Sooner Blue

Sam was a galunky kind of guy,
my cousin says. He walked like this.
He takes on a bow-legged swagger
that makes us laugh. And boy,
could he drink beer. He lifts his hand,
tipping imaginary cans in quick succession.
He talked real fast too. Back then we laughed,
asked what was the rush? Never slowed him any.
Girls loved him. He was such a big guy,
think they figured he must have a big heart.

My cousin slows a little in his walk,
tugs on his ear to remember more.

We hung out a lot and unless he was excited,
talking fast, he was real quiet, would just sit,
stare out to space like he was someplace else.
Maybe he was thinking about the girl he loved
who died one winter, fell through the ice
as she was skating towards him.
She was only twenty feet away, her arms out wide.
They say he was there all night,
smashed the ice in a hundred places to find her.
They pulled her out in the Spring.
I think when he talked so fast
he was trying to forget,
like the words would fill up the space she left.

My cousin stops in the road,
brushes imaginary hair from his eyes.

I lost touch for some time, years went by.
I didn't hear from Sam, neither of us
were much use at letter writing.
Then one summer I came home to visit,
bumped right into him in a store downtown.
He talked real slow, like he was a clock
that had wound down. He said he'd taken up fishing.
He said he didn't much care for fish
but when he flung the line out hard,
heard the whir as it spun out over the water,
saw the river winking and glinting at him,
he felt he could catch anything.

by Kate Scott

"Fishing", from Stitches. © Peterloo Poets, 2003. Reprinted with permission.

I heard people on TV blame Egypt's uprising on "income inequality" .. well, we have the same problem in this country. But the reason we don't have rioting in the streets is because, no matter how hard the Republicans try to block it, our social safety net is working .. though just barely.

Unemployment insurance keeps families fed and with a roof over their heads .. they can use Medicaid and COBRA if they get sick .. and still other programs help them with retraining and job search.

Go ahead and call me a socialist ... BOO! 

A few days ago George W. Bush said in a C-SPAN interview that he was through with politics for good. "I don’t want to go out and campaign for candidates. I don’t want to be viewed as a perpetual money-raiser. .. I don’t want to be on these talk shows, giving my opinion, second-guessing the current president ... I think it’s bad for the country, frankly, to have a former president criticize his successor."

The interview was taped at the future site of Bush’s presidential library. It was on C-Span’s "Q & A":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KO_3_OFd1q0

That's all well and good, trying to come off all wise and humble *now* .. appearing to take the high road, staying above the fray by not commenting on the new president. He probably hates the comparison .. the whole world likes cool, calm, thoughtful and intelligent President Obama.

But I think Bush wants to fade to black because he knows that the majority of Americans still think he illegally started an unnecessary war, and drove this country into a ditch financially .. from which we're still struggling to recover.

If it were me, I'd keep the lowdown low too .. not draw any attention to myself.

Yeah, I know he sold a lot of copies of his book .. people probably just wanted to know what the hell was he thinking.

He never really engaged enough "in politics" in the first place .. looking so out of his depth for the last few years of his presidency. Maybe it was the increasing criticism even from former supporters that was getting to him. Remember how "Poppy" cried defending him?

I was only proud of GWBush one day - on 9/11 when he stood on some rubble at Ground Zero with a bullhorn, saying something that unified us as a nation.

Like I said, I really don't think he was ever interested in politics per se .. he just made an excellent frontman for Big Oil interests. He never had any sort of intellectual curiosity about the issues .. so, his desire to leave politics fits right in with all that.

Oh, if only Karl Rove had never gotten a man-crush on him that day .. had never seen him in that Air National Guard flight jacket, tight jeans, and cowboy boots .. had just left him alone when he finished his term as Gov. of Texas .. oh the misery the world could have been spared.

Dictators do not leave easily. We could be in for a bumpy ride .. no matter how the revolt in Egypt turns out, any political unrest in the Middle East could hinder oil shipments.

Yet I am grateful that the Egyptian protesters rose up and put their lives on the line to "throw the bums out" .. because many people think that Mubarak's ruling Egypt as a corrupt dictator for 30 years might have fueled the hate that caused 9/11.

Even though his regime has been our ally in fighting terrorism, many think that 9/11 "was born in the prisons of Egypt."

Here's an interesting piece in the NYT - "The Devil We Know" by Ross Douthat:

"....By visiting imprisonment, torture and exile upon Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood, Mubarak foreclosed any possibility of an Islamic revolution in his own country. But he also helped radicalize and internationalize his country’s Islamists, pushing men like Ayman Al-Zawahiri — Osama bin Laden’s chief lieutenant, and arguably the real brains behind Al Qaeda — out of Egyptian politics and into the global jihad. ....

Under his rule, Egypt received more American dollars than any country besides Israel. For many young Egyptians, restless amid political and economic stagnation, it’s been a short leap from hating their dictator to hating his patrons in the United States. One of the men who made this leap was an architecture student named Mohamed Atta, who was at the cockpit when American Airlines Flight 11 hit the World Trade Center. ...[..]"

Another thing - I'm tired of this revolt being fought along partisan lines over here. This has nothing to do with liberalism or conservatism .. it's a question of embracing and helping those who desire freedom and a better way of life.

The US will lose credibility if we do not back the rebels strongly enough.

President Obama went to Cairo in 2009 and talked a lot about hope and peace in the Middle East .. we shouldn't be surprised that they now want him to offer them a hand.

ALGIERS — More than 10,000 protesters marched against authorities in Algeria's northeastern city of Bejaia on Saturday, organisers said, in the country's latest rally inspired by neighbouring Tunisia.[..]"

Probably within a week, goodbye Mubarak.

Say what you will about Wikileaks, but they reported that the US has known all along about the abuse, torture, and even murder of political dissidents under Mubarak's regime.

And Jordan's Muslim Brotherhood warns that the angry unrest in Egypt will spread across the Middle East and Arabs will topple leaders allied with the US.

So, next Algeria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan?

It's all ripe for revolt .. the people have had enough of dictators, corruption, no jobs, no food, and privileges for a select few.

Hmmm .. then what are we gonna do for allies in the Middle East ..

On the streets of Cairo, one of the roving TV reporters held up an empty tear gas canister, saying an angry Egyptian rioter had given it to him and pointed out that it had "Made in the USA" printed on it.

We also sell them tanks and fighter jets to protect all Egyptians from hostile outside forces .. but still, "Made in the USA" was a powerful symbol to the angry rioter. The tear gas was used on him.

Tear gas is nasty business, but it's better than being shot or beaten half to death by the police. You can't compare it to weapons of war .. it's just a riot control tool.

But the angry rioter doesn't see it that way .. it fuels his rage because he thinks we are the reason his corrupt leader stays in power. He sees Mubarak as being propped up for thirty years with billions of dollars in US aid.

So, in a way, they are rebelling against us.

Our leaders in DC – President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton - are between a rock and a hard place. They want to appear as if they support the rebelling Egyptians .. who are, in part, rebelling against us.

It's complicated, you see.

I understand and sympathize with their anger. So many of them can't find jobs, can't afford to feed their families because of inflation .. so many live in cities like Garbage City.

