wheel here. I want to provide a tax cut for 95% of Americans. The money for the 10 trillion dollar debt will be provided by fairies and Oompa Loompas who will leave the money under my pillow when I go Night Night when I get shweepy.

McCain: Reach across the table. Reach across the aisle. Give in. Compromise. After all, Republicans and Democrats are really the same political party.

Wouldn't it be fun to have Bob Barr's mad howling outrage dumped into the middle of this festival of ineffective half-measures?

A questioner named Ingrid Jackson has asked why Congress could move so fast in the economic crisis. Will they move that fast on the environment, and for "Green" Jobs?

McCain: I reached across the aisle to Joe Lieberman. I want some nukes. Nuclear power creates hundreds of thousands of jobs.

Ok, John. Your wrinkled butt needs to go back to school. Prosperity occurs when jobs are eliminated due to something like nuclear power. Efficiency is good, inefficiency is bad. You don't become more efficient to create more jobs. It gets ugly. Be honest about it.

Obama: I favor nuclear as one component of an energy "mix". McCain voted AGAINST alternative fuels 23 times.

Well, if one of those alternatives was subsidizing the ethanol industry, more power to him. Some sort of fracas just broke out over Obama going past his warning light. This is almost like NASCAR, where the warning flag gets thrown out onto the track, and everybody is supposed to stop and wait in line.

Bad analogy.

Too much beer is now required to listen to this. They're not making sense, and I'm not either.

McCain is talking about fundamental economics and drilling offshore.

Did I just hear him accuse Obama of voting with Bush when he voted against some Bush proposal?

Questioner: Healthcare as a marketable commodity? (As opposed to a form of life on the planet Nektor???? In places where it works, it's a marketable commodity.)

Obama: I'm going to change lots of stuff without eliminating government, lawyers, and insurance companies from the process, which would lower healthcare costs by 50%. After all, that would be a positive change, and I'm against that.

At least I think that's what he just said.....

McCain: Let's do lots of stuff. There's a fundamental difference between me and Obama. Government Government Government. Obama will fine you. I want to give everybody a refundable tax credit.

I'm going to Georgia and South Carolina tomorrow. It's a work-related road trip. I'm kind of looking forward to it.

This has nothing at all to do with the debate, but it has more to do with the question than the answers these two guys are giving.

Brokaw: Is healthcare a privilege, a right, or a responsibility?

McCain: We should have available and affordable healthcare for every citizen. I'm nervous about mandates.

My home church, Broadway Baptist in Fort Worth, used to have a dentist's chair in the basement. Homeless/Low income people could get dental care there. You know why we can't have the dentist's chair there any more? Guess.

Obama: You are going to have to make sure that your child has healthcare. Children are cheap to insure. I think it's important for govt to crack down on insurance companies that rip off their customers. Big companies shouldn't be able to shop around for the least regulated state to base their operations in.

Phil Elliot: Let me provide a paraphrase of Phil's question....How will the economic crisis affect our ability to provide a free military for South Korea, Japan, Germany, the rest of eastern Europe, Antarctica, Israel, Iraq, Afghanistan, Greenland, NATO, and everyone else who gets a free ride at the expense of the American taxpayer? I mean, this has to cost a lot, right? Does it make sense to you? How much longer do we have to do this?

McCain: Lots of Bullshit.

Obama: Lots of Bullshit. More eloquently presented.

Brokaw: What about humanitarian interventions for Humanitarian purposes?

Ok, McCain, here's your chance to jump Obama on voting against intervening when Saddam was gassing 90,000 Kurds.

Obama: Nothing about Saddam.

McCain: Obama would bring our troops home in defeat. I will bring them home with honor. Are you going to bring up Saddam Freakin' Hussein gassing the Kurds in his own nation? It's sitting there, waiting...O God, he's just blathering more about opposing his own party. I bet he's going to talk about reaching across the aisle. 90,000 Kurds died in vain.

Brokaw: Katie Hamm....

Katie Hamm: Should the U.S. respect Pakistan's sovereignty in the pursuit of terrorists?

Obama: I'm going to ignore your question, and slam Bush for not staying in Afghanistan. The situation in Pakistan is such a freakin' nightmare that I don't want to go there.

If Bob Barr was in this debate (as he would be in any truly just society), he would slam dunk all these questions. He'd say that we shouldn't be in Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, of Afghanistan.

McCain: Teddy Roosevelt is my hero. Walk Softly, and Carry A Big Stick. Almost totally irrelevant to the question under debate. Now I want to link myself to Petraeus. I LOOOVE me some Petraeus.

