HALF MAST???

I just heard a report that there is a proposal to name a bridge (or was it a stretch of highway?) after the late, great Tim Russert. This bit was followed by the report that flags were being flown at half-mast in his memory. The first thought that entered my mind was what you see in the title bar. Does this guy really warrant that kind of recognition?

As it sank into this thick skull (of which so many of you are familiar) I realized that, yes, indeed Mr. Russert has earned that honor.

I would be lying if I said I was a great fan of his and faithfully watched Meet the Press every week. I'm not and didn't. I don't even have cable! However, I cannot think of a week in the last ten years or so when I did not hear his voice, or the thought provoking questions he asked of EVERYONE. No matter where I got my news, I would hear that so and so had said on, "Meet the Press," this that or the other thing, and then the radio station would play the clip with that memorable voice. There is no denying that it was the most respected AND respectable of the weekend political roundup shows. I guess "freedom of the press" is easily taken for granted in a society that monitors the movement and reproductive habits of Britney and her kid sister, but, damn, if Tim Russert wasn't like a branch of government! Always well informed of his topics he would ask the questions we all wanted answered by our public officials, and to their faces! It didn't matter what party was being represented by his guest, Mr. Russert went for the truth on our behalf.

So, for what it's worth, I may not be a great fan but I will certainly miss Tim Russert. I guess he was just one of those things that you don't really appreciate until they are gone.

The Nominee

Well, I guess it is all over but the crying. Hillary is to make an announcement tonight. Mara Liason reports that Barack Obama's biggest job now is to unite his party. That hit me, HIS party.

She is absolutely correct. This is not the party that the Clinton's reclaimed in 1992 ending 12 years of Reaganomics. This is not the party that was beaten up and destroyed by Newt Gingrich in the following years.

This IS the party that rolled over and allowed the Republicans to carry out their vast right wing conspiracy, running for cover as the bogus impeachment unfolded. This party is the limp party that lost to the ignorant hick failed governor of Texas in the year 2000. They needed to distance themselves from the Clintons back then, and aren't we all glad they did? This is the party that let George Bush (still an ignorant hick but now a failed president) waltz to victory in 2004. He had nothing to his credit. He SAID we were safe from terrorists, but were we really? This is the party that won a landslide victory in 2006 because the ignorant fucking population of these glorious united states said, "you know what? Duh, this Bush isn't a very good leader." No fucking shit. Too little too late, asshole. All of a sudden EVERYBODY thinks the war was a mistake. They vote the Republicans out and vote the democrats in. What do the democrats do? With the historical first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pilossi at the helm they rolled over and let the president continue to sodomize us.

Thanks, guys.

So, now Obama has to unite HIS party.

I'd say HIS party is united and ready to go - all of these "enlightened" first-time voters who were brought to the process by this beautiful, eloquent, HOPEFUL man. Believe me, all those assholes are united.

What happens to us, though, those of us who simply don't buy it? Believe it or not there is a solid block of voters like me who have voted for years before this guy came along. Now I know we can't disenfranchise the new voters, so I guess that means we disenfranchise the old voters. Once again, I tip my hat to the wisdom of this wonderful, all-knowing party. Should King Obama stoop down and offer the VP slot to Hillary? No. He simply can't. To do that he would have to announce "It is true. I am a whore. The Clintons are not as bad as all that. In fact, one of them might make a GREAT VP." If he does have the balls to do this, and she has the balls to accept, I will not write in a candidate (as I am now leaning), but will vote Republican.

Now, we know he's a whore, but should he really admit it to all of the people who actually buy his shit?

The first choice for VP needs to be Oprah Winfrey. Let's be honest, she helped that campaign in inestimable ways. That would take care of the female vote. The second choice should be Senator Edward Kennedy. By endorsing him at the high point of the campaign and giving him the blessing of all the Kennedys, living and dead, Teddy deserves a taste of the office that he could never achieve on his own merits. Now I know he is infirmed at this point, but reports today say that he is up and walking and listening to the news. I'm no doctor but I would say that in 4-6 weeks he could be on the campaign trail. The third choice should be Bill Richardson. Having risen to prominence through the help of President Bill Clinton who else could know the weaknesses that Hillary would bring to the table. By turning on the Clintons he greatly helped the Obama campaign.

There is a lot of talk out there about just how hard the Clintons are going to work for Obama. "If they truly love the party they will work their hearts out," has been said time and time again. But, clearly, the party wants nothing to do with them. I will be very disappointed to hear that either of them campaigns for this clown. If the party can do it without them then I wish the party the best of luck. This has been a disgraceful display by self-serving hypocrites.

"__MN"

I have to give my dear sister credit for this post. I so desperately wanted a topic other than politics and she handed this one to me on a silver platter.

I received a phone call around 3:00 pm this afternoon. Obviously, it was the above mentioned sister. She started to relay a story to me and asked if I remembered the coloring/activity pad belonging to my niece that has the lion on the cover. Off-handedly, I replied that I may not have seen it. "I think you have," she said.

"Oh, that's right," I corrected myself, "she had it at that '50s style restaurant we went to." It has been several months and it slipped my mind.

"We just pulled it out of the cabinet," she said, "and were going through it."

My niece, well on her way to six years old, has been putting sounds together and is in the beginning stages of reading. There was a page, my sister pointed out, that had the alphabet written out with letters missing at certain intervals. The reader was to fill these letters in.

