No Clemency For Huckabee

It must be awful, having your presidential hopes riding on the behavior of outlaws and murderers. If one of them acts up, it sinks you. That would be tough.

But that's the situation for Mike Huckabee, whose record as Arkansas governor of releasing dangerous criminals is notorious -- it was strictly an open door policy. It's a good thing he's a religious man, because he has to pray every single night, "Please God, don't let one of these idiots screw up."

Well, they haven't found the guy guilty yet -- they haven't even caught him -- but it's sounding like a guy named Maurice Clemmons might have something to do with the killing of the four police officers this weekend in Washington state. Coincidentally the same Maurice Clemmons that Huckabee gave clemency to close to 10 years ago.

Everyone who's old enough remembers the 1988 campaign, where Dukakis was hammered for signing off on Willie Horton's release. If that was a disqualifier back then, this looks like it ought to be one too.

Huckabee, a nice guy ... but since he's a Republican, a dangerous guy ... maybe a little more neutralized now as to his danger.

Tiger Woods In Accident

I didn't read the details, but there's something in the news about Tiger Woods being in an accident that wasn't really an accident. I don't know what it is.

It sounds like he and his wife got into some kind of fight. Next thing they knew, he was injured, then they wrecked, then she had to bash out the back window with a golf club. I saw a headline a while ago that said he was "embarrassed" by it, so, without looking at the details, that tells you right there it wasn't a normal wreck.

Definitely it's times like this it doesn't pay to be famous!

Palin Quits 5K Run

Sarah Palin was running a 5K in Washington, the state, but dropped out before finishing.

Are we seeing a pattern yet?

The Uninvited Met Obama

There's something strange going on at the White House. The apparently uninvited pair who reportedly crashed the state dinner say they were invited. They have a lawyer who said that.

It would be better for the Secret Service if they can get it clarified that indeed they were invited. Because then it wouldn't look like such a terrible breach of security.

Now there's a picture of them meeting with President Obama!

I hope things like this don't happen again.

My Knees Going Bad?

I have some play in my knees these days. I notice if I sit with my legs pulled in for too long, I stretch them out and my knees both pop.

I don't like this because it's something fairly new. It might mean something is seriously going wrong with my legs. I hope not.

Maybe I should exercise more. Maybe I should exercise less.

Someone Crashed The Dinner

I forget their names. I hadn't heard of them. But it was reported on CNN as a breaking story.

They had the big state dinner with the head of India, of course including many dignitaries from politics and whatever. I wasn't invited, so it can't have been too big a deal.

In the midst of it -- and it wasn't known that they weren't invited -- a couple (having something to do with a reality show) came strolling in, all dressed up, looking like celebrities being received on the red carpet.

They posed for a number of pictures, which CNN showed from Facebook, as they were with Joe Biden and Rahm Emanuel.

That would take guts. But also luck, that there's someone stupid enough at White House security to be passing people through who aren't on the list.

Someone on CNN suggested this could be a felony and these people could be in real trouble.

R. Crumb's "The Book Of Genesis"

I saw this mentioned somewhere one day and immediately ordered it at Amazon. They said there it wouldn't be shipped for maybe two months. But then I got a note that it would be available earlier. So it came yesterday.

It's R. Crumb's "The Book of Genesis," a beautiful big book of cartoon illustrations of all 50 chapters of the first book of the Bible.

I have to say I love it. This is the way the Bible needs to be illustrated, with all the grittiness of real life right there before you. I think reading through it slowly is a devotional experience and I say that truly.

Maybe the most famous thing about the book, which has to be mentioned, is that the sex stuff of Genesis is illustrated. And even then it's not so much in your face, but just shows what the text says. It's before you but even then it's still nicely reserved. Anyway, to see Adam and Eve, Abraham, Lot, etc., in the buff is a good thing, illustrating these holy stories in a great way.

I think Crumb did a masterful job and was very reverent about the whole thing. I'd love to see what he could do with Ezekiel, but that one might be not quite as popular. I'm sure he could do some stunning esoteric things with it though!

I read through the story of Judah and Tamar last night. How beautiful it is. Tamar pretended to be a cult harlot in order to raise up seed for her dead husband. She wasn't just horny and wanting to get it on with Judah. It's great to see her resolve illustrated there and the way she takes Judah's things which she later uses to identify him as the person she had sex with. She's about to be killed for having played the whore, but suddenly it's obvious to Judah what she had done and how honorable she was.