Big confusion about follow up questions. Brokaw says he's just the hired help. Giggles from the audience.

Obama: I want to hunt down Bin Ladin. I have hair on my ass too. But John, you sang "Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Bomb Iran". So there, you old fart.

McCain: Not true. Not true. I have supported the U.S. when we HAD to go in, and have opposed it when we didn't. I was joking when I put on a Tutu and said "Bomb Iran". But I'm not going to telegraph my punches.

Brokaw: Developments in Afghanistan. The place is screwed beyond recognition. We need an acceptable dictator.

Obama: I'll be very brief. Because this question is hell. I want to pull more troops out of Iraq and put them in Afghanistan.

McCain: Petraeus. Petraeus. Petraeus. That's one of the names he knows that he chants like a freakin' mantra. That, and Meg What's her name, the founder of EBay. More about Petraeus. Petraeus. Petraeus.

Brokaw: How can we apply pressure to Russia on humanitarian issues without starting another Cold War?

McCain: There won't be another Cold War. I looked into Putin's eyes and saw KGB. The Ukraine is in the sights of Putin (I agree. But the Ukraine has been ruled by Russia for a Looong time. How many of your sons and daughters do you want to sacrifice for their Independence? That's the question.)

Obama: We can't just provide moral support. We have to provide support for everybody. Poland, Estonia, etc. Yeah, we're nowhere near totally broke. 21st century challenges. See them before they happen.

Brokaw: Reagan called the Soviet Union an Evil Empire. Do you think it is an Evil Empire under Putin?

Obama: They might have Evil Impulses.

McCain: Maybe. It's a Catch-22 question.

Brokaw: Terry Shrey:

Terry: What if Iran attacks Israel? Would you intervene, or wait on the U.N.

McCain: All I Know, I Learned In Kindergarten And From Chief Petty Officers. There are all sorts of people in the middle east who are a threat to Israel. Ok, just like Palin did, and just like he did in the previous debate, McCain is trying to make a HUGE deal over Obama's willingness to meet with the bad guys "without preconditions". Nobody cares about that outside of the State Department, and you need to drop it.

Obama: We can't allow Iran to get nukes. It would be a game-changer. Nukes would be in the hands of terrorists, and not just in the hands of government contractors. That would be totally unacceptable. Let's interrupt their supply chain.

Brokaw: Peggy in Amherst has a question...."What don't you know, and how will you learn it?"

Obama: Ask Michelle. It's not the challenges you expect. This country gave me an opportunity. I got scholarships. Grandmaw scrimped on things. Food Stamps. I went to the best schools on earth. Are we going to pass on the American Dream to the next generation? We need change. That's why I decided to run for President.

McCain: What I don't know? That's what's going to happen at home and abroad. Campaign speech boilerplate. Cliches. I've spent my whole life. Ok, here's McCain trying to hop on the victim bandwagon. Mama kept the family going while daddy was gone. What is it with the victim motif in this election? Give me another opportunity to contribute. We need a steady hand at the tiller.

Brokaw: That's it.

The winner of this debate? The entrenched Republicans and Democrats. The loser?

You.

Vikings for Palin: 3 questions you should ask before voting

Shortly after nominating Sarah Palin (center) for Vice President, John McCain's support among the Viking community increased from a lackluster 38% to 62%.

Questions:

1) Was Palin's nomination a blatant attempt to woo disgruntled Democrats who are upset that Obama didn't nominate a Viking as his running mate?

2) Is this a blatant pander to Republicans who feel that McCain doesn't have the military skills to pull off our upcoming invasion of Sweden?

3) Or is this nomination an attempt to woo values voters who believe our nation was founded on the Norse principles of Thor and Odin?

Picture from here.

The Cowboys, The Vikings, The Democrats, and The Republicans

A friend from work got me some tickets for Thursday night's Cowboys/Vikings preseason game. These games, of course, mean nothing. They are an opportunity for each offensive team to play against someone besides their own defense, and vice-versa.

Sam Hurd sprained his ankle in the opening drive, which is a bummer. You don't want to risk good players in a meaningless game. The Special Teams looked like death warmed over. (I played junior high football at North Sunflower Academy in Drew, Mississippi. That qualifies me to comment on these things.)

I always show up at these games armed with a radio. Mrs. Whited Sepulchre (whose father coached high school football in the 1960's) can follow everything without radio commentary, but my mind tends to wander unless I have announcers telling me what I'm seeing.