Apparently, there were two spaces left out right before the letters M and N.




Now, let's be honest. What would you have written in the spaces?

It took me a second to realize what she was getting at, and to realize what Uncle Elgarf had, in fact, written. I had no stop-watch at the time, but am willing to bet that it was a good 60 seconds worth of gut wrenching laughter.

"Mommy," my niece said, "I think that spells something." Apparently my sister turned the page or jumped to the next set of letters to avoid a controversy. It took her some time to figure out who, in fact, filled in the missing letters. She was pretty sure it was not herself, knew it was not her husband, didn't think it was Grandma A or Grandma B. Then she came to me. Who else could it have been?

That's why I was laughing so hard.

Who would have thought?

I wrote a message in the activity book of a non-reader.

Less than a year later it could have been read.

I guess Uncle Elgarf will have to be more careful in the future.

National Obama Radio

Hillary won West Virginia in a landslide. That doesn't matter. Those people are nothing but ignorant racists, at least that was the impression I got from NPR and Ed Schultz. Now I can accept that, but what does it say about those proud, hard-working, open-minded people from South Carolina? That must make them ignorant... No, I shudder to think.

When I got home from work today there was an envelope from my local NPR station in the mail box. I was first turned on to NPR by a Jewish, lesbian professor I worked with in the mid-90s. So, if you think I am narrow-minded, I would love to prove you wrong. Anyway, this envelope was asking me for a pledge during the Spring Fundraiser. Now, normally I would just throw the thing away and pledge in my own sweet time. This time, however, I decided to act. I called the station.

"W---," came the voice on the other end. I told the female that I was calling about the fundraising envelope I received in the mail. I have been a loyal listener for 10 years but WOULD NOT be making a contribution in 2008. I was disappointed in how NPR had crowned Obama king without due process. She asked if I would like to comment to the station. I thought she wanted me to come in. No, she said, I can transfer you. "Yes, please do," was my reply.

"W---," said a second voice, "can I take your donation?"

Well, no.

I said the same thing I said to the first person. She said, "I'm just a volunteer so..."

"Pass it on," I said.

-Post Script- A wonderful suggestion was made to me since this happened. The money that I am not sending to the Obama campaign (care of NPR) would make an excellent campaign contribution to Senator McCain.

Mickey Kantor

Have you seen this? There is a big stink about a You Tube video which shows James Carville, George Stephanopolous, and the aforementioned Mr. Kantor on the camaign trail in 1992 with then Governor Clinton. They are reviewing polls for the state of Indiana and Kantor may or may not have said that the state was nothing but "shit." He then goes on to say something that is in dispute. Did he really say this, "How would you like to be a worthless white nigger?" ? Some say yes. Others say the video was doctored. I guess my question is this: How many hours did it take you people to scour through 16 plus years of audio/ video footage to find something nowhere near as damning as the Jeremiah Wright clips, and, was it really worth it? What has been proven? A white man said something he should not have said behind the scenes on a campaign. Was he proclaiming hatred to hundreds of people in his congregation? No, clearly not. So, the Clintons are in association with someone who may or may not be a racist but certainly has said some offensive things.

What does this change?

Senator Obama only "earned" that title when the Republican Senator Ryan resigned his post after a scandal involving himself, his wife, and others in acts of consentual adult activities. I have no comment on that. The guy resigned. Anyway, how did "Senator" Obama keep his seat? By running unopposed for re-election. Well, not really unopposed but against Alan Keyes. Do you remember this clown? He is the Ultra-Conservative African-American political commentator. He has not held office, although he has tried. Cast your mind back to 1996. President Clinton was running for re-election. As the Republicans began to whittle away their field of candidates they, of course, held a number of debates. Unfortunately, not all of these debates were equal opportunity events. Mr. Keyes was not permitted to debate with the other candidates. I can't recall for certain if he was driven around in circles or if he couldn't pass security at the event, but he DID NOT debate.

Now, I will not cast aspersions on Alan Keyes. I will, however, point out the facts. This was done by the party. The same party that wanted a black candidate to take race off the table when Senator Obama ran to retain his seat.

Say what you will about his speeches. Say what you will about Hillary spending the last 20 years fighting with Republicans. Say what you will about "HOPE" and "CHANGE" and all the naive voters who never gave a damn about politics until their favorite book-club leader told them who to vote for. I understand that the Clintons are no good, shady, cut-throat, evil, greedy, bastards. Rush Limbaugh has made that point clear for the past 16 years and in better ways than any of you charlatan, so-called "democrats" are doing these days out of one side of your Dick Cheney mouth while calling for reconciliation of the party out of the other side. Reconciliation on your terms, behind Senator Obama is what you mean.

Hillary Clinton and John McCain have a record of service to the nation, whether you like it or not. They do.

I, for one, feel that Obama's record is rather thin. I don't give a damn what Kantor may or may not have said. Obama began to believe the press ages ago and feels he is untouchable. He is NOT the Stones, nor Zeppelin, nor Floyd. He is a Chicago politician who was given a great opportunity by a terrible loser at the 2004 Democratic convention (see the post "John Kerry will burn in hell"). Since then he has been at the right place at the right time.

I am tired of everyone giving this guy a free pass. Let him earn something for a "CHANGE"!