So far, the revolt has been largely leaderless .. not led by any particular political party.

One good sign - Mubarak's decision to put his army in the streets seems to have backfired .. because troops seem sympathetic to the protesters. This morning's papers show the army allowing protesters to sit on the tanks.

Here's the latest from the New York Times: "...In the central Tahrir, or Independence, Square — which has become an epicenter of protest — the demonstrators seemed greater than the thousands on Saturday, feting the military as guardians. At one point, crowds hoisted aloft an officer and processed through the throng chanting: "The people and the army are one hand." ...[..]"

One question - what happens if these good Egyptians, who dream of Democracy and human rights, really do bring down the regime .. and in the vacuum some group will take power and put in place a far more repressive government?

What the children remember about Uncle Jim
is that on the train to Reno to get divorced
so he could marry again
he met another woman and woke up in California.
It took him seven years to untangle that dream
but a man who could sing like Uncle Jim
was bound to get in scrapes now and then:
he expected it and we expected it.

Mother said, It's because he was the middle child,
and Father said, Yeah, where there's trouble
Jim's in the middle.

When he lost his voice he lost all of it
to the surgeon's knife and refused the voice box
they wanted to insert. In fact he refused
almost everything. Look, they said,
it's up to you. How many years
do you want to live? and Uncle Jim
held up one finger.
The middle one.

by Peter Meinke

"Uncle Jim", from Liquid Paper: New and Selected Poems. © University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991. Reprinted with permission.

(Just for the record, I am not so much pro-abortion as I am anti-coat hanger)

Here we go again, Republicans keep chipping away at women's reproductive rights .. anything to prohibit taxpayer dollars from being spent on abortion.

If we ever get to pick and choose what we spend public money on based on our moral principles, I'd like to start with war.

Just because someone doesn't believe in abortion doesn't give them the right to tell others to live by their beliefs. I hate abortion, but I would never try to tell the woman next door what she can do with her own body.

Ever since 1976, we've had a federal law that bans the use of taxpayer money to pay for abortions - except in the cases of rape, incest, and when the pregnancy endangers the life of the woman.

But now, House Republicans are challenging these exceptions .. they want to redefine rape .. saying that it's not rape unless it involves force.

Sorry ladies .. you don't have any say about pregnancy resulting from rape .. unless the rapist beat the crap out of you.

Nick Baumann has an excellent article about all this in motherjones.com:

"Drugged, raped, and pregnant? Too bad. Republicans are pushing to limit rape and incest cases eligible for government abortion funding."

It's the "No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act" .. a bill that House Speaker Boehner says is "a top priority in the new Congress."

Wonder how many jobs this bill will create? Because Boehner promised to focus on the economy .. but, no, they try to ride herd on uteruses .. never mind that some of them belong to girl children who didn't fight back.

"This would rule out federal assistance for abortions in many rape cases, including instances of statutory rape, many of which are non-forcible. For example: If a 13-year-old girl is impregnated by a 24-year-old adult, she would no longer qualify to have Medicaid pay for an abortion."

So, they would force 13-year-old incest survivors to give birth to their rapists’ babies .. also the developmentally disabled girl gang raped and impregnated by boys who told her it was a "game" ...

This bill will probably pass in the House, like the GOP's repeal of the healthcare act, but won't stand much of a chance in the Senate, and the White House will oppose it.

But .. it just goes to show you what Republican priorities actually are .. and I sure hope that jobless voters sit up and take notice of the shift from real issues to zealotry ...

They improve everything, pork chops to soup,
And not only that but each onion's a group.

Peel back the skin, delve into tissue
And see how an onion has been blessed with issue.

Every layer produces an ovum:
You think you've got three then you find you've got fovum.

Onion on on—
Ion on onion they run,
Each but the smallest one some onion's mother:
An onion comprises a half-dozen other.

In sum then an onion you could say is less
Than the sum of its parts.
But then I like things that more are than profess—
In food and the arts.

Things pungent, not tony.
I'll take Damon Runyon
Over Antonioni—
Who if an i wanders becomes Anti-onion.
I'm anti-baloney.

Although a baloney sandwich would
Right now, with onions, be right good.

And so would sliced onions,
Chewed with cheese,
Or onions chopped and sprinkled
Over black-eyed peas:

Black-eyed,
grey-gravied,
absorbent of essences,
eaten on New Year's Eve
peas.

by Roy Blount, Jr.

Reprinted with permission.

According to the independent non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, the biggest part of today's federal deficits & debt - as well as the future projected federal deficits & debt - is a result of an enormous loss in federal income tax revenue because of all those tax cuts we've given to the Corporate Rich .. which were enacted during the previous administration.

Way back in 1980 (before Reagan), the top 1 percent of the richest people had 9 percent of the total national income. By 2007, the top 1 percent was raking in more than 23 percent of the total national income .. while their tax burden decreased by about one-third.

And don't tell me that corporate tax cuts trickle down and create jobs .. nobody feels a trickle yet .. unless it's warm and yellow ...

The last time US wealth was so concentrated at the top like that was in 1928 .. just before the Great Depression.

So I cheered during President Obama's SOTU address when he said: "And if we truly care about our deficit, we simply cannot afford a permanent extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans. Before we take money away from our schools, or scholarships away from our students, we should ask millionaires to give up their tax break."

"President Obama started out his State of the Union address with some happy news. Turns out he's Oprah's half brother." –Jay Leno

"You know what that means? We are out of debt!" –Jay Leno

"President Obama said our country is facing another Sputnik moment, which is well over the heads of a lot of young people. They think Sputnik is Snooki's older sister." –Jay Leno

"For the State of the Union address, Republicans and Democrats sat next to each other, instead of on opposite sides. The press called it 'date night.' How come they go on a date, but we're the ones who get screwed." –Jay Leno

"John McCain and John Kerry naturally paired off as their other colleagues grew tired of their yearly tradition of reciting their own state of the union address under their breath." –Jon Stewart

"Rep. Michele Bachmann gave a rebuttal for the Tea Party, and she is a natural on camera. [She looked to the side the whole time.] Either the cue cards were in the wrong place or she was keeping an eye out for illegal immigrants the whole time." –Jimmy Kimmel

"Tea Party rebutter Michele Bachmann is under fire for saying the Founding Fathers eliminated slavery. Sarah Palin is very upset. Another female Republican trying to steal the dumbass vote." –Jay Leno

"A Washington Post columnist is proposing a 'Sarah-Palin-Free February,' a whole month in which she's not mentioned. This is stupid. Don't pick February, the shortest month." –Jay Leno

"Tonight Democrats and Republicans paired up and sat next to each other. Fifty-five years after Rosa Parks we finally integrated Washington." –Jimmy Kimmel

"The Republican response to the speech was fairly gracious. They said it was a pretty good speech for a foreigner." –Jimmy Kimmel

"Three Supreme Court justices — Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia, and Clarence Thomas — did not attend the State of the Union address. Taking their place was Steven Tyler, Jennifer Lopez, and Randy Jackson." –Conan O'Brien

"MSNBC has abruptly ended their relationship with Keith Olbermann, and according to his contract he's not allowed back on television for at least six months. Or as industry experts call it, The Conan." –Conan O'Brien