Placing bets on these games is pointless, because winning isn't the primary objective. The teams are there to try out new players. They want to learn which ones are worth keeping, and which should be cut from the team. Very few NFL teams try new plays during these games. Therefore, they're usually dull.

I switched over to the Democrat National Convention before this game even started, which allowed me to see and hear meaningless events simultaneously. (At one point in all this, I ate a totally bland $7.00 Red Barron Tasteless Pizza, and experienced a nihilistic trifecta of sight, sound, and taste.)

But If I thought the Cowboys/Vikings game was pointless....
Obama was throwing out stuff left and right. "I will lower taxes on...." "I will fight for...." "I will lift up my hands to the heavens, and fix...." "If you have enough faith, you can touch the hem of my garment and the tumors will be gone...." Et cetera. Etc. Etc. et freakin' cetera.

These issues are the Democrats' draft picks for the 2008 election: Change, lower taxes for people like us, getting out of Iraq, Change, cutting out corruption, punishing people who aren't like us with higher taxes, Change, and a charismatic black guy. Most of this stuff won't stick, despite being Focus Grouped, Mall Tested, Photoshopped, and Field Surveyed. And if, for instance, the Democrats' official objection to drilling for oil in Alaska fails to resonate with voters? That proposal will be cut from the team quicker than a 12th round draft pick.

Obama could've come out strong on gay and lesbian marriage, he could've proposed reforming our idiotic drug laws, and he could've said something about bringing the troops home from the 45 nations where we're currently paying them to sit. He didn't mention them, despite those issues being "owned" by the Democrats.


This week, McCain and his new draft pick from Alaska might advocate Free Trade, genuine Free Market agreements, school choice/vouchers, getting the insurance companies and lawyers out of my doctor's office, breaking the lobbyist stranglehold, and cutting the size of government by about 50%. He might mention those issues, but if elected he won't do anything about them, despite those issues being "owned" by the Republicans.
The main reason?
They don't have to.
They can get by with just talking about it. As long as these problems remain out there, unresolved, they're effective wedge issues. What would happen if, for instance, "Morning After" contraception was suddenly available from vending machines? What would that do to our carefully defined political dividing lines if the abortion issue was taken off the table? Can you imagine the chaos? Voters would wander off into different herds.
We've gotten very good at fighting over abortion, and would miss it terribly.
The Dems and Reps know you won't "waste" a vote on anyone else. They want you to think that you have no other choice. (I've stopped using the term "3rd party". I'm now calling the Libertarians a 2nd party. Rep's and Dem's are the first party.)
You're being told that there's a battle going on for the soul of the nation, that all of this is very significant, and that this matters more than who wins American Idol.
That's total horsecrap. This election makes the Cowboys/Vikings preseason game look like The Battle of Thermopylae.
The only battle is for driver's seat. Neither of these groups will change the direction of the car.

The main differences between Thursday's Cowboy's/Vikings preseason game and the Democratic and Republican Conventions?

The football game really did have two different teams on the field.

Go Bob Barr !

Cowboys/Vikings photos from ladybugbkt on Flickr. McCain/Palin from Castro News Network. Obama/Biden from The Holy New York Times.

Rick Warren, Barack Obama, and John McCain (but not Bob Barr) at the Saddleback Church Civil Forum

A few things about the Civil Forum at Saddleback Church....

1) I thought Barack Obama did a good job. He's going to get some heat over listing his wife, grandmother, and Ted Kennedy as people he thought of as "wise" and that he would listen to as President. McCain, on the same question, instantly came up with General David Petraeus, Georgia Congressman John Lewis, and EBay founder Meg Whitman. But Obama has now demonstrated that he can speak fluent Evangelical.

2) John McCain did a good job. He's going to get some heat for joking that you're rich if you make upwards of five million. McCain's answers came so quickly that he appeared incredibly decisive. (Addition from Monday August 18th....Rick Warren joked that during Obama's question and answer session, John McCain was backstage in a "Get Smart"-style Cone Of Silence. People are starting to question the integrity of Warren's precautions.)

3) I grew up in churches that didn't clap, applaud, or cheer. The idea is that you're there to bring glory to God, not man, so I get squirmy when people are applauded in a church sanctuary. (I'm going somewhere with this....) I believe that McCain came out ahead in this format, but McCain was getting most of the applause from the Saddleback congregation and that could've swayed me. It would be interesting to have some creative recording engineers reverse the applause between the two candidates on the soundtrack, and then play it back to a group that didn't see the original broadcast. Perhaps the perception of that viewing audience would be dramatically different.

