Where's Alan Grayson Been Hiding?

I'm not all that stupid. I can find America on a globe.

But I hadn't heard of Florida's Democratic Congressman Alan Grayson before this week. So where's this guy been hiding?

Wherever he's been, welcome to the party now. He's the guy who called out the Republicans on the essence of their health care policy, which is "Don't get sick. And if you do, die quickly." That's so true!

Now Rep. Grayson has called Republicans "foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging Neanderthals who think they can dictate policy to America by being stubborn."

I love it. But I've got my fingers crossed, lest we hear of an ill-advised "apology." Please, stick the knife in the Republican party, stick it deep, and don't pull it out.

Big Props To Rep. Alan Grayson

Finally, a Democratic representative willing to lay it on the line and tell the truth.

Democratic Rep. Alan Grayson of Florida said, "Republicans want you to die quickly if you get sick."

The obvious has been said.

Naturally, the hypocritical Republican party is all up in arms over this. For suggesting such a thing! Never mind all they've said in recent months, lying about "Death Panels" and the like.

The truth is the Republicans stand rock solid against the American people, rock solid against our health. If we were to drop dead -- they'd praise the Lord.

After all, if you're dead, their beloved insurance companies don't have to pay any medical bills. And for these corrupt scoundrels, profits are everything.

(Now we just have to hope Rep. Grayson does not apologize to these criminals.)

Reid Cancels Senate Recess

Harry Reid has canceled the next Senate recess, so they can possibly get something done on health care reform.

The next recess? Didn't these idiots just get back from the August break? Don't get me started. I've never believed so much in my life that we've got clowns for a government. Stay there till you actually get something done. But remember, first do no harm.

This article says:

Reid has often threatened to cancel recesses or long weekends to spur colleagues to pick up their legislative pace. But he usually relents, letting fellow lawmakers fly home to visit their families and constituents around the country.

So don't be surprised if he "relents" again. Remember back when we thought Reid was doing "rope-a-dope" since he was a former boxer. Now we know, fighting for the people isn't his thing.

Andy Williams -- Now Dead To Me?

Good grief. Don't any of the major performers remember what happened to the Dixie Chicks? Remember back, think back. They said one little negative thing about that former god President George W. Bush -- is this ringing any bells? -- and they were castigated, shunned, and kicked to the curb.

But now it's becoming mainstream to say outrageous things about the president. Since he's black and ... (gasp) ... a Democrat! We've got kooks bringing their guns to presidential rallies, and that elicits a gigantic ho-hum. Facebook wonders in a matter of fact way if Mr. Obama should be killed. Just like that.

And now ... this is terrible ... even old Andy Williams is getting in on the act! Who knew mellow Andy Williams was also a crazy, a wingnut?

Who knew Andy Williams would be potentially dead to me? Out of all people. Why would someone of such blessed American memory be jumping on this outrageous bandwagon? Why wouldn't he just keep his stupid yap shut? Can anyone believe this?

Andy Williams thinks President Obama is a Marxist who wants America to fail. Andy Williams thinks that. Andy Williams.

Does this mean I really am going to have to consider Andy Williams actually dead to me? Maybe so. That's sad. He's got like the Number One record at Goodwill for the last 20 years running. He's very hot. I just bought another Andy Williams record at a garage sale this past Saturday. Somehow he sold millions and millions of records and lost millions and millions of fans to death and dementia, because his records are everywhere.

Am I going to need to destroy my latest Andy Williams record? I just got it! Ha ha, don't make me have to do that, Andy.

Withdraw your excursion into wingnut politics. Can't we have Andy Williams back?

Happy Sunday!

Fall is going in a great way so far. The trees are looking great. It's still not too cold to go to the park, and certainly not too hot.

Bugs aren't bad. There's still a few surviving flies but nothing terrible. Certainly we're not running the air conditioner anymore, so that saves a lot of money.

I've got my long johns out and crawl under a full spread of blankets. So that's a comfortable way to sleep, warm and cozy, tucked in. Not like summer, sprawled out and sweating (although, truthfully, if it gets that bad we have the air on.)

It's Sunday in Fall. A nice day for everyone, we hope!

The thing is to get out and enjoy it, which I hope to ... must go get ready for my day!

Catholic Books -- Full Authority

I'm not a Catholic but I dabble in religious matters, kind of a hobby.

The other day I needed to look up something about the Catholic faith, about some of their understandings of the Mass, what it's supposed to be all about as it relates to the sacrifice of Christ, etc.