"The terrorist group Hezbollah has taken control in Lebanon, and opponents have declared a 'Day of Rage.' Or as it's known in the Middle East, 'Tuesday.'" –Conan O'Brien

"'The National Enquirer' says Sarah Palin’s husband Todd has been having an affair with a massage therapist who’s also been arrested for prostitution. What is it with all these massage therapists? Al Gore, Brett Favre, and now Todd Palin. When will one of these stories have a happy ending?" –Jay Leno

"While in Washington, Chinese President Hu Jintao met with members of Congress. It was very festive as the leader of Red China met with our orange speaker of the House." –Jay Leno

"While visiting Chicago, President Hu met with Cubs fans. Apparently, he wanted to see some Americans who have suffered more human rights violations than his own people." –Jay Leno

"Chinese President Hu Jintao had dinner at the White House with President Obama and first lady Michelle. They were going to exchange gifts from the two countries, but unfortunately everything in our country is now made in their country, so they couldn't do any exchanging." –Jay Leno

"The cellist Yo-Yo Ma was there. It's the first yoyo we've had in the White House since George W. Bush." –David Letterman

Jewish leaders have signed a two-page newspaper ad calling for Rupert Murdoch to put an end to all the Nazi comparisons on Fox News.

And they're using Murdoch's baby -The Wall Street Journal - to get his attention.

The ad criticizes Glenn Beck and Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes as two of the network's biggest offenders. Beck falsely accused liberal billionaire George Soros - who as a young boy hid with a Christian family in Nazi Germany - of "sending Jews to death camps."

Ailes has called NPR brass "Nazis" .. and slammed the "left-wing rabbis" who objected. He's a master manipulator of Fox .. airing right-wing propaganda and doing what ever he can to damage Democrats and the President .. all to make his right-wing boss, Rupert Murdoch, happy.

Jon Stewart compiled an interesting group of video clips about how Nazi comparisons air around the clock on Fox News.

From the Washington Post: "A coalition of rabbis wants Fox News chief Roger Ailes and conservative host Glenn Beck to cut out all their talk about Nazis and the Holocaust, and it's making its views known in an unusual place.

The rabbis have called on Fox News's owner, Rupert Murdoch, to sanction his two famous employees via a full-page ad in Thursday's editions of the Wall Street Journal - one of many other media properties controlled by Murdoch's News Corp. ....[..]"

A while back I actually watched Beck's program for a week to see what my friend was talking about .. no kidding, day in and day out, he showed videos of Nazis marching through the streets, while he talked about President Obama and his administration.

For those who point out that GWBush was called "Nazi" - remember that it was mostly by fringe leftie protesters at rallies. He was not called or compared to Nazis day in, day out, by radio or cable talk show hosts who have a million viewers.

I say it's wrong for anyone to make the Nazi/Hitler comparison. Period.

Young shoppers at the magazine rack in Harps are being protected from seeing the full cover of US Weekly, which has a picture of - no, not celebrity sex scandals, drug binges or pregnant teens - Elton John, David Furnish and their new born baby .. there's a "Family Shield" in front of it, so you see only the tops of their heads.

Many stores here in OK have these magazine "shields" .. but it's usually for sexy headlines about orgasms and such .. not to shield children from a picture of two men and a baby.

I swear, they ought to create a reservation for Christian fundies .. let them live in their own little world .. where real life can't disturb them.

See the cover and read the story here: "Legendary singer-songwriter Elton John and his husband David Furnish announced the birth of their son via a surrogate on Christmas Day, and last week US Weekly ran exclusive photos of the adorable baby Zachary. ....

Sweet? Touching? Heart-warming? Actually, obscene according to Harps grocery store in Mountain Home, a tiny town in northern Arkansas.

When customers complained that the magazine cover was inappropriate for children, management decided to place shields over it.... [..]"

If I remember correctly, the Arkansas law banning gays from adopting or fostering children was struck down last year.

And the article goes on to say that the "last census showed that there are same-sex couple households living in every single county in Arkansas."

I wonder if they're allowed to shop in grocery stores together.

Folks, believe me, there are plenty of open-minded, live-and-let-live people in this part of the country - Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas - who know that same-sex people are born that way, not created because they see the cover of a magazine.

But you have to hunt for us, we can't flaunt our beliefs openly .. we have learned not to put Obama bumperstickers on our cars .. unless we want them "keyed."

No mountains or ocean, but we had orchards
in northwestern Ohio, roadside stands
telling what time of summer: strawberries,
corn, apples---and festivals to parade
the crops, a Cherry Queen, a Sauerkraut Dance.
Somebody would block off a street in town,
put up beer tents and a tilt-a-whirl.

Our first jobs were picking berries.
We'd ride out early in the back of a pickup---
kids my age, and migrants, and old men
we called bums in sour flannel shirts
smash-stained with blueberries, blackberries,
raspberries. Every fall we'd see them
stumbling along the tracks, leaving town.

Vacationland, the signs said, from here to Lake Erie.
When relatives drove up we took them to see
The Blue Hole, a fenced-in bottomless pit
of water we paid to toss pennies into---

or Prehistoric Forest, where, issued machine guns,
we rode a toy train among life-sized replicas
of brontosaurus and triceratops.

In winter the beanfield behind our house
would freeze over, and I would skate across it
alone late evenings, sometimes tripping
over stubble frozen above the ice.
In spring the fields turned up arrowheads, bones.
Those slow-pacing glaciers left it clean and flat here,
scraping away or pushing underground what was before them.

by Debra Allberry

"Produce" from Walking Distance. © University of Pittsburgh Press, 1991. Reprinted with permission.

TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - Drug smugglers trying to get marijuana across the Arizona-Mexico border apparently are trying a new approach — a catapult.

National Guard troops operating a remote video surveillance system at the Naco Border Patrol Station say they observed several people preparing a catapult and launching packages over the International Border fence last Friday evening.

Tucson TV station KVOA says Border Patrol agents working with the National Guard contacted Mexican authorities, who went to the location and disrupted the catapult operation.

The smugglers left the area before they could be captured, but Mexican officials seized about 45 pounds of marijuana, an SUV and the catapult device. ..."

Wonder if it was built with parts from Acme.

Can't wait until the Mythbusters hear about this ..

We lived in so many houses, Gloria: Indiana Avenue,
Summit and Fourth, the double on Hudson Street.
And that upstairs apartment on North High we rented
from Armbruster's. Mother thought it Elizabethan,
romantic, with its leaded glass windows and wood-beamed
ceilings. Our entrance was at the side, at the top of stairs
that creaked late at night when we came home from our dates.
You had more of these than I did, even if I was older.
It was 1943, and our brother Harry was in the Navy.
I'd had a year away at college, and you were
still in high school. On this particular night
in the kitchen, doing the supper dishes, you
drying while I washed, you told me that your friend
Monabelle had a premature baby, and you'd been there,
helped to find a shoebox to put the baby in. I tried
to imagine this, kept seeing the cardboard box
with the baby, Monabelle bleeding and crying.
You didn't want our parents to hear, so we talked
softly while we put the dishes in the drainer
on the sink and hung the towels to dry.
The pilot light on the range burned purple blue
and I saw both of us new in that light, you
with so much to teach me, my self-absorbed
studious life, so intent on saving the world.

by Jeanne Lohmann

"Eight. Doing the Dishes" from Calls from a Lighted House. © Fithian Press, 2007. Reprinted with permission.