4) Rick Warren (an alumni of Fort Worth's Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary) came across well. Did he seem to be spoon-feeding McCain some of the questions? It seemed like Warren's queries to McCain went on a little longer before they finally got to the question mark.

5) Libertarian candidate Bob Barr was not invited to participate in this program. This is from the email that went out yesterday from the Barr campaign:

This Saturday, Senators Barack Obama and John McCain will take the national stage for their first combined national event. It will take place at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California. For the past several weeks, we have put in requests and phone calls to the church's pastor, Rick Warren, who was quoted this week in Time Magazine as saying, "I want what's good for everybody, not just what's good for me. Who's the best for the nation right now?"

Unfortunately, Pastor Rick Warren doesn't care to know the true answer to that question as he has willingly excluded Bob Barr and other candidates from his forum on Saturday. After weeks of negotiations and calls to Saddleback Church from leaders from every corner of the political spectrum supporting Bob Bar's inclusion, we've been left out in the cold. The only people getting into the event are Obama, McCain and those who reportedly paid $500 to $2,000 to the church to sit in the audience.

Yesterday, I reported to former Congressman Barr that we've exhausted every avenue. I told him, "We've had calls placed to Pastor Warren from very powerful leaders from the left and the right, we sent in our personal request, and placed numerous phone calls that have not been returned. You are not going to be included. "Our only option left is to threaten to file an temporary injunction as our attorney's believe they are in violation of the law."

Bob responded by saying, "No, don't threaten to do that . . . Just do it."

As you read this, our attorneys are filing an injunction against Saddleback Church to include Bob Barr in their forum this Saturday. You are the first to hear about this. The complaint is based upon a violation of McCain/Feingold campaign finance legislation. While we're no fans of that legislation. However, we don't write the rules, we're just forced to play by them.

In this case, we're using McCain/Feingold to our advantage.The reason I am disclosing so much to you is because this is just the beginning.At every way you look at it, we're at a disadvantage.

- We are being blocked from the national stage by the media, debate commissions and now evengroups like Saddleback Church.

- Both the campaign and our party have put most of its manpower and money into getting on the ballot in every state.

- And we have our hands tied behind our backs by laws like McCain Feingold that benefit the two major parties.We are being blocked from the national stage by the media, debate commissions and now even.

6) I hope people don't think they saw a debate tonight. I hope they don't confuse any of this with sharing varying points of view.

What we saw tonight was a discussion between The Daddy Party and The Mommy Party about who is going to drive the family car down the highway for the next four years. Unless 3rd parties are given access to these "debates", Daddy or Mommy might slide the seats back, change the radio stations, or turn down the air conditioner. The winner might stop for lunch at McDonald's instead of Burger King. The winner might speed up or slow down.

But neither one of them is going to change the direction of the car. The Daddy and Mommy Parties have already shown that they share the same map.

Reason TV - The Ethanol Scam

Reason TV has put together a video explaining the ethanol scam.



Thanks to GW at Wolf Howling for posting it first. His commentary is helpful, as usual, so I'm scraping all of it to post here:

This is a good, short video from Reason TV discussing the utter boondoggle of ethanol. It is not a viable alternative to gas. It is driving the cost of food prices through the roof. It is hurting the environment and takes nearly as much energy to produce as it produces in energy when mixed with gasoline. In short, it is hurting America and the world.

That said, the opening scene is a real cheap shot of John McCain of the type I would expect from the NYT. They use old video of him when he supported the idea of ethanol. He long ago changed his position on ethanol, voting against the Farm Bill discussed in the video above and telling the people of Iowa that ethanol subsidies had to end. Mandates need to also.

McCain, unlike many other members of The Party Of Small Government, has since spoken out against the ethanol mandate and subsidy and oughta get some credit in the video.

Click here to read a New York Times piece written when oil was only $50 per barrel and there were not yet any 3rd world food riots. People were starting to figure it out.

Obama "The One" - The New John McCain Ad

Here's the new John McCain ad, where McCain asks if Barack Obama truly is The Bringer Of Light that the prophets foretold.
Since we're so conditioned to respond like Pavlovian dogs to this type music and that movie trailer voice, I'm afraid there are those in our great republic who will take this ad as an endorsement of Obama.

The Colombia Free Trade Agreement

A few months ago, The Clintons fired pollster and campaign strategist Mark Penn. Hillary had been speaking out against the Colombia Free Trade Agreement, and Penn had met with Colombian officials to strategize on how to get the bill passed.
I've been saving editorials ever since, waiting until an appropriate moment to put together something that might be worthy of your attention.

Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has been in the news lately for helping orchestrate a dramatic hostage rescue.
John McCain has been down there, trying to promote the Free Trade Agreement.

So let's get started. This is from Arianna Huffington:

(After Penn's resignation), then came word that Clinton campaign spokesman Howard Wolfson also has financial ties to Colombia via his involvement the Glover Park Group, a company founded by Clinton administration alum Joe Lockhart that has also been advising the Colombian government.

And that's not all. It wasn't just Penn and Wolfson and Lockhart. Someone else was taking money from the Colombian government in exchange for influence. Someone much closer to home. Someone who lived at home. One of the owners of the freakin' home.

And, of course, there is the Whitman sampler of Colombian goodies gobbled up by Bill Clinton, including: $800,000 in speaking fees from a Colombian pro-free trade agreement group; a "Colombia is Passion" award bestowed by Colombia's president Alvaro Uribe (who honored the former president as an "unofficial minister of tourism"); and a sweet Colombian oil field deal for a company Clinton pal Frank Giustra's investment firm had advised. Giustra is the mining magnate who has donated $31 million to Clinton's charitable fund, and whom Bill personally introduced to Colombian President Uribe (Giustra is the same guy Clinton helped land a uranium deal in Kazakhstan, but that's a Clinton story for a different blog post).

I apologize for the amount of sleaze in this particular post, and I hope the good people at blogspot.com don't censor all this. Ms. Huffington goes on to describe how the He-Clinton bundled an aid package, a giveaway for Lockheed-Martin, and other goodies in the same package.

I'm afraid that I've made the Colombian government sound like the villain here. That's not the case. They're merely the weak storefront on the block, forced to pay protection money to the guys with connections who run the rackets. At least that's what Kimberly Strassel says.

Critics will point out that all this smacks of a protection racket, as Democratic lobbyists and consultants cash in by offering to protect companies from their own party's agenda. There's undoubtedly some of that, but it's old Washington news. Many lobbyists and politicians take up causes with which they aren't entirely in tune. It pays the bills, and also siphons up cash for their greater political purposes. Talk to New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, who last year stepped in to save private equity firms from a big tax threatened by his own party. In thanks, the industry coughed up for his Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which is now working to add several Democratic seats to the Senate.

I love that line..."cash in by offering to protect companies from their own party's agenda".

Various opponents of the Free Trade Agreement point to a high level of violence against union officials. Not so, says The Boston Globe in the preceding link. President Uribe and the Colombian government know where their bread is buttered.

Others point to the quantity of coke and weed produced in Colombia, coke and weed that somehow makes it across our borders despite not being a part of anyone's trade agreement. They say this is harmful, and that the Colombian government doesn't do enough to stop the drug trade. Not so, says former U.S. president Jimmy Carter. Colombia works very hard, under the circumstances, to curtail the drug trade. According to former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, there are now more Latin American and South American deaths from North American tobacco than there are North American deaths from Latin and South American cocaine.

I know this is hard to believe. But yes, Jimmy Carter was once elected President of The United States.

Here's an editorial from Daniel Weintraub that explains why the chief benefit of a Colombian Free Trade agreement would be the elimination of the 20% tariff that Columbia currently has on American imports. (If you're a total geek, do some Googling on a concept called "The Lerner Theorem". It essentially states that a 20% tariff on imports is the same as applying a 20% tariff on your exports. This is something that everyone but Hillary and Barack have known since 1936. Yes. 1936. There are people in high places who rely on you being economically....dense.)

Finally, here's a John McCain press conference. I'm not wild about the guy, since he's a Republican, and the Republican Party needs to be punished. (As for as government spending goes, they've made the Democrats look like coupon-clippers who wear their socks twice to save on detergent.) But McCain's supports Free Trade, and seldom hesitates to say so. Heck, he went to Iowa and spoke out against the ultra-protectionist Farm Bill.

Let's go back to the Daniel Weintraub piece. Nancy Pelosi of California seems to be the primary obstacle with getting this bill passed. Here's Weintraub:
Pelosi could have been the grown-up on this issue, drawing on her own state's experience to show that globalization, just like technology, has made our economy more dynamic and robust, and, over the long term, healthier. Instead, she is playing to the worst impulses of her party and pandering to those who believe that economic nationalism is the road to prosperity. The best argument for free trade is a moral one: The government ought not use discriminatory tariffs to discourage two parties from buying and selling goods that otherwise would be legal. It shouldn't matter whether the trade is between a Californian and a Kansan or a Californian and a Colombian. It's a matter of free will.

