The Fat Man Won’t Run

So, OK, Chris Christie, a Republican governor of New Jersey, a blue state by anyone’s measure, has officially made it official: he won’t be running for the Republican nomination for president.

Christie has officially let down the non-bat-guano crazy wing of the Republican Party, and has doomed Republican primary voters to choose between crazy extremist nutjob  Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, and milquetoast (and Mormon) Mitt Romney, a past governor of Massachusetts who passed Romneycare and raised taxes in his state.

And I know why. Chris Christie knows about branding yourself a loser. Republicans are loath to renominate those who have lost in a previous election. At the moment it is problematic who is going to come out on top of this heap of dwarves. Why risk it? Especially when the field is open in 2016, and Christie has 5 years to lose that 150 pounds of lard that he has put on. Lard that taxes his heart and capillaries. No one his size, and no one in his state of health has been elected to the presidency since William Howard Taft.

And Mitt Romney must be liking this. This effectively ends any additions to the field according to Chris Cillizza in his blog at the Washington Post.

Rick Perry, as I mentioned before, is toast. Michele Bachmann is too crazed for some Republicans, and to female for the rest. And Herman Cain is too black. Newt is, well, Newt, Huntsman is too reasonable (and also a Mormon), Santorum is a joke and Ron Paul . . . Ron Paul . . . is a grumpy old man.

So barring an 11^th hour surprise, it looks like Mitt is it.

I know, I’d rather it be Perry, Perry would be President Obama’s dream opponent but in the end, you can never trust what an uninformed American electorate will do. They loved Sarah Palin because she was so “mavricky” and voted for her despite the fact that her running mate was an old, old man.

So it’s probably all for the best.  

Rick Perry: Worse for Our Nation

Well there’s a surprise.

Today Travis County Democratic Party announced that at the very same time that Governor Rick Perry, along with the American Family Association, are holding a prayer vigil and fasting at Houston’s Reliant Stadium on August 6^th, they will hold a counter rally on the steps of Texas’ state capitol building.

From the Austin American-Statesman:The latter alluding to the fact that Rick Perry is considering a run for the presidency, a move that is sure to excite the Tea Party base – those who aren’t gaga-eyed over Michele Bachmann anyway.

“Party officials say the noon rally on Aug. 6 will be called ‘Rick Perry: Bad for Texas, Worse for Our Nation.’”

Perry has been nipping at the heels of President Obama for the past few months, culminating in his (or his ghost writer’s) book, “Fed Up.” Get it? Fed. Federal Government. Ha. Ha. Ha.

So this event, The Response, is Perry’s attempt to grab himself some national spotlight. Allying himself with the Creator of the Universe, like so many Republicans before him, is practically Step 1 in the GOP playbook. And now we see a counter rally. Not one that opposes God, it seems, but one that opposes Rick Perry’s self-promotion as a conduit to Jesus and His Father.

Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain.  Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says'_when the Lord has not spoken.

- Ezekiel 22: 27-28

Ron Paul is “All In” for the Presidency

In a game of Texas Hold ‘Em the way to scare off your competition is to put all your money in on a hand after the last card is dealt (or even before if the up cards are looking pretty good). It is also a pretty good way of making a bundle on a good hand if your bet is met. It is also a good way to go broke.

Well today, Congressman Ron Paul of Texas’ 14^th district is “All in” on his bid for presidency. The 75-year old congressman announced today that he would not seek re-election as congressman, putting all of his campaign effort into the big enchilada.

He won’t win, you know. There is not even a snowball’s chance in H-E-Double Hockey Sticks that Ron Paul can win in even an unfair election against Barack Obama. Michele Bachmann might outpoll Ron Paul in the 2012 election, and that is saying something. So it is either Ron Paul is delusional and genuinely thinks that he has a dog in this hunt, or it’s that this is his swan song and a great way to end a long career in politics.

The latter, I think.

It’s also a great way to shake things up.

Democrats haven’t a chance in CD-14 which, under its present boundaries, went for the Republican presidential candidate by 66 to 33%, 66 to 34% and 64 to 36% in the last three presidential elections. No reason to believe that this district will be appreciably changed after the redistricting.

So the shakeup will all be on the GOP. Politico identified 3 possible candidates who might make the run for the nomination: State Senator Mike Jackson, State Reps Dennis Bonnen and Larry Taylor. Of the three, of course Jackson’s district encompasses more of CD-14 than either state reps districts do.

The upshot, I think, is that no matter who they run, the winner is surely going to run things a little differently than the folks in CD-14 are used to. For all his crazy libertarian ideologies, and for all of his No votes cast in support of those ideologies, at least Ron Paul was an ideologue. A wacky ideologue, but an ideologue.

Paul’s successor will be a blood-sucking, in it for me politician where cronyism is king compared to what they have now.