A veterinarian dresses as a doctor, enters sleeping patient's room .. stuffs cotton balls in patient's crotch .. then it starts to get weird.....

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) – It’s a case police say "freaked" them out, and it also raises questions about security.

South Charleston Police say Stephen Mahnken dressed like a doctor and went into patients' rooms at Thomas Memorial Hospital while they slept.

It's what police say he was doing in those rooms that's truly bizarre.

Police arrested Mahnken early Monday morning at the hospital.

This happened after a patient woke up to see bandaged stuffed animals, notes about castration around his room and placed cotton balls on a private area of his body.

"All the guys were just freaked out about it. Obviously, the hospital was pretty freaked out about it," says South Charleston Assistant Police Chief Robert Houck.....

The male patient was asleep and woke up to find a bandaged monkey hanging from the ceiling, a bandaged teddy bear, notes around the room about castration and cotton placed on his private parts.

"The guy had a big bag of ketchup with him," South Charleston Assistant Chief of Police Robert Houck says. "I don't know if he was going to play a joke, you know, put ketchup down there and make him think that something had happened."...[..]"

I shouldn't make fun, this vet guy sounds really disturbed .. but am I bad to think this is a perfectly good prank to pull on someone in the hospital?

"Arizona Restaurant Scraps Lion Tacos from Menu"

From abcnews.com: "An Arizona restaurant that serves exotic fare will forgo a plan to serve lion-meat tacos, citing safety concerns and following threats from angry protestors.

Bryan Mazon, owner of Boca Tacos y Tequila, a Tucson Tex-Mex joint that in the past has served alligator, python and turtle tacos, announced via Facebook that the restaurant will pull the plug on a planned February promotion to sell tacos made from farm-raised African lions.

"Due to concern for safety of our families, customers, vendors, and friends we will not be selling African Lion Tacos on Feb. 16th, 2011....[..]"

I think it was a hoax/publicity stunt .. because if this whole Lion meat operation is legal, then why would the protests bother him? And why aren't these same protestors going after said Lion farm?

See, he knew it would cause a fracas and figured he could get free publicity out of it and not even have to serve lion tacos.

What a cheetah!

Hello? Did this congresswoman ever crack open a history book? Or is she deliberately trying to rewrite US history?

Rep. Michele Bachmann, the Tea Party Queen - who has her eyes on the White House - was talking about the US Constitution and the founding fathers when she said, "the very founders that wrote those documents worked tirelessly until slavery was no more in the United States .. Men like John Quincy Adams, who would not rest until slavery was extinguished in the country."

Welp, she's right about one thing -- J.Q. Adams didn't rest before slavery ended .. because he died .. way before the Civil War.

And someone ought to tell Bachmann that Thomas Jefferson -- who wrote that all men are created equal -- owned slaves. And George "Father of the Country" Washington owned human property, too.

Oh, yeah, and that Constitution that Bachmann waves around? It established that a slave counted as 3/5ths of a human being .. a provision that was inserted into the document as a political compromise .. except it compromised human dignity.

What's odd is that Bachmann made these asinine comments before a group in Iowa where she's testing the presidential waters.

Here's Michele in her own words .. and MSNBC's Chris Matthews having an apoplectic fit ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCrns-tvdAs

I suspect that she and Sarah discussed this topic .....

Poor Sal Russo .. he looked as silly as Bachmann did. Ouchie .. double-ouchie. I almost had to turn away .. wondering if schadenfreude could kill me ...

I liked his State of the Union Address .. not his most exciting speech, but it was a good and cautious speech. He didn't bring up any hot topics like gun control .. but I understand why he wanted to keep it more toned down and centrist.

Yet he found a way to smoothly weave his not-so-centrist proposals into a 'conciliatory' let's-all-work-together rhetoric. Brilliant.

Let's face it, he played the best hand he had .. knowing that he's dealing with some nutty right-wingers. So he did a lot of clever verbal dancing, and was careful trying to hit just the right notes to out-maneuver the Republicans to get something done.

Republicans who are willing to destroy everything to win .. so Obama has to dance around that as best he can.

I especially liked the theme of not standing still .. liked the boost for education and invention. I liked how Obama laid it out that cutting funds for education and innovation initiatives - like the Republican are determined to do - will set the country back decades, while China and India keep surging ahead of us.

Loved the "Sputnik moment" ...

This morning Republicans are griping about building rails .. I'm glad they weren't around to stop the interstate highways.

Obama had to be careful about how he spoke about inventiveness .. because that leads to scientific discovery .. which leads to belief in evolution .. which leads to dancing .. and no God-fearing born-again Baptist would tolerate dancing.

I liked how he mentioned Rep. Gabby Giffords, pointing out her empty chair, wishing her a speedy recovery. I liked how people of both parties wore black and white lapel ribbons in honor of the Arizona victims.

I liked the way Obama equated teachers with "nation builders" .. I liked ending subsidies for oil companies, the industry of the past .. liked the linking of tax cuts for the rich to the deficits.

The president was upbeat and optimistic about our country's future .. still speaking of us as an American Family all in this together.

It might have been intentional that his speech contrasted so much with the Republican rebuttals - yes, two of them this year - which were a mixture of dull and dour (Ryan) and off-the-wall (Bachmann).

Bachmann's performance was the funniest. She was at Tea Party HQ somewhere and sure seemed off kilter, looking off to the side as she spoke. Hell, I thought she was slightly cross-eyed. Someone tweeted in something to cable news that made me smile - they said behind the camera was probably a very puzzled golden lab.

You know, that kind of sums up Bachmann and the Tea Party .. she was speaking directly to her base, who were probably huddled together in some underground bunker .. while the rest of us looked on in horror or amused disgust.

Anyway, it was a very good evening for Obama .. as always, I'm proud to have him as our president.

Oh, and the First Lady looked gorgeous - as usual.

Here's the text of President Obama's State of the Union address, as released by the White House.

Found something cool, a video where music is being made with just average household objects .. if you have lacy pink thongs lying around, that is .. there's also a roll of tape, wine glasses, a steel spring, a camera, a bottle opener, and a hair dryer among other things. Kinda catchy .. the beat is really cool. Shows what you can do with a little imagination.

http://www.viralviralvideos.com/2011/01/24/making-music-with-everyday-household-items/

According to this study - Alabama is tied with Oklahoma for the highest rate of strokes .. Oklahoma has more women in prison .. Alaska has more suicides .. Arizona has more drunks .. Texas has the most high school dropouts .. Utah the most online porn subscriptions .. Virginia has more alcohol-related motorcyle deaths.

Washington has the most cases of bestiality .. that's a surprize ...

Here's the map of "The United States of Shame"... "Whether it’s a fat population, high rate of STDs or excessive tax rate, it turns out that every state ranks dead last in at least one unsavory category..."

BTW - what some people call "binge drinking" .. these good ol' boy Okies call "breakfast"...