So here's the problem..... Hillary's advisors have made plenty of money, taking Colombian cash for access to Congress. Bill has made money on the deal. The Friends Of Bill have made money on the agreement. Has no one thought to buy off Nancy Pelsosi? Or do the Democrats want to leave it out there, thinking the electorate is dense enough to condemn McCain for supporting it? Do the Republicans want to leave it out there, thinking that Obama's waffling on trade issues will hurt him in November?

The Colombians are moving heaven and earth in order to be partners with us, giving their citizens access to markets that doesn't involve the drug trade, and they've long been one of our allies in the region.

Why hasn't someone thought to pay Nancy Pelosi to get out of the way?

John Hagee, Jews, Hitler, Zionism, Theodor Herzl, Israel, and The Holocaust are now a bigger problem than Jeremiah Wright

Here's Pastor John Hagee, holding forth on what the prophet Ezekiel had to say about Hitler, the Jews, Zionism, Theodor Herzl, the birth of modern Israel, and the Holocaust.
McCain formally accepted Hagee's endorsement a few months ago.
My previous Youtube post on Hagee dealt with one of his discourses on Roman Catholics, and Catholicism essentially being the "Whore of Babylon" referenced in The Book of Revelation.
There must be something floating around out there where he attacks Hindus, because people keep putting "Hagee" and "Hindus" in the search field for this blog.

Hagee, in the video below, states that the Jews have "dead souls".

For betting purposes, I'm setting the over/under for McCain formally repudiating this guy at Saturday, May 24th, at 12 noon.
If you pick the "over" that means you think McCain will throw Hagee under the bus sometime AFTER lunchtime on Saturday. If you take the "under", that means McCain will distance himself from Hagee BEFORE lunchtime on Saturday.
If the Archangel Michael appears in The Promised Land riding a three-headed horse and blowing a trumpet, followed by four additional horsemen named War, Pestilence, Death, and Famine, then all bets are off, and no wagers will be paid.

John Hagee, The Roman Catholic Church, The Antichrist, Hitler, The Holocaust, (all on one convenient chart)

Here's John McCain's latest bear to cross, or cross to bear, depending on your theological perspective.
McCain fell all over himself accepting this guy's endorsement several weeks ago.
Here is Reverend John Hagee, explaining that the anti-christ (in the form of his spiritual ancestors in Rome) is the Catholic Church.

Hagee references "the cup", from The Book of Revelation, traditionally interpreted as a cup of suffering. Notice where his pointer is aimed when he first talks about The Cup. I'm no expert, put I think that's a Double-D cup.

I spewed Gatorade all over the table when he did that.


I think Hagee and Jeremiah Wright will soon put together a vaudeville-style tour, where they'll bring their theological wisdom to bear on the great issues of the day.


Hagee does make a somewhat valid point, if you're a scriptural literalist. Hitler was only continuing a persecution that the church started; after Hitler, God will continue to punish those who don't believe, and it will be for worse and for a much longer period of time than anything The Inquisition of The Nazis could accomplish.

Please discuss amongst yourselves....

If the John Hagee tempest in a teaCUP continues to gain traction, you'll soon see feature stories on the Protestant difficulties with Roman Catholic doctrine.
Among these will be the Catholic emphasis on Church Tradition.
The Protestants will say that Christianity should only focus on what is revealed in scripture, not tradition.
The Catholics will respond with "How do you know what is and isn't scripture?"
The Protestants will shuffle their feet, cough, and respond with "Unhhhh....Catholic Tradition?"

These arguments, charts, and doctrines about Saint John's Acid Trip In The Book Of Revelation will have an impact on our choice of Next Leader For The Free World.
And so it goes.
To read an update on the McCain/Hagee Strange Bedfellows situation, click here.

It's Not How Well They Bowl Or Drink

My little sister, Dr. Amy Cooper, has once again made it onto the Fort Wort Star-Telegram's editorial page.

Click here to go to the Star-Telegram's site, and read "It's Not How Well They Bowl Or Drink".
Or you can click here, just in case they ever take the link down, like they did with her previous one.

In this wonderfully written editorial, Amy marvels that the next leader of the free world might be chosen because of his bowling ability or lack thereof. Hillary's barroom shot of Crown Royal is also ridiculed.

I'd give almost anything for our (now deceased) father to be able to read this essay.

I can't remember which of her "two white grandmothers" used to iron out used aluminum foil to reuse it, but I don't doubt the story. I don't remember seeing an Obama sign in her yard, but it apparently didn't last very long.

If they put a Hillary sign in their yard, I'll make sure that one doesn't last long either.