No, unfortunately the only way out for CD-14 voters is to elect a democrat to this seat. Unfortunate in that there is no way in the world that will ever happen.

Daniels Won’t Come Out and Play Either

Unbelievable. CNN is reporting today that Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels will not be joining the ever diminishing crowd of GOP presidential hopefuls to challenge Barack Obama next year.

I was actually counting on him running.

All we have at this point is Newt Gingrich, who at this point won’t be able to punch his way out of a wet paper bag he is so completely compromised, Republican/Libertarian Congressman Ron “Dr. No” Paul, and Herman Cain, the so-called “Colin Powell of the restaurant industry.” Cain is a African-American Tea Bagger. Rare as hen’s teeth.

Expect that number to increase to 4 tomorrow when former governor of Minnesota, Tim Pawlenty throws his hat into the ring.

There are four others who have declared their candidacy including Jimmy McMillan, the guy who ran for mayor of New York City on the Rent is Too Damn High ticket.

Still staying clear of the fray for now is Mitt Romney who enacted a successful state healthcare program that now hangs around his neck like a dead albatross.

And now, since Mike Huckabee the darling of the evangelical right has declined to run, I expect the void to be filled by the crazed congresswoman from Wisconsin.

Evangelicals are going to need someone to vote for so they don’t have a candidate from the Church of Latter Day Saints. Yes, like Mitt Romney, John Huntsman hasn’t a prayer of getting the nomination since GOP primary voters are mainly from the evangelical right. Besides, wasn’t he a member of the Obama Administration?

In short, it looks positively miserable for the GOP.

I couldn’t be happier.

You Still Say Perry’s Not Running for Prez?

I’ve had people tell me that Rick Perry hasn’t a snowball’s chance in Houston of getting on the ballot in November 2012 to challenge Barack Obama. Republicans, they say, don’t like Rick Perry all that much.

Yeah, I say, so why have Texans re-elected the man to an unprecedented 3^rd term? Because they hate him?

Rick Perry has great hair, rugged good looks, wears a nine when he jogs, and says inane things that make people laugh and laugh. He’s also gay, but they keep that little secret because he has a great looking wife and some kids. Rick Perry is, in short, presidential material to most people who vote these days.

And what is more, he knows it even if you don’t.

So that is why, when we Texans are all hunkering down tonight waiting for an onslaught of snow, sleet and freezing rain, and while we endured rolling blackouts for a couple of days as the state struggled to put enough juice in the ERCOT grid (ERCOT is the only power grid in the country that powers exclusively one state, Texas), that is why our governor, Rick Perry is hard at work.

In California.

In Los Angeles, where temperatures are coolish, but nowhere near the sub-freezing temperatures that his entire state has been enduring for most of the week.

In California, where he will be attending a birthday party celebration honoring President Ronald Reagan on the occasion of his 100^th birthday.

Except that Ronald Reagan has been dead for some time, you will recall.

So it will be a party, but the honoree will not be attending due to a previous engagement with eternity.

So I expect that there will be a lot of Republican high rollers there, ones that look back on the days of the Reagan Administration with fond memories. And that is where Rick Perry wants to be, I think. There to show the flag, his face, and where the checks can be sent to.

Better to attend Reagan’s birthday party than, say, the Super Bowl, right? After all, the Super Bowl doesn’t have a Texas team playing this year, do they? No, it’s being played by a couple of Yankee teams.

In Arlington.

Arlington, Texas.

But, hey, they held a Super Bowl in Houston in ’04, didn’t they? So this is the second time Texas has hosted a Super Bowl in Perry’s reign. So it was fun the first time. But again? Sheesh!

Never fear though, there is a report that Perry has his hand on the throttle and things are well in hand. He is taking care of things from far off California.

From the Dallas Morning News:

“But it was Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst who was meeting with the executives of the state's power grid, ERCOT, and the heads of power generating companies. He said the shortage was a failure of some power plants to sufficiently weatherize, which contributed to 50 of the state's 550 power plants going off-line.”

Oh . . . yeah, Dewhurst has his hand on the throttle. The guy who wants to run for Senate.

Dewhurst, or ERCOT, or someone, didn’t exactly get those plants back online but they did succeed in priming the grid with juice from a friendly neighbor, priming the Texas grid with an additional 280 megawatts of power to get us through these dark (literally) days until the weather moderates. The friendly neighbor being, of course, Mexico.

“Mexico's Federal Electricity Commission says it has agreed to transmit 280 megawatts of electricity to Texas between Wednesday and Thursday night. A commission statement says the electricity will be transmitted at interconnection points in Nuevo Laredo -- across the border from Laredo, Texas -- and Piedras Negras, which sits opposite of Eagle Pass, Texas.”

Now, no one is saying how much the Mexican Federal Electricity Commission has arranged to charge Texas for this much-needed power, but I am going to guess that it is kind of like buying crude oil on the spot market: a little more dear than usual.