I have the official catechism book that I got a long time ago. So I looked it up. Emphasis on the word official.

One thing about Catholic books, they let you know right up front if they're approved by the folks in charge. There's an imprimatur that says, I guess, that some higher up people in the know have read it word for word and it squares with everything they believe. So, the way I take it, it has authority. At that point it's not just someone's opinion. (Or it could be, in some cases, that it doesn't conflict with Catholic teaching, which, now that I think of it, is just another way of saying the same thing.)

This particular book, a big thick catechism, has the last pope's signature, meaning either that he read it and approved it, or, more likely, took someone else's word for it and signed it.

I saw in there that some of the credit in the putting together of the book went to Joseph Ratzinger, who is now the current pope. So presumably he stands behind everything in the book as well.

It's not like other faiths, though, where it's every many for himself. Your opinion is as good as someone else's and no one's really in charge. I actually prefer that, but if you want the official word on a subject, the strictly hierarchical faiths obviously have the edge.

Republican Twitterers

I saw a story on MSNBC a few days ago that said Republican Congresspeople have twice as many Twitter accounts as their Democratic counterparts.

This seems like a divide we ought to be able to bridge, if we want to. Whether they have more Twitterers or not, though, is that a big deal?

I've seen a few of Charles Grassley's nonsensical looking tweets and I'm not impressed. Sounds about like the babble that comes out of this fool mouth most of the time. But that's the way Republicans are.

They always say Republicans have the edge on radio and Democrats have the edge on blogging. But Twitter? Can't we catch up on that if we want to? It seems like we could.

Do You Notice Her Breasts?

Here's an ad I saw on Daily Kos the other day. I didn't click it and I don't know what it goes to exactly. Obviously some kind of game.

I copied the picture because I thought, wow, that's one stunning photo. Do you notice what I might be talking about? Good grief, get a bucket of water!

A picture like that proves the old point. Something halfway hidden is more wonderful than something just spread out like meat in the grocery store. Leave 'em wanting more.

I don't know who this young lady is. But she has a very bright future if she keeps it halfway hidden like this.

How Many Articles?

How many articles could you write -- like this one -- in the course of a day, if all you had to do was sit there and write them?

Of course you'd need a bunch of topics or a theme. And to get more articles it wouldn't matter if you had any particular expertise. You have an opinion and that's good enough.

I also mean articles of some length, like the basic box you get at Blogger, which, with this line, is halfway complete.

If someone paid you a quarter for each one, no matter how good -- and I don't mean just one sentence repeated over and over by cutting and pasting -- how much money could you make?

I don't know anyone doing that, but it's an interesting thought. Can you babble on and on without going crazy and giving up?

Mackenzie Phillips

Easily the most sickening story of the day are the revelations of Mackenzie Phillips, of her sexual experiences with her father, Mama's and Papa's singer John Phillips.

I say "revelations," but apparently there's some dissension in the family, with one person at least saying John Phillips would've never done that. So Mackenzie's comments would be "charges" to them.

Anyway, whatever, it's a sickening story of incest of an ongoing nature, like 10 years or thereabouts. And drugs. Each detail worse than the last.

Might make me feel differently next time I hear a Mama's and Papa's song on the radio!

I hope whoever the folks are who profit from the old records have made enough money, because it might be ... this is beyond Chris Brown and Michael Vick ... the money's going to dry up.

Very, very yucky.

President Obama On Letterman

I didn't get to see the whole show, just the tiny clip they had on CBS this morning.

But President Obama looked great and did great with the little banter they had going there. He's impressive. It was nice to see the audience give him a good welcome. But Dave said they had cleared the place of Republican Congressmen, so there weren't any disruptions.

Dave was also saying some things about the tight security, and I'll bet it was! That's a good thing, knowing how many absolute wackos there are in this country who would harm the president. I wonder why some of the wackos who carry their guns to Obama rallies weren't there, demanding entrance.

Seeing the president on TV quite a bit lately, it's renewing my confidence. Anyone who says President Obama is overexposed is either lying or jealous ... or, more likely, partisan. I say when you got it going on like he does, there's no reason to stay home.

We have these other cretins, like Peggy Noonan, saying the president on TV is being "boorish." Nonsense. He's as refined as they come. If by some fluke he could've been a Republican, of course she'd be singing a different tune. I wonder if she ever called Bush "boorish," because I don't know ... maybe Bush could've been "boorish," if he worked real hard, he might've climbed up to that status. He was "ultra sub boorish."