Amy also displays an impressive knowledge of Brazilian and Argentine iron ore pricing. You'd think she married someone in the metal business.

It's all good stuff. Since I started blogging, she's been on the editorial page twice and I've only made it once. (She's on the Community Columnist Panel.) Not that we're competitive or anything.

I can beat her at Bowling and Drinking.

Elitist Elitism

American Heritage Dictionary
e·lit·ism or é·lit·ism
Define Elitism:
Audio Help (ĭ-lē'tĭz'əm, ā-lē'-) Pronunciation Key n.
The belief that certain persons or members of certain classes or groups deserve favored treatment by virtue of their perceived superiority, as in intellect, social status, or financial resources.
The sense of entitlement enjoyed by such a group or class.
Control, rule, or domination by such a group or class.

Barack Obama recently made this statement about the middle class to a group of wealthy elites San Francisco Democrats: 'It's not surprising ... they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them, or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations,'

This statement was genuinely elitist, but it was not a mis-statement. It was something that politicians and journalists call a "gaffe".

Define "Gaffe" - when someone, usually a politician, accidentally tells the truth.

Obama was correct, of course, but his unfortunate statement has sent religious gun nuts (excluding me) into a frenzy.
In P.J. O'Rourke's immortal words, "This country was founded by religious nuts with guns". And don't think we don't know it.

Hillary is now doing everything but taking assault rifles to her Tuesday morning Bible study, and I predict she'll eventually do exegetical studies of the book of Romans at the rifle range. She might volunteer for the next Utah Firing Squad.

One editorial says she's trying to cast Obama as this election's John Kerry. (Speaking of out-of-touch elites....)

And then there's the Huffington Post:

This weekend she (Hillary) tried to paint herself as a good old boy, the kind of gal you'd want to have a beer with -- not like that "elitist" Barack Obama: "You know, my dad took me out behind the cottage that my grandfather built on a little lake called Lake Winola outside of Scranton and taught be how to shoot when I was a little girl." After she said this, she took a shot of whiskey. What's next, ads of Obama windsurfing?

Now John McCain has chimed in:

WASHINGTON — John McCain called Barack Obama’s recent comments that Pennsylvanians are “bitter” an “elitist” remark but stopped short of calling Mr. Obama himself elitist.

Let's look at this a little closer. If elitism is a sense of entitlement to favored treatment because of intellect, social status, or financial resources, coupled with control, rule, or domination by those classes, then all of these candidates are "elites" of one peculiar breed or another.

The Clintons have already dones the Wellesley thing, the Ivy League thing, the Rhodes Scholar thing, plus the eight years in the White House thing.
McCain comes from military aristocracy, if there is such a thing. Daddy was an admiral, and there are airfields named after his Granddaddy in Mississippi. (I come from a long line of Mississippi elites, and know these things....)
Obama and his wife are both Ivy Leaguers, and he was editor of The Harvard Law review.

Let's go backward through the last few presidents:
George W. Bush comes from old money, and has an Ivy League MBA.
We've already discussed The Clintons. Neither grew up as elites, but they got to Martha's Vineyard as fast as they could.
The Elder George Bush - like son, like father.

Reagan could make a case for being a non-elite.
Carter is about as elitist as a Yazoo City bait shop.
Ford wasn't much of an elite. I think he got through school on a football scholarship.
Nixon had an "Enemies List" comprised of elites. But he wasn't one.
Lyndon Johnson wasn't an elite, but was burdened with an administration of "the best and brightest" leftover elites from Kennedy.

Kennedy - now there was an elite. The money, manners, and education. He had it all.

Ike wasn't an elitist, except on battlefields.
Truman was a tailor.
Roosevelt was an elite, and an elitist.

If you had to be governed for the next eight years by a randomly selected ex-president from one group or the other, which group would you pick? The elites, or the non-elites?

Today's Letters From Barack Obama and John McCain

Back in October, I signed up online to support every presidential candidate that I could tolerate.
The emails before and after each debate have made for an interesting study in spin-doctoring.
Here's Barack Obama's take on yesterday's defeats in Texas, Ohio, and Rhode Island.
Notice that he never mentions The Clintons by name.
Notice how he's already moving on to John McCain, who is mentioned by name.
The reality is that The Clintons didn't blow it out with enough delegates to change anything.
And BTW, if the Democrats don't pick a nominee soon, they're going to have a Florida/Michigan mess AND a superdelegate mess.
Looking at the remaining states....the Democrats are going to have a Florida/Michigan mess AND a superdelegate mess.