And I am sure that the power companies will pass that little boost in outgo on to the consumer. But that’s OK, Texans are used to paying among the highest rates in the country for their electricity, courtesy of that Republican brainchild known as deregulation.

So, in this rambling rant, what exactly is my point? I guess my point is, yes, Rick Perry wants to be your next President, and yes, Rick Perry has the tools, the hair, and the backers to make it happen. And yes, Rick Perry has run the state of Texas into a ditch that is so deep that he has to hold one hand out for a handout from Mexico while with the other hand he gives Mexican citizens the back of it with his “sanctuary city” emergency.

Now from what I have been hearing on the Weather Channel, a snowball has a pretty good chance in Houston this evening. Things change. Politics change like Texas' weather.

He’s running I tell you. And he is going to be on the ballot in ’12.

For GOP Presidential Nomination: Who?

OK at this time in 2007 we Democrats had some solid candidates running for the Democratic nomination for an election to be held just over 22 months later on. As I recall we had Barack Obama and John Edwards with their hats in the ring. Yes it was early but it seemed to be common wisdom at the time that getting a nomination was going to be almost a full-time job from now on.

So then, where are the GOP candidates? Who has declared their candidacy?

Only the crickets are speaking up, for now at least.

All we know is who is not running. At this point Indiana congressman Mike Pence says that he is not going to honor the Tea Party by being its presidential standard bearer, having rebuffed both Dick Armey, who heads up the Teabagger front organization FreedomWorks, and those who voted for him – a majority no less -= at the Value Voters Summit.

Pence says he wants to be Governor of Indiana.

Then there’s Mike Huckabee, the darling of the Christian Right. One thing about Huckabee, he will always get the evangelical vote, and he is still polling an always faithful 21% come rain or shine. Or 24%, depending on which poll you are willing to believe. But has Huckabee said anything?

Or Mitt Romney. I keep telling my LDS acquaintances that Mitt Romney will never be the nominee if the Evangelical Right has any say in the matter. They are unusually rabid about Romney’s religion. It works in Massachusetts where evangelicals are in the vast minority, but in the American heartland? Forget it. Still, Romney has not given it up because he finds himself in New Hampshire a lot lately. Guessing, I imagine that he has a home court advantage over his competitors in this early primary so important for the illusion of momentum.

Or Tim Pawlenty? Yawn.

Huckabee, Romney and Pawlenty. Geez. That’s the mainstream selection so far.

The Tea Party is going to be the fun one to watch. They are still courting Jim DeMint, who has yet to pull a Mike Pence and slam the door on the possibility, and unbelievably, Sharron Angle hasn’t ruled out running for President.

Yeah, that Sharron Angle.

Sarah Palin still won’t go away, even though she now has discovered the acronym WTF. You know, WTF = Winning The Future. This perennial candidate brings presidential campaigning to a level so low, you might say her political vision is subsea. She is a non-entity now, just as Michelle Bachmann has rendered herself a “poor man’s Sarah Palin” according to the daughter of Senator John McCain, Palin’s running mate.

So, barring some unknown dark horse, the 2012 Presidential Election GOP Primary season is really shaping up for a real barn-burner. And the person that emerges from it beating the flames out with his or her hands is going to have a party unification issue that we haven’t seen for a long, long time.

President Perry?

It would be a bigger joke if I had any respect for the collective memories of Americans.

Surely, you would think that after suffering through eight years, two wars, a loss of personal freedoms unseen in our history, and the biggest economic downturn since the Great Depression, Americans would think twice about electing yet another Texas governor. Another glib governor with a fairly well-developed sense of humor yet rather dim between the ears.

Not in a century you might say.

Still then, what is it with the reports that just a day after an inaugural celebration took place in Austin – at a cost of millions (that might have been better spent doing something about the $27 billion budget deficit) – now we are finding that Rick is sending out brainwaves of extra-territorial concern

At his inaugural today he had some words to say about things not Texas, even though a $27 billion budget deficit is something that he should clearly be focused on, some say to the tune of 10000% of his time.

From Time:

“‘You might say historians will look back on this as the Texas century. Americans once looked to the East Coast for opportunity and inspiration, then to the West Coast. Today they are looking to the Gulf Coast — they are looking to Texas.’ Perry also commented on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the turmoil in Mexico, acknowledging the presence of a Mexican border delegation honoring his inauguration.”

And later on:

“Perry watchers point out what they feel is a significant bit of scheduling: the governor will not be at the Super Bowl in Dallas Feb. 6 but will be in California honoring the 100th anniversary of President Ronald Reagan's birth.”

Ronald Reagan wasn’t born in California.

Sigh.

Teabaggers love Perry for his secessionist ways. And maybe in earlier times I would hope for and even invite Rick Perry to run against Barack Obama in 2012. Because that plus the job performance of the previous Texas governor, that should assure President Obama another 4 years.