I get a kick out of watching this charming guy -- President Obama -- on TV. And I guess I get a kick out of the fact that we have all these true wackos sitting at home, seething about everything he does. Maybe when he thinks of them, he puts forth an extra grin. He's a beautiful guy.

MSNBC - The Place For Politics?

Why does "The Place for Politics" have a doctor show on in the morning?

I'm not much of a TV watcher in the morning, since I have to work. But once in a while I turn it on, like the other day. And what do I see in place of news and politics, a doctor show! Dr. Nancy.

How much of this do we need? Dr. Phil, Dr. Nancy. I heard Mr. Food was going for his doctorate. So we'll have Dr. Food. And there's another Doctor Somebody and I think there's even a show called "The Doctors." Must be a collection of doctors who couldn't get their own show so they just banded together.

Maybe this is why we're having so much trouble with health care. All the doctors are on TV instead of the office. I knew something was up when I went for my physical and had to step through a curtain like on the Johnny Carson show. And the studio audience did a real groan when it was time for prostate test. Not as bad as my own groan.

My prescription for TV: Get rid of the doctors. Their patients are sick of it.

Fox News' Badge Of Honor

President Obama went on all the Sunday shows today, except Fox News' show, whatever it is. It apparently features Chris Wallace, because he's the one doing the whining.

Good.

I say if Fox News can't play night, then let them find their own little sandbox and play in it on their own. They put out nothing but the most vile propaganda anyway, I hear, because their idiot channel is not one I will watch.

Paul Gigot of the Wall Street Journal said, "Wear it as a badge of honor."

Great, I hope the president gives Fox News many similar "badges of honor" to wear. In fact, bury them in badges of honor.

The Edwards Affair

Back in the '60s, there was a TV show on called "The Man From U.N.C.L.E," which we watched, us kids anyway. All the episode titles had the word "Affair" in them, like "The Green Opal Affair." And I remember asking my mom, "What's an affair?" Nervous laughter ... "Uh, it's like a 'plan.'" So the Green Opal Plan? I still don't get it, what she meant by 'plan.'

These days we have plenty of other Affairs, some planned, maybe some not. It'd be nice to know, in the case of John Edwards' affair, whether he had a roving eye all along and was just waiting to bed down to pretty thing along the trail.

I met him a couple times in 2004, once way up close. I could've asked him anything since it was kind of a cozy little group. I should've asked him, "Are you planning ever to have an affair along the campaign trail?" It didn't occur to me. Too bad I didn't have on a wizard hat and could see off in the future. I might've dropped a few clues to one who proved so clueless, like, "Keep your zipper zipped, Stupid."

Each of the times I saw him, he came into the room like Mr. Charisma. Maybe he had his eye out even then. "The better I look, the better it's gonna go if SHE is here." He entered a room like we were all his best friends in the entire world. Little did we know how friendly he would prove to be! Nitwit.

Now there's another big story about John-Boy, son of a mill worker. Son of something else, too. If you're going to have a big affair, don't keep the campaign going in 2008. We could be suffering under President John McCain at this point.

45,000 Deaths From Lack Of Insurance

If Republicans really believed what they say about Death Panels, and of course they don't ... If they really cared about the American people, and that's a big "no" as well ... they would do something positive about getting us health care reform.

Here's the stats:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nearly 45,000 people die in the United States each year -- one every 12 minutes -- in large part because they lack health insurance and can not get good care, Harvard Medical School researchers found in an analysis released on Thursday.

They should look at it this way. That's "9/11" 15 times every year. They were willing to take us to the ends of the earth, to fight any enemy no matter how long it took, over one 9/11. But now they cozy up to the terrorists who are trying to maintain the status quo, who seek to exploit the American people and profit off our deaths.

They demagogued the whole issue with the fear-mongering line "They're pulling the plug on Grandma." Well, honey, look at it this way. They're already pulling the plug on Grandma. Only it's you, the Republicans, and the big business interests you've hooked up with.

The Republicans: the "Party of No," the party of death.

Grandma Spits On Grassley

Chuck Grassley, who was trying to sabotage health care reform from the get-go, is "officially out," whatever that means, and is blaming President Obama for whatever.