That's what Christi on the Bob and Tom Show said they should call one of these new medical marijuana soft drinks. Somebody else suggested Mountain Doob .. Mellow Fellow .. Iced THC...

SOQUEL -- How strange is the emerging world of medical-marijuana entrepreneurship?

Consider Clay Butler, who may soon be marketing a food product that he's never tasted, and that he would never buy. The product is called Canna Cola, and it's a soft drink that contains THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, aimed at medical marijuana dispensaries......

The line includes the flagship cola drink Canna Cola, the Dr Pepper-like Doc Weed, the lemon-lime Sour Diesel, the grape-flavored Grape Ape and the orange-flavored Orange Kush. ....

The beverage line's dosage of THC will be "somewhere between 35 to 65 milligrams,"....

"It's got a mild marijuana taste,"...The new sodas will retail for between $10 and $15 per 12-ounce bottle.

The company plans to launch its product in medical marijuana-friendly Colorado in February. California, however, remains a wild card. Plans are tentatively to have it in California dispensaries in the spring. ....."

I don't know .. $15 a can, $90 for a six pack, a little steep for something that gives only a light beer buzz ...

Anyway .. I hope they don't put that awful high fructose corn syrup in it. No it won't kill you, but it's been genetically modified and your body stores it as fat .. instead of burning it as it would plain ol' sugar. Sorry .. don't get me started ...

"Every Republican in Congress voted to repeal the health care legislation. They admitted it was symbolic, but it does enable Republicans to brag in campaign ads next year that they voted to let poor people die." –Bill Maher

"What amazes me is that that kind of stuff never makes John Boehner cry. … Congress this week was recognizing the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's inauguration, a man that John Boehner doesn't like, has no allegiance with politically, and it was 50 years ago. He cried. This guy is an ad for Paxil." –Bill Maher

"Boehner will be sitting behind Obama at the State of the Union address. I think Obama should purposely try to embarrass him by telling the story of Old Yeller. The State of Our Union is strong, but not so good for one special dog.'" –Bill Maher

"Boehner was subject to some controversy because the President hosted President Hu of China this week, and Boehner was invited to the State Dinner and did not come. President Hu was very disappointed. He promised his friends back home that he would get a picture with 'orange man who leaks." –Bill Maher

"It was quite a site to see Obama next to President Hu. Obama has a Nobel Peace Prize in his basement, and Hu has a Nobel Peace prize winner in his." –Bill Maher

"Obama is huge in the polls these days. His popularity is soaring. Even conservatives are coming around. 30 percent of them now believe Obama deserves a Green Card." –Bill Maher

"Good news. Congresswoman Gabby Giffords is able stand up and the next stop is rehab. Now if we could only say the same thing about Charlie Sheen. In a related story, Sarah Palin's doctors say that any idea that entered her brain this week passed straight through and came out the other side." –Bill Maher

[From HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher]

Made me laugh when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) hemmed and hawed on "Meet the Press" when host David Gregory tried to get him to answer a simple question -- whether it was "crazy talk" for certain people in this country to question the president's citizenship, and think that his birth certificate is inauthentic.

Cantor danced around it every which way he could .. tried to blame the birther stuff on the media, said it's not nice to call anyone crazy, etc. Gregory kept trying, asking, "Is it a legitimate or an illegitimate issue?" Cantor said, "I don't think it's an issue that we need to address at all."

This went back and forth for several more minutes before Gregory said something about Cantor having a "leadership moment" to put a silly conspiracy theory to rest. Then finally, Cantor said, "I think the president's a citizen of the United States."

Gregory seemed okay with that .. not realizing that birthers don't think the president is a "natural-born" citizen of the United States." Anyway, Cantor can relax on that 'technicality' .. the GOP can go ahead and use the issue in 2012 to fire up the loonies and drive them to the voting booths.

Anyway, this morning we had headlines like "Cantor believes Obama is a citizen" .. which is ridiculous in itself, that this would be a headline.

Here's the video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUiKQaFO01w

Watch Cantor's eyes dance as he lies ..

Poor Cantor .. so afraid of offending the hysterical lunatic fringe of his base. He counts on the support of crazies like Bachmann, Gohmert, Broun, Palin.

I swear, the GOP becomes nuttier and nuttier .. with their leaders afraid to talk about the silliness of birthers .. implanted microchips .. FEMA camps .. the list of nutty right wing conspiracies goes on and on ...

''If you don't immediately kill errant bulls**t, no matter how ridiculous, it can grow and thrive like crabgrass or Cirque du Soleil. This birther stuff might be a deluded right-wing obsession, but so was Whitewater and look where that ended up: 'What are they gonna do, keep expanding the case until they impeach the President over a blowjob?' Yeah. I'm telling you, in America, there is no idea so patently absurd that it can't catch on. Have you ever met a Mormon?'' —Bill Maher, on 'birthers' who believe Obama was born in Kenya

''Hey birthers, wanna hear my theory? My theory was that Obama was born in America and you were born with the umbilical cord around your neck.'' —Bill Maher

''This is not a case of Democrats vs. Republicans. It's sentient beings vs. the Lizard People.'' —Bill Maher on the 'Birthers' who claim Obama was born in Kenya

The last time I saw them we were young.
Ginny was a cheerleader. Ben was getting
A's in trig. Tonight we glance at nametags.

Around the cheese tray we say, "Of course
I remember you." "Yes, four years ago.
Things are better now." "No, she never
graduated, moved. I don't know where."

We look good. The food is just fine. The music
brings it all back and we dance the latest steps
across our brain's prom floor. It's all the same.

And nothing is. We're still dumb kids, just gray
and tame. If we had to do it again, we'd get it
right. Some are sure they got it right the first

time. They ask for another Manhattan, dry
martini, scotch on the rocks. They glisten
in their tans. They watch the rest of us,

the ones with comb-overs, two divorces,
the ones who look for lower gas prices,
a good night's sleep, group tours.

by Jack Ridl.

"The Reunion" Reprinted with permission of the author

Talking about Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia giving a speech in a closed-door meeting with the Tea Party Caucus.

Scalia is a judge - not a politician. The responsibilities of a Justice have nothing to do with political causes. If he wants to become a political speaker he should leave the bench .. that's what a proper constitutional "originalist" would do.

Won't he now have to recuse himself from every case brought forth by the Tea Party?

I thought Scalia refused to attend the State of the Union speech because he thinks it inappropriate for a Supreme Court Justice to have to sit and listen to a President express political viewpoints.

But he doesn't think it inappropriate for him to attend a Congressional event .. speaking to a group of like-minded right-wingers led by Rep Michele Bachmann?

I mean, wasn't everybody all up in Clarence Thomas' face when his wife was so high profile and open with her Tea Party politics?

Read about it here: Washington (CNN) -- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia is scheduled to speak Monday in a closed-door meeting with the Tea Party Caucus -- an informal group of conservative lawmakers......"

Okay, just for fun, let's imagine his speech topics. How to roll back Roe v Wade .. keep semi-automatic assault weapons free .. explore new ways to reverse Healthcare Reform .. oh hell, just find ways to undo everything this Administration and the former Congress has done in the last 2 years.