All bets are off, though. Between corporate funding of elections and the collective American penchant for amnesia, I can only hope that Perry won’t make it out of the starting blocks because of his disastrous economic policies that may just drive the state that he leads over a cliff.

Otherwise we might just have a genuine pistol-packin,’ coyote shootin,’ friend-of-the-corporation, yahoo in the White House – again.

Sarah Palin: As Serious as a Heart Attack

I can’t think of another Teabagging Republican that I’d like to have running against Barack Obama in 2012 than Sarah Palin, and today she just made my day.

Sarah Palin is going to run for President in 2012.

But the way she backhandedly made her announcement has me absolutely flummoxed. Sarah Palin says that she will run for President “if there’s nobody else to do it.”

That is, I guess, if Mike Huckabee, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, or heck, Christine O’Donnell don’t toss their hats into the ring, then, aw shucks, Sarah will do it.

Continuing, Palin was quoted saying this:

“…it's going to entail a discussion with my family [and] a real close look at the lay of the land, to consider whether there are those with that common sense, conservative, pro-Constitution passion, whether there are already candidates out there who can do the job.”

This is the ultimate candidate. What she is saying is that if no one is out there that can out-common-sense her, no one can out-conservative her, no one can out-pro-constitution-passion her, then she’ll run.

By Sarah Palin’s own admission, she is the best-qualified candidate if she indeed decides to run.

With logic like that, who needs intelligence and political savvy?

Obama’s Speech to Schoolchildren: Here We Go Again

On Tuesday, September 14th President Barack Obama will address the nation’s school children now that just about all of them are back in school about the importance of trying hard. The importance of succeeding.

The importance of a good education.

And in a school district near my abode, the Fort Bend Independent School District, it will be decided on a campus-by-campus basis whether to allow their students to view the president’s speech.

And parents of children at campuses that decide to show the speech, in their social studies classes, who do not wish their children to hear the speech will be given the opportunity to turn in an “opt out” form.

This I found out from FortBendNow:

“Fort Bend Independent Schools will decide on a campus-basis if they will show President Barack Obama’s “Back to School Speech” on Sept. 14. All principals will be sending home a parent letter with students to let them know about the decision of their child’s campus either today or tomorrow.”

“For those campuses that choose to show the President’s speech, they will show the speech during their Social Studies classes.”

“If any parents or students request to be excused from viewing the message, the campus will provide an opportunity for those students to engage in another “constructive activity” on the campus during the speech broadcast.”

Now I thought that we were done with this kind of stuff. A year ago there was such a hew and cry over the political indoctrination of our schoolchildren by a Kenyan-born, Nazi, socialistic communist that when the speech was eventually delivered, and it turned out to be uplifting and all about doing well in school, that there were a few shame-faced people running around in the anti-climax that followed the speech’s delivery.

But now, apparently, we still can’t cede legitimacy to our president, and I have to wonder why.

And here is what I have come up with.

We are now entering the campaign season and Republicans are chomping at the bit to get the Democrats out of power like they did in the 1994 mid-term election. Republicans have so thoroughly swallowed the Kool-Aid that their hypemeisters have served that giving our president any opportunity to speak is a major blow to their plans.

This is a purely political move in my humble opinion.

A purely political move to counter what is most arguably a very apolitical effort to encourage our nation’s students to succeed in school.

This is exactly what the president should be doing. He is the epitome of what can happen to a person of modest beginnings if he or she simply apply themselves and get the best education that they can.

But sadly, Fort Bend ISD lies almost entirely within the congressional boundaries of CD-22, a district currently occupied by a Republican neoconservative parrot, and previously occupied by Tom “The Hammer” DeLay. The people who live in that district are vocal and political hardliners. And because of that, individual campuses have the right to censor the words of our Democratic president.

And that’s just a crying shame.

The President’s B-Day

Yesterday, August 4th 2010 was the President’s birthday. So I decided to find out what was happening at the new Democratic Party HQ to celebrate Barack Obama’s 49th birthday. And in classic fashion, it was pretty much business as usual.

They were conducting a phone bank.

But they had cake.

And then today I got a “thank you” note from our president. Awhile back I signed an electronic version of his birthday card. I hear it was me and about 1.2 million Americans.

If you didn’t sign the card, you didn’t get the note.

Here is what it said:

Hal --

I want to thank you for signing my birthday card.

Michelle told me that she was planning something a little different this year, and I was overwhelmed by the kind words I received from so many supporters like you.

This job has a way of offering humbling moments. And the support you have shown me, time and time again, has sustained me through any number of difficult days. It is more than any president deserves, and I could not be more grateful.

On my birthday, I spent some time considering what the year ahead will bring -- a new set of challenges and opportunities, some that we can foresee and some that we cannot.