Who listens to this liar Grassley anyway? But here's what he had to say about Obama:

He gave some speeches during August in which he was associating me with efforts to make this a political document and efforts that other people in the country were making to give extremes, like on the end-of-life situation and associating me with things -- I [never] used the words he said.

Right, just "pulling the plug on grandma" or some malarkey. Speaking up for the "death panels" smear. Just the kind of thing anyone would say when they were making a good faith effort toward reform in a bipartisan way.

Grassley's worthless. Good riddance to him. And as for Grandma, she's still alive and kicking. And would like to spit on Grassley.

Tabasco In My Nasal Passages

Oh, something terrible happened to me about five minutes ago, maybe seven or eight minutes ago.

I was sitting here at the computer eating some pork chops in my normal way, with lots of Tabasco sauce. I was down to the last bite and then proceeding to drink the puddle that remains on the plate (I also had some fresh tomatoes), the puddle being the mixture of dripped off Tabasco sauce, tomato juice, salt and pepper, and some red peppers I sprinkled on originally.

It's quite delicious, and I think it's something of a curative to anything that might ail you. If it's not, please don't tell me. One thing I know is this is what I eat and I'm hardly ever sick.

Anyway, the terrible thing that happened. I was tipping the plate up to drink the Tabasco puddle, when I felt a sneeze come on all of a sudden -- probably from the pepper -- I tried to stifle it, the puddle somehow got in the way, I sneezed a half sneeze, Tabasco sauce went up my nostrils either from the front or the back, I don't know which. It was a very tumultuous few seconds.

All I know is that somehow it got up there. I started sweating, my nostrils were blazing hot, my eyes were running. My entire head was red. I was up and running for the bathroom, not knowing exactly what to do. The dog was underfoot and consternated because she knew something was wrong with me.

I couldn't blow my nose in the normal way. Nothing would happen. I'm trying to figure out how to get water in my nostrils without it running down the wrong hole into my lungs and drowning me. I can't do that. I'm thinking about gargling, then diverting it up the nasal passage, but nothing is coming to me as to the right method.

So I keep blowing my nose on the wash cloth. I can't get a proper hank of toilet paper. I'm in misery this whole time.

But I did go and grab a camera to take a few pictures of myself, since I looked like a big sweating, miserable tomato with runny eyes. But since I don't put pictures of myself on my blog, I can't show them to you. Just let me say, I looked terrible.

This all occurred when I was writing a post about Henry Gibson. Between the last two paragraphs is where it happened. But after I got rid of the worst of it and could blow my nose, I wrote the last paragraph there. So that's weird because I was of two entirely different minds during each of those paragraphs. Pre-sneeze and post-sneeze. It was a Jack Ruby moment, completely unexpected and disruptive.

Now that I've written this whole thing ... in that time I'm getting back to normal. I just feel a slightly present hot buzz in my nostrils. And my nose is running.

Congressman Refuses To Dignify Man By Peeing On Him

Here's one you don't hear everyday!

Rep. Pete "Peter" Stark (D-CA) heard from a constituent at one of the town hall meetings. The guys said to him, "Mr. Congressman, don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining."

Stark responded in the starkest terms, "I wouldn't dignify you by peeing on your leg. It wouldn't be worth wasting the urine."

Confidential to the constituent: Someone can be peeing on your leg and it can be raining at the same time.

Food Shapes: A Porkchop Chicken

It's been a while since I've posted pictures of food that looks like something else. In January I had the Jester Scorpion Bacon and the Goddess Seahorse Bacon. Those were great ones!

Tonight I have the beginnings of a good Porkchop Chicken. The "eye" is part of a red pepper that just happened to land there. Then the head. And the piece of tomato sticking out looks like a beak. Maybe it's not a chicken. Especially if you tie in the laid back bone that looks like the ear of something.

Whatever it is, it's definitely got its back up. And check out the bone on the backside. It's practically a bottle opener!

A beautiful piece of food. I could've sold it on eBay, but, alas, I've already eaten it.

An iPhone App For Catching Nightcrawlers

Here's an idea for a great iPhone/iPod Touch app that I don't believe is currently available. And essentially all it'd be is a red light like you need for catching nightcrawlers.

When I was a kid, we did a lot of this. But we had to do it the old fashioned way. Getting a flashlight and putting some red plastic over the end of it with a rubber band. A normal white light scares the worms and they immediately go back in their hole. But there must be something about red that they don't notice it.

A flashlight is OK ... It's a lot better than what they had to do with my Grandpa was a kid, before they had flashlights. Back then, they had to put a piece of red plastic over the end of a torch, which invariably melted the plastic and ultimately proved to be worthless.