I love to cook .. the dance of fire and knives .. it's like Zen to me. When I'm cooking, I'm relaxed .. focused, but relaxed. It's like having a massage or a cocktail. Music also helps me find the calm place within me .. sometimes Bach, sometimes the Blues, always on low and in the background.

I usually like to try Thai and Chinese recipes .. anything that calls for fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce .. or I like to experiment with Mexican or TexMex.

Then, sometimes I like to collect recipes that you can throw together quickly .. like this one a friend shared for the Best Baked Beans Ever .. and I'm passing it along. Easy peasy, just open a few cans. Take it to your next pot luck dinner and they will rave and clean the pan .. it serves 12 - 16.

First you preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Then you get a very big bowl, add 4 (16 oz) cans baked beans, 1 (20 oz) can crushed pineapple, 1/2 cup molasses, 1 cup barbecue sauce, 2 tablespoons yellow mustard, 6 slices cooked and crumbled bacon, 1/2 (6 oz) can French-fried onions, crushed (save the other half uncrushed for topping), 1 tablespoon hot sauce, and 2 teaspoons garlic power.

Mix it well, but gently .. pour into a 9x13 sprayed casserole dish. Sprinkle the remaining onions on top .. bake about 1 hour, or until it bubbles. Might be a good idea to set it on a cookie sheet in case it bubbles over.

What's not to love? .. barbecue sauce, molasses, beans, pineapple, bacon, onion rings ...

This recipe is great year round, but be sure and save it for summertime when you're invited to a cook out.

Here's what went down - car hits man, doesn't stop. 2nd car runs over man, kills him, doesn't stop. Woman pedestrian crosses street to help the man, gets hit by car. Driver stops, gets out to help the woman, a mob of people beat him and rob him. Welcome to Los Angeles.

Read about it here:

.. are you sure his name wasn't MacGruber?

"An Abington man is being charged with creating bombs ...after police had been told the man was blowing up snow banks to avoid shoveling the snow.

Abington Police Chief David Majenski said Leo J. Powers, 23, ...is being charged with threats to commit a crime and possession of incendiary devices.

After serving Powers with an emergency restraining order at a rooming house he was staying in ... police learned Powers had a box of ammunition and a box with "some sort of powder" in it...

According to Majenski, police were told Powers had devised a way to use the materials to blow up snow banks instead of shoveling the snow and had been doing it for some time.[..]"

Looks to me like when you blow up snow it just comes back down again .. he shoulda used a flamethrower.

I was very surprised to hear Keith Olbermann announce that last night was the last edition of Countdown on MSNBC. I want to know how and why this happened .. a lot of people say it had something to do with the NBC/Comcast merger. But why?

People who have watched Countdown over the years deserve a better explanation.

Either Comcast forced him out .. or Keith did not want to work for them.

Yes, we still have Rachel Maddow and Lawrence O'Donnell on primetime .. but there's a scarcity of strong voices on the left. Olbermann was particularly intelligent and passionate .. his warmth and humor connected with me.

I enjoyed the trio of Olbermann, Maddow, O'Donnell .. always had them on in the background as I worked in my studio. Maddow, especially, puts together concise articulate pieces in layman's terms that really nail it.

News is that O'Donnell will take over Olbermann's timeslot, and Ed Schulz will get O'Donnell's slot.

Who knows if there will be more high-profile departures at MSNBC .. maybe they want to move away from the liberal slant that took the network to second place in the ratings behind Fox.

We need more Olbermanns to balance out the Hannitys and Becks.

What's the point of watching MSNBC if it doesn't have that delicious liberal slant? We need to hear the opposite view of the Fox News crazies .. without the liberal slant MSNBC will slowly fade into Vanilla, much like CNN.

Then again, some folks think that viewers/listeners are just getting fed up with hyper-partisanship, no matter what side of the political fence you're on .. just look at Glenn Beck's declining sponsors and unceremonious departure from the New York and Philly media market.

Goodbye Keith, hope to see you someplace else soon .. thank you for keeping us informed, and for speaking truth to power .. for holding politicians accountable. Thank you for helping me maintain my sanity during the worst of the Bush years.

Here's more, and a link to his goodbye video.

Police - Teen wearing ankle monitor robs jewelry store

"...Barry Smith Jr. was out on bond on numerous charges in Fulton County, including aggravated assault and armed robbery. Smith's ankle monitor allowed him to leave home during the day to seek employment, Channel 2 Action News reported.

During that time, Smith and eight other suspects robbed Jeweler's Touch, Douglasville Police Chief Chris Womack said. Smith's ankle monitor wasn't the reason he was arrested.

"We didn't know until after we took him into custody," Womack said....."

http://www.ajc.com/news/police-teen-wearing-ankle-810980.html

Well that's one way to get yourself out of an ankle monitor.

Boy howdy, ain't no way any Democrat wants to be "kissy-kissy" with Rep. Paul Braun .. here's what he said while objecting to the idea of mixed seating at next week's State of the Union address:

"They don't want civility. They want silence from the Republicans. And the sitting together being kissy-kissy is just another way to try to silence Republicans, and also to show -- to keep the American people from seeing how few of them there are in the U.S. House now." -- Rep. Paul Broun (R-GA), on Scott Hennen's radio show

So what's his alternative to Republican silence during the speech? Shouting "You lie!" and "Baby-killer"?

Maybe he wants to be able to hide in a crowd of Republicans so they can shout nasty things without having to be identified by the Democrat sitting next to them.

But the worst was when Broun went on to say that Republicans all need to be together for when "...Obama spews his venom...."

I double dog dare him to relate even one specific "venomous" remark ever made by President Obama ...

Talk about venom - Broun has said so many nasty things about the president, that Obama is a Hitler-like figure who wants to establish a Gestapo-like security force to impose a Marxist dictatorship on Americans. Crazy shit.

And then you have Obama .. who, amid all these lies and provocations (birthers, "socialism" accusations, "You lie!"), has consistently acted Presidential and shown tremendous restraint, and generally acted like the only adult in a roomful of petulant children.

Each room except the room you're in
is empty. No need to check.
How many times in forty-five years
did you wish for such a silence,
just a moment to collect yourself
amid the chaos of a life too full
with other people's needs?

And now you've got more silence
than you'll ever need, more time
than anyone should ever have
alone, each memory another moment
in a world where time holds
nothing but the past
and someone else's future.

What do you dream of?
What do you fear each time
you turn to hear Dad stirring
and you realize that what you hear
is just the silence of an empty house,
an absence permanent as stone?

Surely such a silence turns
the heart back in upon itself.
Do you find your husband there?
Four sons and four grandchildren?
Some little Brooklyn girl
in pigtails skipping rope
that once was you?

Mother, does it all come down
to empty rooms and half-imagined sounds
of someone familiar? So many hopes
and disappointments make a life.
What were yours? I'd like to know.

by W. D. Ehrhart

Copyright © 1999 from "Beautiful Wreckage," Adastra Press. Reprinted with permission.

Last night on The Daily Show, Jon Stewart took a Democratic congressman to task for over the top rhetoric on the House floor. See, the neat thing about Stewart is that he points out hypocrisy and asinine behavior regardless of who is the hypocrite.