If we continue to stand together, I know we will continue to move America forward and win these fights for change.

Thank you again for taking a moment to sign my card. As far as birthdays go, it is hard to imagine topping this one. But then again, Michelle always has a way of surprising me.

Sincerely,

Barack

Obama On “The View”

I don’t watch “The View.” Indeed, I don’t watch any daytime interview shows that come on after 7 AM. It seems like there is an hour, maybe 8 AM, maybe 9 AM, when the assumed audience of commercial TV stations becomes female.

And this, occurring in the last year of the first decade of the 21st century, floors me. That the assumption is that the television viewers at home are women because their menfolk are all off at work seems so backward to me.

So I don’t watch “The View” because it does have that feminine slant that I, as a male, just don’t “get.”

But I knew that President Barack Obama was going to be on “The View” today because it made all the news programs that I saw last night. I guess that is news because no sitting president has ever come on a daytime interview television show before (and again, this floors me – why has it taken this long?). So when I was again reminded this morning about the program, one that I vowed to view, as it were, I had to Google “The View” to see when it came on.

Much to my chagrin, I discovered that it had been airing since 10 AM CDT, and it was at that moment 10:23. So I did catch a piece of it, but will have to log on to ABC tomorrow to see the part that I missed on their streaming video.

This is the part that has been shown on the news programs, a part that I missed, naturally. It is a pretty good piece, and yes, I heartily agree with the President that when your kids are older, but not yet teenagers, that is a really good time to be a parent.

Facts and Stats: Obama’s First Year

Someone sent me a link to an old CBS News online article about President Obama’s 1st year. It included a “rate the President” poll that asks to rate President Obama on 10 general issues from A to F.

Great, I said, every Teabagger in the country will send an email to every other Teabagger to take the poll. Because what do they know about polls which are carefully conducted over a large sampling rather than over a small rabid portion of the population who will do anything to cast our President in a bag lighting.

And I wasn’t wrong. While Obama enjoys an overall 53% approval rate (the same numbers as voted for him in 2008) according to this poll Obama rates less than 10% in scoring either an A or a B.

So the Rabid Right had their say in this very unscientific and invalid poll.

Leading me to ask why did CBS even do that poll? To what end? Is it because they have noticed that Fox has some pretty good journalistic ideas on how to grab an audience?

Is CBS the next Fox?

Then I looked at a related piece written by CBS correspondent Mark Knoller. This one I did like. This is because Knoller gives us a panoramic view of how Barack Obama has conducted his first year of his presidency versus how his predecessor, Bush-43 conducted his.

The contrast is striking, especially when the identical activities of the two presidents are compared (as shown in the table below).

In their first years of office the following things were done this many times:

Do I have to draw you a picture?

“Lost” Fans Fear Presidential Preemption

OK, now it is official. I have now heard it all. I thought I had heard it all when Brit Hume gave his heartfelt advice to Tiger Woods that he ought to dump his Buddhist beliefs because as a Christian he would be more easily forgiven for his dozen or so adulterous transgressions.

Telling me that Hume thinks that Christians are far more used to forgiving, and more practiced at it than Buddhists.

Which may actually be so, considering the line of adulterous Christians that seems to stretch back to the horizon.

But no. I finally have to admit that I hadn’t heard it all until I learned that fans of the commercial television show, “Lost,” have actually started a Facebook group called “Americans Against the State of the Union on the Same Night as LOST.”

Because apparently President Obama is set to deliver his State of the Union address, the only presidential speech that is constitutionally mandated, on February 2nd, Ground Hog Day. On the same day of the season premiere of said television show.

There are even comments on Twitter, the social networking medium preferred by GOPers.

Like “Leave my LOST alone, Skippy!” and “Come onnnn, Obama..pick another day.”

My guess that any other day, to these truly lost people, would be completely inconvenient to them as well.

Now, not being a fan of “Lost,” or really, of any commercial television show, I cannot commiserate with the fans of “Lost,” otherwise known as Losers, but I can offer a possible fix to their dilemma.

Watch it online.

Top Ten Things that Barack Obama Should Do With His Nobel Prize Award

I was inspired today when I read that the Republican Party of Texas has commented on Friday’s announcement that a sitting US President has won the Nobel Peace Prize by reminding all of us that the prize comes with a monetary award. In this case a $1.4 million monetary award. Now this has them all very concerned down there in the Republican Party. I quote from their statement, all of which you can find here:

“There is one thing we will point out, though. Given the fact that the Nobel Committee has repeatedly awarded various failed Democrats for essentially Not Being Bush, and given the fact that President Obama will stand for election again in 2012 and that today's Nobel Prize will surely come up during that campaign, the Obama re-election committee is duty bound to report the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize as a campaign contribution from a foreign source.”

“Because that's exactly what it is.”