I got this great idea last night when I was taking the dog out. She pooped and I couldn't see it, so I did what I've done before, used my phone light. And I got to thinking, this would be ideal for catching nightcrawlers, if only...

Plus, if they could build in a worm detector, that'd be great too. And maybe a little basket you hang on the side so you could put them in it.

OTHER IDEA: Is there an app for dowsing? It just occurred to me. You have a picture of a willow stick and you're carrying the iPhone around the land, and you see the picture bending toward the ground, you know you've found water. Maybe the whole phone could physically pull your arms down.

It's September 12 -- Obama Beats Bush

Way to go! Drinks all around!

We don't know what will happen in the future but we can see the past pretty clearly.

George W. Bush only kept us safe up till the morning of 9/11. Barack Obama has now gone beyond Bush, since it's now 9/12 and counting.

Great job! A grateful nation salutes your competence.

Ahhh, The Smell Of Actual Liberty

Up till yesterday I've been merely happy that we're finally rid of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. After the inauguration of course I had that giddiness but I'd let it slip a little. Like when you take the garbage out, once they haul it away you don't think about it that much.

With yesterday being Sept. 10, it suddenly occurred to me that we were on the eve once again of Sept. 11! And it suddenly occurred to me as well that this is the first 9/11 without the criminality of George W. Bush and Dick Cheney plaguing our nation on that and every other day.

How terrible every 9/11 observance was! Having Bush and Cheney and the rest of their despicable henchmen exploiting the tragedy for their crass political gain. Remember back, think back, how terrible it was, the way they used 9/11 as a cudgel for everything they wanted. They made so many trips to the 9/11 well they pumped it dry! It was ridiculous.

I don't want to make everyone sick with all these bad memories, but if you haven't eaten yet, think back to how often the words "9/11" and "September 11" came off of Bush's lying lips -- like every other word. The moron took the biggest monument to his incompetence as a badge of honor.

When the nation rallied around him in those terrible days, he mistakenly took it as some kind of endorsement of him personally. But they knew in the White House, it wasn't an endorsement, but was something out of fear and our common cause. And that's what they exploited, over and over and over again. For that alone, the criminal Bush administration must never be forgiven.

For the Bush White House, 9/11 was the perfect excuse to go to war. And go to war we did, with a vengeance. Unfortunately the vengeance was against the wrong ones, duh. Like we were saying at the time: Pearl Harbor was attacked and we went to war with Australia! We decided the best way to go after Al Qaeda was to take out Saddam Hussein, a total disconnect from reality!

All this was very convenient, since the Bushies had that in mind even while Bill Clinton was president. And having come into power with the same desire, what better way to get Hussein than to tar him with the stink of 9/11? That, my friends, is exploitation. And that was criminal. Think of all the people who died through the evil of the Bush administration. It's 9/11 multiplied many times.

Think of the awful putrescence of having George W. Bush commemorate 9/11 every year. Like he was some kind of super patriot. George W. Bush was a scourge. And, with Cheney, a waste of space.

The first 9/11 without these crooks! Ahhh, this is the smell of actual liberty!

Catholics Good, Catholics Bad

Wow, every time I start thinking the Catholic Church has a lot on the ball -- the rituals, the saints, the spirituality -- they turn around and blow it with one of these political mistakes.

This time: Catholic Church-Affiliated Publisher Apologizes For Prayer Honoring Ted Kennedy (Headline from the Huffington Post.)

So the Catholic Church now hates the Kennedys? As in John F. Kennedy, the first and only Catholic President of the United States?

Good grief. What planet are we living on? Have I entered some alternate, moronic dimension?

They do the same stupid thing whenever there's an election now. They deny communion to the Democrats, but they're willing to follow the Republicans to the gates of hell (and beyond) with their murderous agenda. As in "Thou Shalt Not Kill," then lying us into an unnecessary war. How many Republicans did they deny communion to over that?

I love their saints. I really do. But these Catholic right-wingers, not so much. There's no saints there!

It Turns Out Rep. Joe Wilson Is The Liar

Joe "You Lie" Wilson, the idiot Republican Congressman from South Carolina, decided to make an unsavory spectacle of himself at the joint session of Congress, rudely heckling President Obama. Such decorum, get this guy a manual of etiquette.