Today I started at the beginning and read about the Creation. I love seeing God as this radiant, beard-flowing wild-eyed mystic deity. When He's searching for Adam in the garden, it's very powerful. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

I looked at other things too and got the same impression. It's stunning and a great book.

How's Our Confidence Level?

How's our confidence level going into the health care debate on the Senate side? I've been away most of the day today and haven't been hearing the news. But just glancing at it after getting home, it sounds like there's some confidence that the Democratic traitors who've threatened to filibuster might not prevail.

That would be positive. O! if we could only replace them with more dependable Democrats! That would be great! It sucks to have the majority, then to have our own people become the sticks in the mud. You'd think we'd be so stoved up after Republican misrule all those years that we'd be itching to get something positive done in this country. But some of them like the spotlight, it seems.

Who knows what we're going to get? But it sounds like it will at least be something. A free Band-Aid for every child or something. A red lollipop after every physical.

One thing is for sure, the health care system in this country is seriously broken. And it's incredible that anyone (the Republican scoundrels, for example) want to keep it. Let's let them keep it for themselves. And let's get a decent health care system for us! Then see how long it takes the Republicans to come sneaking over for something decent.

No Filibuster Tonight

The Dems managed to hold together 60 votes to stave off a filibuster and now can proceed to debate health care. (Wow, I hate the Republicans!)

Of course this doesn't mean anything for actually getting the bill passed in any decent way or time. Already Senators Landrieu, Ben Nelson, Lieberman, Lincoln, and Benedict Arnold are on record as opposing some aspect of the proposal. Some even saying they will filibuster later on.

Leading me to ask the age-old question, If we can't trust Democratic senators to support the Democratic agenda, why again do we need them?

Sarah Palin Stiffs Her Supporters

The Quitter strikes again, this time quitting her round of autograph-giving a little prematurely at a Borders bookstore somewhere.

It made for lovely footage with Sarah Palin inside the big tour bus and a crowd outside shouting "Sign our books" and "Booo!!!!"

At this point, why would you want her signature? If she hasn't got time to follow through on an apparent commitment to sign your book, just use it to line your bird cage.

Real nice lady. On to the next town!

Would Alaska Really Want Palin Back?

I was walking through a hallway today and heard one of those snippets of random conversation that you sometimes hear.

The conversation was about politics, obviously, because a guy was saying he had a friend or relative who lives in Alaska, who told him that people in Alaska really like Sarah Palin and would gladly elect her governor again if she wanted to return to the office.

I kept going. I don't like hearing conversations like that. But I wonder. Are Alaskans really generally that clueless? I hope not.

Health Care Moving Along

The Senate has come out with something that the various senators seem to like, more or less. So we can hope that they will get it moving along, so it's not dragged out forever.

But who knows? We have this crumb, Ben Nelson. He's out there saying he would be willing to be the lone Democrat who'd sink the whole thing. So he's obviously a Bad News Bear.

Other than that ... we may or may not get something done. But so far so good, apparently.

Cheney, Bah!

President Obama is taking flak from the Republicans for showing respect for foreign leaders, such as a commonplace gesture in Japan, bowing to the Japanese emperor.

This is no big surprise, since of course he'd be taking flak from the Republicans if he didn't show respect for foreign leaders. If we've learned anything about the Republicans by now, it's that they're mad if the sun comes up and they're mad if it goes down.

Now the biggest, rottenest, sleaziest Republican of them all -- one of the biggest, rottenest, and sleaziest anyway -- Dick Cheney says it shows "weakness." You see where this is going, I hope? If Dick Cheney is criticizing you, you must be doing something right. I wouldn't take advice from Dick Cheney on any subject if he handed out free lollipops.

They're talking about a new prison for terrorists. Can we get a cell strong enough to hold Dick Cheney? The man's a world menace. And that goes for his brain-addled family as well.

Palinmania

When it comes to political books, for the most part I'll pass. I don't want to waste my money on all this, people's memoirs.

In the heat of a campaign I do think how interesting it'll be "next year" or the year after to learn how things were really going behind the scenes. But by the next year I've already moved on in my interest. So I'm no longer that interested. And this is true every time, not just this year.

Plus, it's Sarah Palin. She's a train wreck. I didn't like her even a tiny bit last year, so there's no way I'm going to give a dime for a book she (or someone else for her) wrote. I wouldn't actually want it if they were passing them out free. This is true for lots of books, but Republican books deserve a special place in hell as far as I'm concerned.