Anyone who thinks that Jon doesn't go after Democrats doesn't watch the show .. a true comedian goes after where ever the joke is, regardless of political party.

The segment is called "Word Warcraft" .. "Steve Cohen compares Republicans to Nazis a week after making an eloquent case for civil and honest discourse." I loved it.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/thu-january-20-2011/word-warcraft

"The Republican-controlled House voted to repeal the healthcare bill. If that goes well, they'll see what they can do about this whole 'women voting' thing." –Conan O'Brien

"The President of China is in Washington. It's a bit like when you're into your bookie for more than you can afford, and he stops by the house to say hello." –Jimmy Kimmel

"China's President Hu is visiting the United States. If he likes what he sees, he may put down a deposit." –David Letterman

"There was a big dinner for President Hu. General Tso brought his famous chicken." –David Letterman

"President Obama held a state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao. The world leader with the funny name, who grew up in Asia, said he enjoyed meeting President Hu." –Conan O'Brien

"Obama and Hu had a private dinner the night before. When Obama tried to pick up the check, Hu said, 'Your money is no good here.' Obama laughed, and Hu said, 'No, really, your money is no good.'" –Jay Leno

"New Speaker of the House John Boehner chose not to attend the dinner for Chinese President Hu. In China, they're calling him an orange chicken." –Jimmy Fallon

"Arnold Schwarzenegger says he's considering doing a movie in which he would play a Nazi. He says that after being governor of California, he's looking for a job that will make people hate him less." –Conan O'Brien

"The Republicans are always asking the Muslims to denounce their extremists. And I agree with them. But they don't take that note and do it among their own. They don't denounce their own extremists." -Bill Maher

"We had a national tragedy and the President of the United States and Sarah Palin both made speeches on the same day. Obama came out against lunatics with guns, she gave the rebuttal." –Bill Maher

"You know the difference between a hockey mom and a pit bull? At some point a pit bull does stop whining." –Bill Maher

"Sarah Palin said that she resented being identified as part of the problem. And then she said we’d have to excuse her, she had to work on her agenda of guns on demand, no health care for the insane, and casting the President as a foreign enemy." –Bill Maher

"Whatever you do, do not compare her to the shooter, because he is a gun-loving lunatic who can't hold a job and leaves rambling messages on the Internet." –Bill Maher

"Why are we listening to a reality TV star anyway? That's all she is. Can I check in with Snooki and Kate Moss?" –Bill Maher

"Palin has now agreed to be the keynote speaker next month at a hunter’s convention in Las Vegas. Uh, Siegfried and Roy, if you’re listening, I would put those tigers in an undisclosed location." –Bill Maher

"John Boehner skipped the Tucson memorial to attend a fundraising cocktail party. He said it's not that he doesn't care, just that it was sad and he's one of those men who's uncomfortable showing emotions in public." –Bill Maher

"A lot of the Republicans, I must say, I give it up to them, they applauded Obama's speech. Some of them said, I swear to God, it was too good, said it was just a little too good. They said, if you want us to love a black man with a golden voice, he'd better be a homeless guy, begging for change." –Bill Maher

"Since Tom DeLay has done only two things since leaving politics – 'Dancing with the Stars,' and now prison – somebody must tell him there are easier ways to have sex with men." –Bill Maher

"Doctors say Dick Cheney may need a heart transplant, but Cheney isn’t worried. He’s already picked out a hunting buddy." –David Letterman

"Dick Cheney predicts that President Obama will only last one term. This is coming from the same guy that predicted weapons of mass destruction in Iraq." –David Letterman

"Good news tonight. The chief victim of that shooting in Tucson is sitting upright and talking. (On screen: Sarah Palin on Fox News)" –Jon Stewart

"Dick Cheney had to consult his physician today. Not for his heart. Every time the price of oil goes up more than $1 a barrel, Cheney gets an erection that lasts more than 4 hours." –Jay Leno

"The debate over repealing healthcare began in the House today. The Republicans have their own plan: 'Don't ask, don't get sick.'" –Jay Leno

"In her video posted on her Facebook page, Sarah Palin condemned the media's coverage of the Arizona shootings by using the phrase 'blood libel,' which refers to a harsh anti-Semitic slur. And I would be super-offended if I thought she knew that." –Seth Meyers

[a tip of the hat to Daniel Kurtzman, NYT-laughlines, and newsmax.com]

Here's what Comedy Central's Stephen Colbert had to say after after showing a clip of MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski complaining about having to do Sarah Palin stories:

"Clearly Mika is experiencing what journopsychologists call 'Palin fatigue.'

Mika, you need to buck up. I know you think this story has no other purpose than keeping Sarah Palin's name in the news for another news cycle. I know you think she has nothing to offer the national dialogue, and that her speeches are just coded talking points mixed in with random words she's picked up from a thesaurus.

I know you think that at best Sarah Palin is a self-promoting ignoramus and at worst a shameless media troll who will abuse any platform to deliver dog-whistle encouragement to a far-right base that may include insurrectionists.

I know you think her reality show was pathetically unstatesmanlike, and I know you also believe it represents the pinnacle of her potential, and her transparent desperation to be a celebrity so completely eclipsed her interest in public service so long ago that there would be more journalistic integrity in reporting on one of the lesser Kardashian's ass implants.

I know when you arrive at the office each day you pray that Sarah Palin will shut up for just ten f**king minutes. I know, because I can see it in your eyes. Well, guess what, Mika, that's the gig. It's January 2011, and you have two more years of this. So you come in, slap on your make-up and report what Sarah Palin said on Hannity last night. Because that's the news."

[From Comedy Central's The Stephen Colbert Show, and a tip of the hat to Daniel Kurtzman]

Our neighbors, the Pazzotis, live in a long
narrow canary-yellow house with Mrs. Pazzotti's old
father, their 2 daughters, their husbands, 4 kids,
a tortoise shell cat and a white poodle.
Their yard is my childhood dream: toys,
bicycles, tubs, bird cages, barbeques, planters, pails, tools
and garden sculptures: an orange squirrel eating a nut,
Mickey Mouse pushing a wheelbarrow, St. Joseph
carrying a lantern, his other blessing hand
broken at the wrist, and two tea-sipping toads
in an S-shaped love seat, smiling at each other
under a polka-dotted parasol.
On the yellow railing around the deck,
a procession of nine pinwheels. This May morning,
they thrash the air with each breeze like clumsy
angels nailed to their posts. On the garage wall
at the end of the yard an electric cord
shoots up to the roof. One half connects to a blue
neon insect electrocuter, the other half snakes to, then
disappears into a pedestal cemented on the cornice.
And there she stands, in plastic
beatitude—and six feet of it—the Madonna,
in her white robe and blue cape, arms
outstretched, blessing the Pazottis, their yard
and neighbors, lit from within day and night,
calling God's little insects to her shining light,
before sending them straight
to the zapper—tiny buzzing heretics
fried by the same power that lured them
to their last temptation.

by Laure-Anne Bosselaar

"Plastic Beatitude" from The Hour Between Dog and Wolf. © BOA Editions, Ltd, 1997. Reprinted with permission.