Uh oh. Campaign contributions from a foreign source. Can’t have that. And apparently Barack Obama himself agrees. The White House announced later that day that President Obama will donate all of his prize money to charity.

This has evoked a virtual torrent of news articles, both serious and whimsical, from points of view on both the left and the right, on what Obama should do with his award. On the right, particularly at Fox News, there are a sickening number of posters who unabashedly mention how Obama may need a grille on his teeth. Others that support the purchase of various ornaments to decorate his ride.

I have decided to join in the fray. And again, with apologies to David Letterman (who needs to make a few apologies himself these days), presented below is the Half Empty list of the Top Ten Things that Barack Obama Should Do With His Nobel Prize Award.

10. Buy 100,000 copies of Sarah Palin’s book, Going Rogue, and grind them into compost.

9. Buy postage and stationary for George W. Bush so he can send apology letters to wounded soldiers, families of 9-11 victims, foreign nationals who have been “renditioned,” and the voters of Palm Beach County, Florida.

8. Buy copies of John F. Kennedy’s Profiles in Courage and give them to every Red State Democratic senator and every Blue Dog Democrat in the House of Representatives.

7. Corner the market on the United States' total supply of sour grapes and send them to the Republican Party of Texas with a note affixed simply reading “Enjoy.”

6. Buy 40 cases of Ex-Lax and send one to each Republican US senator. Maybe if we get them unplugged we can get some healthcare reform passed this year.

5. Reimburse Senator John Ensign’s parents for the $96,000 “gift” they made to Doug and Cindy Hampton for . . . well, for just being the great couple that they are.

4. Give it all to Rush Limbaugh. It will render him speechless for a time, and that will be $1.4 million well spent.

3. Everybody says give it to ACORN. OK, give it to ACORN but with the stipulation that they can only use it to buy brothels for rightwing nutjobs carrying video cameras.

2. Buy a bunch of those lawn jockey statues that were once so popular in The South and give them to each and every federal legislator who goes out of his or her way to dismiss Barack Obama because of his biracial ancestry.

And the number one thing that Barack Obama should do with his Nobel Prize award?

1. Pay Kanye West to go on national TV to congratulate Obama for winning The Prize by saying this: “Yo, Obama Imma let you finish but Henry Kissinger had the best accomplishment for winning the Nobel Peace Prize.”

Dismissing The Prize

The country is full of people today who are going out of their way to dismiss the President of the United States. Dismissing him because he is too black. Because he is too young. Because he is too foreign. Because he is too liberal.

And now they are dismissing him because he won the Nobel Peace Prize, and they don’t think he deserves it.

But guess what? Obama himself doesn’t think that he deserves the award. Not for personal achievement anyway. From his speech this morning:

“I am both surprised and deeply humbled by the decision of the Nobel Committee. Let me be clear, I do not view it as recognition of my own accomplishments, but rather as an affirmation of American leadership on behalf of aspirations held by people in all nations. To be honest, I do not feel that I deserve to be in the company of so many of the transformative figures who have been honored by this prize. Men and women who have inspired me and inspired the entire world through their courageous pursuit of peace. . . . And I know that throughout history the Nobel Peace prize has not been used to honor specific achievement but it’s also been used as a means to give momentum to a set of causes. And that is why I will accept this award as a call to action. A call for all nations to confront the common challenges of the 21st century.”

But again, I think Obama is being a little too humble. I think that there is a level of achievement that needs to be considered. Obama has become a force for a new dialogue and a symbol for peaceful resolution of conflict.

In reality, the prize is just as much a statement for the world’s positive opinion of Obama's world view as it is a statement for the world’s negative view of the policies of his predecessor.

Where Bush strived to develop an anti-missile system to oppose the non-existent Russian threat, Obama has dismantled that effort. Where Bush tried to push the production of another fighter plane, the F-22, Obama killed the project as an unneeded war weapon that was also a waste of taxpayer money (getting thanks from no Republicans). Where Bush and McCain were all for a military confrontation in Iran (Remember ‘Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb bomb Iran?), Obama has opened dialogue with them (as he said he would). Where Bush inflamed the passions of the Muslim world, Obama went to Cairo and his speech there on that day brought Muslims to their feet.

Because we are here in America, maybe we can’t see it. We are too close to the situation perhaps. Internationally, Obama is simply seen from a different perspective. Through different eyes.

No, I will not join the chorus of voices dismissing Obama’s Nobel Peace Prize. I think he merits it. I think that the only thing that is completely wrong with this is that the man is still only 48 years old. Only 48 and he not only has become the President of the United States and an internationally respected figure, but now has a Nobel under his belt.

What do you do after that?

In Case You Didn't Get Our President's July 4th Message

I'm sorry, I have spent my day finalizing my Democratic Club's TEC filing and it took up all of my time today. More on that later.

But it is the 4th of July. Independence Day. I love this day.