I don't understand why most people would want to give her the time of day. Is anything more obvious that she's a crumb? To think anyone would turn over a job with the responsibility of the presidency to her is beyond my ability to understand. Like that job out of all the others is something that can adequately be done well by just any idiot. George W. Bush proved it's not true.

Republicans Play The Fear Card -- Again

Maybe this is the only card these guys have, the fear card.

The latest thing (two things) that America needs to be "verrrrrrry afraid" of are, 1) Putting the terrorism suspects on trial; 2) Moving the Gitmo bunch to a prison in Illinois.

It seems to be like the obvious implication of the fear card is that the Republicans don't believe America is up to any challenge. Whatever we want to do, according to the Republicans, we can't do it. Don't try. Simply stop in your tracks and no nothing. Whether it's health care, climate change, and now dealing with the terrorism suspects in some kind of rational way, it simply cannot be done! It almost makes you wonder why they want to hold office, since they're only message is, No. Stay inside, cover up your head, and shiver in fear.

How we were ever able to keep these guys in Gitmo all these years without them getting loose, I guess there's no explanation for that. It must be luck. Because the Republicans certainly don't think we have any competence. We've been keeping people in prison for centuries -- and the prison technology is improving all the time -- but suddenly it can't be done.

So the Republicans' message is, Since it can't be done, you better be afraid that someone is trying to do it, because they're sure to fail. It's hard to picture them agreeing with Ronald Reagan that it's "Morning In America," because all they see is sunsets. The sun has set on America's ability to succeed, according to the Republicans. Failure is not just an option, it's our only option!

We might wonder, Why would anyone vote for these clowns? I guess they're banking on fear, since it was good in the Bush years for a while. The more afraid we are, the more we'll huddle in close to the Republicans to keep us safe. But since they're doctrine clearly is It can't be done, that's small comfort. We need the Republicans to keep us safe, but the terrorists are going to get us -- like they said, it's not a matter of if but when.

OK, my take on this. I'll take someone a little more optimistic. Like President Obama. Who thinks not only can we maintain the American system of justice, but we can succeed at things we put our mind to.

I don't think these terrorism suspects are 40 feet tall with four arms and an ability to conceal an arsenal up their arsenhole. Since they're people -- this is a big surprise, people just like we are -- we, being people just like they are, ought to be able to handle them, especially given our superior position as the jailER and not the jailEE.

Good grief, Republicans. Please go away and think it over. Americans want an optimistic message. A steady stream of We can't do it doesn't quite cut it.

Ouch! The RNC, That's Gotta Hurt!

I was stunned to hear that the Republicans provided abortion coverage in the insurance plan of their employees. And since 1991.

How exactly that happens, with their staunch opposition to choice, and for that long, I do not know. It seems like someone somewhere would've known about it and mentioned it over the years. That's virtually 20 years!

But it can't do them any good as far as their supporters go. It seems like it would be disheartening to the typical conservative Republican donor. Like, Why should I support them? They're just hypocrites.

I'd like to see a new, purer third party -- the Tea Party set -- really showing the Republicans how it should be. That would go a long way toward making this situation right.

Every Third Person Would Vote For Palin

To me, Sarah Palin is a complete disaster -- a train wreck, a ship wreck, a crashed plane, a kamikaze, you name it, she's no good. I seriously would not vote for her under any circumstances. She is dangerous in the extreme.

So I was interested in this sentence in an article in The Nation about the level of support she would get as a presidential candidate:

While the percentage of Republican voters who say they would seriously consider voting for Palin for president stands at 65 percent, among all voters the figure is mired at 33 percent.

"Mired at 33 percent" of course isn't good enough to win. But that's very bad news on a different level. Every third person we see, among voters, would subject this country to her! Good grief, are we insane?

We've had one moron as president, George W. Bush. It's not a job that just any random idiot can handle.

Tom Coburn Blocking Veterans Insurance

I've heard all the outrage -- and it's been great -- about Sen. Tom Coburn (Republican, of course, of Oklahoma) blocking veterans insurance funding.

He has a "hold" on it and apparently it cannot move forward without him releasing his "hold."

My outrage on this is that there is such a rule in the first place. What kind of moronic rule is it that allows a senator single-handedly block something like this? The whole country comes to a standstill just because one senator says so?