Now -- isn't this a big surprise? -- it turns out Joe Wilson is the one who is the liar. It's been checked out -- fact checked -- and what the president said turns out to be true. So once again, and I guess it isn't a surprise, the Republicans turn out to be the party of lies. Can't these morons tell half truths once in a while? At least then there might be some ambiguity and they wouldn't immediately caught?

Of course Wilson has his supporters, the usual gang of halfwits -- radio commentators and other right wing scurves.

It's so hard to believe -- the Republicans have really fallen, all self-inflicted.

Rep. Joe Wilson

Rep. Joe Wilson (R) of South Carolina is the rude loudmouth who actually heckled President Obama during his address before a joint session of Congress.

Wilson ought to be censured and made to apologize. There is no call for this in a civil society.

Where do we get these crazy people? You would think people who have the privilege to serve in Congress would know something about manners. And that they would be reasonably civil.

This guy -- Joe Wilson -- deserves to be held up to scorn. What ever happened to shame?

The New Pregnancy Tests

I just saw a commercial for a new pregnancy test that doesn't leave any ambiguity. If you're pregnant, it says "Pregnant." If you're not, it says "Not Pregnant." Can't get any clearer than that.

I've seen the commercials in the past and it seems like they had a PLUS or MINUS. Say you wanted to be pregnant, a PLUS wouldn't be ambiguous. But if you didn't want to be pregnant, how would you take a PLUS sign?

It's been a while since I've been a new father. It was so long ago, I can't remember, but I think it was like film. You had to pee on the strip and send it in for developing. I don't know. I actually don't think they even had a system like this. You had to go to the doctor's office.

So that's been a while.

There's another commercial that says their pregnancy test is supposed to tell you a day after or three days after. When I hear that, I like to joke around, "Let me check my schedule. I can tell you three days in advance."

Terrible, I know. A definite MINUS.

As for the new test, it's neat looking on TV seeing the actual word pop up. Kind of like the Magic 8-Ball. You could have all kinds of tests. A test for party animals, let's say, that says "PARTY'S OVER" or "PARTY ON." A test for women having affairs with Congressmen, that says "JACKPOT" or "TRY AGAIN."

But I don't know about "TRY AGAIN." That could discourage sales of the tests, because we're used to seeing those words under losing bottle caps. We've seen it so much we just ignore it.

The Beatles Are Coming

I'm looking forward to getting the Beatles boxed sets. They're on their way.

The reviews I've read say some very good things about the remastering work. So I believe it's all going to be great.

Now if I can just clear some time in my schedule to actually sit and listen to CDs.

I would guess this is the last time in my life I'm going to be buying the Beatles music. Have 'em on records, then the first bunch of CDs, now this. I'm not saying there aren't other sound inventions out there coming -- but what could it be?

Make US Happy, Mr. Obama

The "narrative" now is of a presidency in trouble. President Obama needs to get a credible health care reform package through Congress. And in the process he can't keep everyone happy.

David Axelrod, the president's senior adviser, said, “To govern is to make choices, and to make choices is to make some unhappy.”

In my hallowed opinion, the ones to make happy are the ones who elected you. The ones who voted for you, and the ones who might look forward to voting for you again.

The ones not to worry about so much, which seems to be part of the problem, are the Republicans. They didn't vote for you and they won't vote for you next time. What they think is beside the point, worthless. No matter what you do, they're going to hate it and hate you.

So I agree with Axelrod. Someone's going to be unhappy. But why kick the ones who are on your side? There's an old saying about 'Dancing with the one who brought you to the dance.' Try it!

Halloween Is Coming

Although I guess it's still a month and a half till then.

I didn't think of that. It's still sort of far off.

But I was at the store and noticed a lot of Halloween stuff, so I guess I was thinking it was closer than that.

They definitely have a lot of Halloween merchandise setting around, in its trademark orange and black color scheme. I saw some children's clothes with really neat Halloween patterns. Of course candy, which might be about half stale by then. And some cards.

That's really a lot of advance notice, advance merchandising, for something that's a one day thing.

President Obama Wednesday

It's Wednesday, I'm thinking, that President Obama will be addressing a joint session of Congress about the health care reform issue.

There seems to be a lot of jockeying around, what he'll say, what he won't say, how he's going to phrase it to avoid ticking off the progressives while possibly pulling the rug out from the promises made of actual health care reform.

I'm hoping to see it. But if I don't I'll catch the main points. The bad news is that Bobby Jindal won't be bringing the Republic rebuttal. I think they have John Boehner for the honors this time.