Down the British. Up the Americans.

So if you didn't get our president's 4th of July message, here it is. You can thank me by voting Democratic.

This weekend, our family will join millions of others in celebrating America. We will enjoy the glow of fireworks, the taste of barbeque, and the company of good friends. As we all celebrate this weekend, let's also remember the remarkable story that led to this day.

Two hundred and thirty-three years ago, our nation was born when a courageous group of patriots pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to the proposition that all of us were created equal.

Our country began as a unique experiment in liberty -- a bold, evolving quest to achieve a more perfect union. And in every generation, another courageous group of patriots has taken us one step closer to fully realizing the dream our founders enshrined on that great day.

Today, all Americans have a hard-fought birthright to a freedom which enables each of us, no matter our views or background, to help set our nation's course. America's greatness has always depended on her citizens embracing that freedom -- and fulfilling the duty that comes with it.

As free people, we must each take the challenges and opportunities that face this nation as our own. As long as some Americans still must struggle, none of us can be fully content. And as America comes ever closer to achieving the perfect Union our founders dreamed, that triumph -- that pride -- belongs to all of us.

So today is a day to reflect on our independence, and the sacrifice of our troops standing in harm's way to preserve and protect it. It is a day to celebrate all that America is. And today is a time to aspire toward all we can still become.

With very best wishes,

President Barack Obama

July 4th, 2009

P.S. -- Our nation's birthday is also an ideal time to consider serving in your local community. You can find many great ideas for service opportunities near you at http://www.serve.gov.

85 Days to Godwin’s Law

I have to hand it to the neoconservatives who are (thankfully) now out of power. It didn’t take them long.

It only took them 85 days for Godwin’s Law to preside over public discourse on the internet.

Or anywhere else, for that matter.

Godwin’s Law, for those who don’t know, is a law of modern human discourse. There are lots of versions, but the one I like is the one that attempts to quantify the phenomenon.

Godwin’s Law: “As a Usenet discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.”

Now this law was constructed in 1990 when the internet was in its infancy, and the mode of exchange of the day was a “Usenet.” But now internet discussion has mushroomed to include just about every form of human information exchange there is in existence. Godwin’s Law, by all rights, should be applied accordingly

There is a corollary to Godwin’s Law that is sometimes mistaken for the actual law. Here is Corollary 1 to Godwin’s Law:

“Once such a comparison is made, the thread is finished and whoever mentioned the Nazis has automatically "lost" whatever debate was in progress.”

Neoconservatives were falling all over themselves last year calling Barack Obama a socialist. The trouble is, the term “socialist” doesn’t have the bite it once had. Not since education became publicly funded. Not since Social Security was enacted.

And Medicare.

Socialist programs all.

And it certainly didn’t help warn off the voters, did it?

So if it doesn’t work trying to associate Barack Obama with far leftwing politics, why not change tactics and associate him with far rightwing politics?

Why not compare Barack Obama to Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini? Why not?

So that’s exactly with former Michigan GOP chairman Saul Anuzis decided to do, and used this as his rationale.

“‘We’ve so overused the word ‘socialism’ that it no longer has the negative connotation it had 20 years ago, or even 10 years ago,’ Mr. Anuzis said. ‘Fascism — everybody still thinks that’s a bad thing.’”

Well heck, at least he’s honest.

He’s even a little analytical about it, about how the term needs to be dressed up the correct way in order not to sound like a psychotic person:

“‘It’s politically very incorrect only because we’re not used to it,’ concluded Mr. Anuzis, who recently joined American Solutions for Winning the Future, a group led by Newt Gingrich, a former House speaker. But he acknowledged, ‘You’ve got to be careful using the term ‘economic fascism’ in the right way, so it doesn’t come off as extreme.’”

Trouble is, some were not listening when he threw out those caveats.

From the Montgomery Advertiser:

“If you think I am overreacting, you merely have to look at what leaders of his ilk have done throughout history to gain and maintain power. Yes, he is charismatic and convincing to many. Although I do not intend to link his motives directly, so was Hitler.”

Or as caught on camera at a TEA party:

I found a few more websites, some “waaaay out there” blogs but am going to opt out of linking to them because some of these people look like they are seriously unbalanced. Which is the problem with throwing wild things like this out there in the first place.

Some people see it for what it is: political rhetoric.

Some people believe every single word.

Fixed Noise: Is Obama Really President?

Well it didn’t take the crazies down at Fox News any time at all to glom on to the botched up oath that Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts delivered to President Obama yesterday, did it?

Fox’s Chris Wallace, forever the constitutional law inept, gets it all wrong again.

“You know, Megan, I have to say, I’m not sure that Barack Obama really is the President of the United States because the oath of office is set in the Constitution and I wasn’t at all convinced that ah, even after he tried to amend it that John Roberts ever got it out straight and that Barack Obama ever said the prescribed words. I suspect that everybody is going to forgive him and allow him to take over as President but I’m not sure that he said what is in the Constitution there.”