At that point, how is it we get anything done? Put a "hold" on it and nothing happens.

Whatever -- he definitely ought to release his "hold" on this issue. Twerp.

I'm putting a "hold" on the rule in the first place. Get rid of it.

They Executed The D.C. Sniper

Yea! I'm not going to miss him.

He had his chance at life and this is what he accomplished, shooting random people through a hole in his car's trunk. Good riddance.

Stupid Guy Of The Day

The stupid guy of the day is a Marine reservist in Florida who mistook a Greek Orthodox priest for an Arab terrorist and, allegedly, proceeded to beat him with a tire iron.

He then called the police and turned the priest over to the police. Later the priest was treated at a hospital and released.

They have a nice picture of our stupid guy of the day at the above link.

Way to go, Brainiac!

Bob Dylan's Christmas Album

Probably no mention of this album would be complete without asking if Bob Dylan should still be singing.

I love the guy completely. Always have. But really, his throat is absolutely shot.

I got it and sat down with my sweetie to listen to it. She's not quite as reverential when it comes to Dylan as I, and she was very cruel about her quick review of the album. It took some convincing on my part to get her to give it a chance.

I'm going, "But it's Bob Dylan." And yet, she had a point. It doesn't sound that great. Maybe it would've sounded not so bad if the background singers and music weren't so tone perfect. Like if you had it like one of Neil Young's grungier albums, then had Bob Dylan doing Christmas songs.

I don't think this one will go on the iPod. If I ever want to hear it, I'll just put it on the CD player. And keep it turned down fairly much.

Republican Opposition To Health Care Reform

The health care reform bill passed the House. Now it has the bigger hurdle of the Senate, which promises to be an excruciating process.

It's not a perfect bill, of course, like anything that the corporate interests get their greedy paws on. But since we can have perfect, we may as well having something. Certainly they haven't been doing us any favors without reform. It's all cutthroat and it's our throats they cut. If they'd just cut their own and hurl themselves over a cliff that'd be fine.

It ends up with "We The People" sitting here taking the brunt of it. And that's not fine.

Then we have the Republicans, also known as the scourge of the country. Naturally, these crooks voted en masse against the people, except for one lone holdout from Louisiana. They've showed once again -- not that we'd forgotten; we hadn't -- that they are as worthless as they come, and that every one of them, if it were only possible, should be drummed out of office.

It is sickening, very sickening, that we can have these guys just blatantly opposed to anything that might do anyone some good, and get away with it. The big trouble is, not that we couldn't vote them out, but that so many people are fooled into thinking they have their interests at heart. They don't.

Anyone Could Be A Congressman

Being a Congressman has to be the easiest job in the world. Like Steve King, Republican of Iowa, in this video. It's easy because no matter how stupid you are, there's someone out there who thinks you're doing a great job.

Steve King is guilty of one outrage after another -- that in a more refined time would've been called faux pas -- and yet he keeps getting elected. He's in the news all the time, one phony baloney thing after another and there's no penalty to pay.

Who couldn't do this job? Just channel forth your inner stupid, stand back, and people love you!

Chickenhawk Tom Tancredo Pwned -- Must See

Yes! It's great to see the bad guys get it once in a while. Tom Tancredo is among the worst of the worst.

The only problem with this clip is the host invites him back. I'd love to see Tom Tancredo storm off the set and keep on going. Find a cliff somewhere and take a long walk.

Kudos to Kos! We need more of this. Put these chickenhawk Republicans in their place. Speaking for veterans. Ha!

Is Everyone Who Disrupts Things A Hero?

I was reading about the tea party rebellion -- who I think are simply a bunch of nuts, but that's just my opinion. They were incited to show up and "scare" our Congress people today by Michelle Bachmann, a crazy person from Minnesota.

In the course of their tirades, some were arrested, leading them to be instantly given "hero" status and to be likened to Martin Luther King, perhaps the Apostle Paul or Jesus, and who knows what others!

So everyone who shows up at a political meting and disrupts things and gets arrested now is a "hero"? That's a stretch. I wonder if the tea party people would say the same thing about people from the left, like the crazy protesters at the big international meetings, who flood the streets and do disruptive things and get arrested, if they're heroes. Somehow I doubt it.

It's like the difference between a terrorist and a freedom fighter. (I also heard them labeling themselves freedom fighters.) It depends on which side you're on.