Have I mentioned lately how much I despise the Republican party? We can barely watch the TV news (I don't actually want to), because I sit there fuming and livid at the Republicans. I can't believe anyone would be attracted to their Party of No after their shenanigans since President Obama took office. They've been out and out liars and they haven't been subtle about it.

Yes, I've been critical of the president, basically for not standing up to these #$@^%#s more. Why he wants bipartisanship with people who refuse to accept anything is beyond me. So what's the reward for him doing this? Reduced poll numbers. And what's the reward for the Republicans' mad shenanigans? Increased poll numbers. It's maddening.

Anyone with a lick of sense could tell the Republicans have been the world's biggest scoundrels, forever, yes, but certainly in the last nine months.

The Beatles -- You Could Argue They're Well Known

I was reading some things about the Beatles' albums coming out on 09-09-09 and whether they'll be on iTunes or not.

One comment struck me as sublime, from a guy named Bob:

The Beatles are arguably one of the best selling musical groups of all time, so having their catalog available on the store of the largest seller of downloadable music is the kind of synergy that makes business people say “ca-ching!”

Yes, I suppose you could argue that The Beatles were one of the best selling musical groups of all time. If you could find someone to argue with. Because it's an objective fact beyond dispute. "The Pope is arguably a well-known Catholic."

Harry Reid Trailing

Harry Reid is trailing his Republican competition in the 2010 polls.

Ordinarily this would be bad news. If Harry was any good.

As it is, we might conclude, give in to the Republicans and they still won't like you. And the Democrats, of course, we expect better.

Could it be that Harry will get the message between now and 2010? I thought this guy was an ex-boxer. What was his record? Was he ever known to fight back?

C'mon, Harry, we'd appreciate some actual Democratic governing while you're still around!

All Right, Blanche

Roll Call:

Sen. Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), still facing the prospect of a tough re-election in 2010, has reversed her position on the public insurance option, saying Tuesday she will oppose the measure as a part of health care reform after previously expressing support for the policy, the Arkansas News reported.

All right, Blanche. If you're not going to govern as a responsible Democrat, what's the use of having you in there. Lose.

The Public Option

Look at this poll from CNN. There's wide support for the public option in the health care reform legislation. But because of the execrable Republicans and some lily-livered Democrats, it looks like we're not going to get it.

The Republicans want to stick it to President Obama. That's their only agenda. They don't mean well for America, nor will they govern responsibly. I don't think they can, since they don't actually believe their job in government is for any positive difference. They're only concerned with sticking it to the American people. Go figure.

Then we have the Democrats, who if there was only one Republican left in Congress would be cowering in fear under their desks, afraid he might criticize them for something. So many of the Democrats are either gutless or in the back pocket of the lobbyists or health care industries, so they're not even representing us. It's criminal.

Whether President Obama even has the cajones to stick up for what he campaigned on and was touting back in March, we shall see. The signs out of the White House are not promising. I still like him, a lot, but he seems to be governing as a gutless wonder. I heard he would bring a gun to a knife fight. But I guess he didn't say he'd bring ammo. He pulls the trigger and you get a sign that says "Bang." Doesn't seem to scare very many.

We shall see what we shall get. If I had the power, though, I'm in the mood to run out the lot of them and start over. If that were only possible. Too many entrenched liars and crooks in there, like Chuck Grassley, Ben Nelson, Max Baucus, and on and on. Then we have the insane crowd, like Michelle Bachmann.

You think, this is Congress. Congress ought to have great people in there, patriots, our nation's best, working for us. And what do we get? Paid cronies of corporations, crooks, liars, crazy people without a lick of sense, halfwits, morons. And then there's the Democrats. And half of them seem like creeps too.

God Bless The AFL-CIO

The AFL-CIO is telling Democrats they will not be able to count on their support if health care reform legislation doesn't have the public insurance option in it.

The incoming president, Richard Trumka, said there are "three absolute musts": a public option, an employer mandate and no tax on employer-provided health benefits.

And I love this: Trumka said last month: "We need to send them a special message: it’s that you may have forgotten what the labor movement did to get you elected; but, by God, we never will! And if you stab us in the back on health care this year don’t you dare ask us for our support next year!

Let's review this one piece: "If you stab us in the back...this year don't you dare ask us for our support next year!"

Amen. Mark that well, Congressional Democrats: Don't you dare ask us for our support!