Here's the Obama campaign:
(Update from McCain campaign follows)

Allen --
We may not know the final outcome of today's voting until morning, but the results so far make one thing clear.
When the dust settles from today's contests, we will maintain our substantial lead in delegates. And thanks to millions of people standing for change, we will keep adding delegates and capture the Democratic nomination.
We knew from the day we began this journey that the road would be long. And we knew what we were up against.
We knew that the closer we got to the change we seek, the more we'd see of the politics we're trying to end -- the attacks and distortions that try to distract us from the issues that matter to people's lives, the stunts and the tactics that ask us to fear instead of hope.
But this time -- this year -- it will not work. The challenges are too great. The stakes are too high.
Americans need real change.
In the coming weeks, we will begin a great debate about the future of this country with a man who has served it bravely and loves it dearly. And we will offer two very different visions of the America we see in the twenty-first century.
John McCain has already dismissed our call for change as eloquent but empty.
But he should know that it's a call that did not begin with my words. It's the resounding call from every corner of this country, from first-time voters and lifelong cynics, from Democrats and Republicans alike.
And together you and I are going to grow this movement to deliver that change in November.
Thank you,
Barack

I'll add McCain's nomination victory email to this post as soon as I get it. McCain is a little older, likes to sleep later. I'll probably see it around 9:00.

Addition from almost midnight....I didn't get McCain's email until 10:30 a.m. John likes to sleep a little later, etc etc. He also doesn't have the massive online support that Obama enjoys, and he thinks that I have money.

Dear Supporter,
Last night, we did it. We won the Republican nomination. It was a long, up and down journey, but we stuck together, spoke honestly to the American people, and our steadfast determination has paid off. You have my thanks and undying gratitude for your unwavering support.
As we come to the end of our party's primary contest, we begin what will certainly be a spirited and hard-fought campaign against the Democratic nominee. In November, Americans will have a clear choice to make. And I intend to fight as hard as I can to make it very clear that I am the candidate with the experience and leadership to serve as our commander in chief from day one.
My friends, I write to you today because I know we have a great challenge ahead of us. This campaign will be more expensive than any other in our history and I ask you today to support my campaign by making a generous contribution of $50, $100, $250, $500 or $1,000.
As president, I intend to reduce the size of the federal government, reduce your tax burden and win the war against Islamic extremists. My Democratic opponents will increase the size of the federal government, raise your taxes and withdraw our troops from the front lines based on an arbitrary timeline.
I have said before that this election will be about big things, not small things. And as president, I will make the hard but necessary decisions to lead our country in solving our greatest challenges. Today, we must unite as we face either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama in November. I ask that you join me today and make a financial commitment to help our campaign replenish our resources.
I thank you for your support and look forward to the campaign that lies ahead of us.
Sincerely,
John McCain

Ok, notice that McCain says he will face either The Clintons or Obama. And that his people can already "unite".
If McCain's lucky, the Dems will have a brokered convention due to Superdelegates, Michigan, and Florida. Saint Albert, The Goracle of Music City, will have to come in as the wise old man to straighten out everyone. This could make their chaotic 1968 Chicago convention look like a Japanese Tea Ceremony.
I bet John McCain hasn't been this happy since he saw Viet Nam in a rear view mirror.

Here's what the Obama people sent out around 3:30.....They're wearing me out.

Allen --
Our projections show the most likely outcome of yesterday's elections will be that Hillary Clinton gained 187 delegates, and we gained 183.
That's a net gain of 4 delegates out of more than 370 delegates available from all the states that voted.
For comparison, that's less than half our net gain of 9 delegates from the District of Columbia alone. It's also less than our net gain of 8 from Nebraska, or 12 from Washington State. And it's considerably less than our net gain of 33 delegates from Georgia.
The task for the Clinton campaign yesterday was clear. In order to have a plausible path to the nomination, they needed to score huge delegate victories and cut into our lead.
They failed.
It's clear, though, that Senator Clinton wants to continue an increasingly desperate, increasingly negative -- and increasingly expensive -- campaign to tear us down.
That's her decision. But it's not stopping John McCain, who clinched the Republican nomination last night, from going on the offensive. He's already made news attacking Barack, and that will only become more frequent in the coming days.
Right now, it's essential for every single supporter of Barack Obama to step up and help fight this two-front battle. In the face of attacks from Hillary Clinton and John McCain, we need to be ready to take them on.
Will you make an online donation of $25 right now?

All that work to gain 4 delegates. Just out of curiosity....How much email do you get if you send one of these people some money?????