My question remains: Where were these people when George W. Bush was president? He was ruling this country like a madman and flushing the United States down the toilet both at home and internationally. It seems like they might've uttered at least a single peep in all those years. Or perhaps have had a cup of tea.

It still looks to me simply like sour grapes. The Republicans were thrown out. We got a Democratic president. And they can't abide by the results, like we had to with George W.

Annoying Updates

I just had the annoying Windows update today that pops up every five minutes asking if you want to restart now or later. For some idiotic reason there's no option to say "Don't bother me for the next eight hours." They're very insistent and ridiculous.

And of course there's a constant Java update to be hearing about. I swear, I don't know precisely what they're updating, but whatever it is, these people definitely have a steady job. Sometimes I don't think there's really any update at all, that they're just trying to rope more people into installing the Yahoo toolbar. Good grief. How about just doing an update or having an option that says "I Never Want The Yahoo Toolbar"?

No mention of annoying updates would be complete without the constant, steady updates for iTunes. It's never just a tiny patch either. The entire everything has to be downloaded. I have a slow computer. So it slowly plods through the entire process over the course of a light year or two.

All the badgering. How about you guys get it right the first time?

Obama's Lack Of Fight

How can the president just sit there and take this? Why does he have a lack of fight?

WaPo: On the other side, Democratic strategists worry that progressives, disgusted by the big money bank bailout and disillusioned with President Barack Obama's lack of fight on issues such as a government-run health insurance plan, might keep some people from voting. That could cost Democrats seats up and down the ballot. [My bold]

Why doesn't President Obama fight for us? It's bizarre.

Now Harry Reid is suggesting they might not get health care done this year!

The time for extracting one's head from one's posterior is now.

Little Things Mean A Lot

One little inch a year, that's all it takes to make an ocean.

Some scientists -- who perhaps grew up with chemistry sets and boggled everyone's minds -- are saying that there could one day, in a million years, be a new ocean in Africa.

I know, that's a heck of a place to put it, but where else would it go?

The whole thing has to do with the movement of the earth's plates. And since the earth has all the time in the world, even if it barely shifts in its seat once in a blue moon, you multiply that times infinity and little things mean a lot.

Once this plate goes that way a half inch, and this plate goes that way a half inch, a whole buncha times, in a million years you wouldn't recognize the place.

It boggles the mind. It also makes me sad. Because I'm thinking everything I own will either be gone or in a museum in a million years.

The GOP Rallying?

I hear the GOP has a couple of possible victories tomorrow. That's bad news, if so. Because I don't want those crumbs to have a rally.

Before you go to vote, remember, who was it who ran this country in the ditch? And who is it who doesn't have a single idea now to get us out and on a better course? The Republicans.

We've got President Obama but he can't do it alone. And a bunch of Democrats who act like they're Republicans. They're no good. We definitely don't need any more actual Republicans.

As I recall, the Republicans started two wars that they couldn't end. Now we're stuck with that, seemingly forever.

The most egregious thing I heard all day was this: the Congressman who should "You Lie" at the president, Joe Wilson, was blaming Obama for there not being enough H1N1 vaccine. But then it came out that Joe Wilson himself voted against funding for the vaccine.

Good grief, man. If you voted against the vaccine, at least have the decency not to complain that there isn't enough! This ought to be grade school common sense.

People's Irrational Fear Of Health Care Reform

There was a cartoon in the paper that made light of "Obamacare," with that being the scariest costume that some kid could wear on Halloween.

I'm repulsed by something like that. There's nothing to fear from health care reform, as far as I'm concerned. If anything, we ought to be afraid they don't get anything done. Because the health insurance industry sure hasn't been doing us any favors.

As far as the insurance companies are concerned, we're walking ATMs. Whatever money they demand, we spit out, no questions asked. And every year it's the same, more money, less benefits. When I say "every year," I mean that literally. They are not doing us any favors.

So what are people so afraid of? That the insurance companies won't be able to kick us out for preexisting conditions? Yes, that's terrifying. That you'll be able to have your health care if you switch jobs. Oh, how scary. That there won't be these arbitrary lifetime benefit caps? Wow, I'm quaking in my boots.

How anyone can be on the side of the health insurance racket in this country, I do not know. Unless you're in their pocket and being provided for by them, like the Republicans and some Democrats. Or you're an executive there.

Otherwise, what have we got to lose, except being picked over mercilessly by these vultures?!