Or you can watch his idiotic performance here.

Why is this so idiotic?

If the exact recitation of this oath is the acid test by which the very fact that a person becomes President is based, then this country has never had a valid President. Here is what it says in the Constitution:

“Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation:--I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.”

Period.

Yet every President since George Washington has added the final phrase, “…so help me God.” And by custom that phrase has even been included in the oath that the Chief Justice utters for the President to repeat. Washington added the phrase voluntarily.

So no President has ever taken the oath of office as set down in the Constitution.

Now as to who administers the oath, the Constitution is silent on that issue. But by convention and custom the task has fallen to the Chief Justice. So in reality, Obama did not have to allow the Chief Justice administer the oath. His wife could have done it (and as it turns out, should have).

And given their recent history that as US Senators, both Obama and Biden voted not to confirm Roberts as Chief Justice, perhaps President Obama should have considered the possibility that Roberts might intentionally create this mar on an otherwise near-perfect ceremony.

Not sayin’ that he did it on purpose. Just sayin’.

No, the only real foul-up in the ceremony was including the “Simple Gifts” quintet in the agenda. Now I really appreciated the big names that were called to perform this American classic, and the likes of John Williams to create the arrangement, but what they did to that otherwise pleasant song is truly a crime.

But that’s not the worst of it. The worst of it is while they were sawing through that abominable arrangement the seconds past noon were ticking and Bush’s term had already officially expired.

Had expired, and we didn’t yet have a President.

Well, actually we did. Since Joe Biden had taken his oath of office before the quintet ground out that atrocity, we did have a President. It was Joe Biden, and he continued to be President for a full four minutes.

Did You See the “We Are One” Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial Today?

Yeah, I did too. It was an amazing production. And from the lineup of speakers and entertainers, it is apparent that Hollywood is on vacation for a few days.

Here is the list of performers courtesy of Billboard:

Beyonce, Mary J. Blige, Bono, Garth Brooks, Sheryl Crow, Renee Fleming, Josh Groban, Herbie Hancock, Heather Headley, John Legend, Jennifer Nettles, John Mellencamp, Usher, Shakira, Bruce Springsteen, James Taylor, will.i.am, and Stevie Wonder.

I watched it with friends over a late lunch. We were all amazed when Garth Brooks sang three songs, not one of which was either Country or Western,

But the final event really wowed me. Pete Seegar joined this star-studded cast and sang his signature song, all 87 verses of “This Land Is Your Land.”

Well, I exaggerate a little, the Woody Guthrie song doesn’t have 87 verses.

But it very nearly does.

Pete Seegar.

You know, I made the observation to my friends that Pete Seegar was an old man when he became famous in the 60’s when he was an icon in the anti-war movement along with Joan Baez and all of those other old commies that helped to get us out of another unjust and illegal war.

And really, he doesn’t look much different now than he did then.

This coming May 3^rd, Pete Seegar will turn 90.

I looked on You Tube to see if anyone had uploaded today’s performance, and all you can find right now is footage of Shakira (naturally) and a video taken from the video phone of some of the event attendees singing along with Pete. So I thought I’d settle with someone’s paean to Pete – they used a cut of the song that was made when Pete Seegar was a much younger man.

When he was about my age.

Did You Get One of These?

I empty my mailbox once a week whether I need to or not. And what should I find in my mailbox this past week but an 8.5 x 11 inch envelope with an admonition to the postal carrier that he or she shall not handle it with an uncaring mind.

What should lie within the confines of this envelope? None other than my once-in-a-lifetime invitation to the glorious Inauguration of Barack H. Obama and Joseph R. Biden as President and Vice-President of the United States, respectively. (Click to enlarge) Alas, but I will not be able to attend, but it’s nice to be invited.

Instead I will be attending a far more local and less pricey (at $35) Inaugural Ball in the backyard of Tom DeLayville: the Sugar Creek Country Club.

A million of us, donors to the campaign of Barack Obama, received this invitation. But that’s really the best part of this story.

As reported here, Precise Continental, a printing firm in Brooklyn, New York was about to effect a 4-day work week for its 65 employees. Said shop owner Jim Donnelly:

“I was cautioning them about January that business didn't look good.”

In the meantime, the Obama campaign was looking for a strong union shop that used recycled paper for its feedstock. It settled on Precise Continental for those reasons. And the fact is, it turned a dismal holiday season into a boom.

“’The average employee went home last Wednesday with two-and-a-half-weeks check because of all the overtime they put in,’ Donnelly said. ‘You can buy a lot of Christmas presents with that.’”

So really, it’s more than just to be a one-in-a-million recipient of this union-produced memento of an historic event. It’s the story behind it.

A story that gives me hope for the future of our country.