"And finally, New Rule, now that they've finished reading the Constitution out loud, the teabaggers must call out that group of elitist liberals whose values are so antithetical to theirs. I'm talking, of course, about the Founding Fathers, who the teabaggers believe are just like them, but aren't. One is a group of exclusively white men who live in a bygone century, have bad teeth, and think of blacks as 3/5s of a person. And the other are the Founding Fathers!

Now I want you teabaggers out there to understand one thing. While you idolize the Founding Fathers and dress up like them and smell like them, I think it's pretty clear that the Founding Fathers would've hated your guts. And what's more, you would've hated them! They were everything you despise. They studied science, read Plato, hung out in Paris, and thought the Bible was mostly bullshit. And yet, here is a popular painting in wingnut America:

Yes, that's Jesus with the Founding Fathers behind him, presenting the Constitution to America. Either that, or it's a settlement offer for that boy after he sued the rectory.

Super-religious guy Glenn Beck likes to play dress-up as Thomas Paine. Thomas Paine, an atheist who said churches were "human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind"....Which is not to say the Founders didn't have a moral code. Of course they did. They just didn't get it from the Bible. Well, except for the part about it's cool to own slaves. It's in there, folks, I didn't make it up.

The Founders disagreed amongst themselves about that, and most issues. But the one thing they never argued about was that political power must stay in the hands of the smartest people, and out of the hands of the dumbest loudmouths slowing down the checkout line at Home Depot.

And yet, Sarah Palin once said of Obama, "we need a Commander-in-Chief, not a professor of law standing at a lectern". How gay is that! Well, I hate to break it to you, but:

Thomas Jefferson, lawyer.
Alexander Hamilton, Constitutional lawyer.
James Madison, lawyer.
John Adams, Constitutional lawyer.

They were not the common man of their day. Ben Franklin studied scientific phenomena like lightning and the aurora borealis, and were he alive today, he could probably explain to Bill O'Reilly why the tides go in and out.

James Madison was fluent in Greek and Latin, and could translate Virgil and Cicero. John Boehner can't translate Fareed Zakaria. And Thomas Jefferson was an astronomer and a physicist who founded the University of Virginia, played the violin, and spoke six languages. Or as Palin would say, "all of them".

[from HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher]

Oklahoma was called Indian Territory before we became a state in 1907 .. we had the same shape as we do now, except we didn't have the panhandle (so called because it looks like the handle of a sauce pan).

Before the Civil War, the US used the Missouri Compromise (Mason-Dixon) to draw a horizontal line across the country - the 36° 30' parallel.

Texas was a Republic, but when it wanted to enter the Union in 1845 as a slave state, federal law said all of the states South of the line were slave states .. but slavery was illegal North of 36° 30'.

So happened that the parallel ran through the very top of the Texas panhandle .. and they gave up that land so they could own slaves.

Texas surrendered a strip of land 34 miles wide and 107 miles long, which was left with no formal territorial ownership, and was called "Public Land Strip" by the government, but "No Man's Land" by everybody else.

And because it was outside any jurisdiction or any form of government, it became the hideout home of outlaws, train robbers, bank robbers and such.

Then around 1890, Congress attached this unclaimed land to the newly organized Oklahoma Territory with Beaver City as the County Seat. It continued that way until Oklahoma was admitted to the Union, in 1907.

So Oklahoma has a panhandle because Texas wanted to be a slave state.

You never think of Texas as a "southern" state .. but there are cemeteries to this day - one's in Victoria,TX - that have segregated sections for "colored slaves" and Yankees.

President Andrew Jackson had an African Grey parrot named Poll who could cuss a blue streak .. they say she learned from listening to Jackson swear.

When President Jackson died, during the funeral service, as a preacher lamented the passing of this great man, the parrot began squawking obscenities. The crowd of mourners weren't able to stop the cursing and swearing so Poll had to be removed from the church.

I remember hearing Paul Harvey tell "the rest of the story" on the radio.

Couldn't happen to a couple of nicer hate radio guys - their nationally syndicated radio shows were dropped from The Big Talker, WPHT in Philadelphia, which is huge - 4th largest radio market - and the second big radio station to drop them both.

May I say again - there's nothing that directly connects the Tucson tragedy to Sarah Palin's crosshairs map, or hate radio/TV rantings. BUT, they certainly contributed to the toxic political atmosphere, preaching hate and intimidation .. inciting Tea Party "patriots" to talk about "watering the tree of liberty with blood" and to carry handguns and rifles to political rallies .. even those where the president was speaking.

Maybe advertisers and stations are becoming a little wary about all the toxic rhetoric .. especially after the Tucson murders .. seeing what could happen.

BTW - so far, 81 companies have quit advertising on Beck's Fox News show .. here are a list of his current sponsors:

Read more about the cancellations here at mediaite.com.

The jilted Beck immediately attacked Philly, the city that gave him his start, by saying "Philly sucks":

"You know the killing streets right there in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia?" Beck told his producer. "You know how Philadelphia is not a place you want to be?" he added. "I'll put you on a hidden cam and put you downtown at 6, 7 o'clock at night." He could not believe his producer would be brave enough to walk around Center City at night...."

On frigid January nights we'd
take my 'forty-eight Plymouth onto
the local reservoir, lights off
to dodge the cops, take turns

holding long manila lines in pairs
behind the car, cutting colossal
loops and swoons across
the crackly range of ice. Oh

god did we have fun! At ridges
and fissures we careened,
tumbled onto each other, the girls
yelping, splayed out on all fours,

and sometimes we heard groans
deep along the fracture lines as
we spun off in twos, to paw, clumsy,
under parkas, never thinking of

love's falls nor how thin ice
would ease us into certain death.
No, death was never on our minds,
we were eighteen, caterwauling

under our own moon that
warded off the cops and
front-page stories of six kids
slipping under the fickle surface.

by Thomas R. Moore

"The Plymouth on Ice" from The Bolt-Cutters. © Fort Hemlock Press, 2010. Reprinted with permission.

For Tom Waits fans .. for those of you who love the jester/poet behind that gravelly whisky-soaked, cigarette-stoked voice - which had me thinking there was something wrong with my speakers the first time I played one of his vinyls.

I have been a fan since his early hobo-beatnik years, loved his stark bluesy take on life, loved his heart-wringing ballads .. even stayed with him during his weird later period when he used inanimate objects such as chairs as musical instruments.

I was digging around in YouTube the other day and found this Tom Waits gem. You may remember the parody TV talk show back in the 70's - Fernwood Tonight .. Martin Mull and Fred Willard were parody hosts. One night they had Tom Waits on, he sang one of my favorites - The Piano Has Been Drinking (not me).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_0E7x3Nqys

Wow, makes me miss the 70's .. you don’t see many men in pink suits anymore .. loved the "frontal lobotomy" line.

Here's his Alice, a lovely poetic ballad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEj-mrwwaxo

GOP Issues 'Niceness Pledge' .. says okay, Obama Born ‘Near America’.

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – Ushering in what it is calling "a new era of civility in American political discourse," the Republican leadership in Congress said today that from now on it would acknowledge that President Barack Obama was born "near America."

"It is no longer acceptable for members of our Party to say that the President of the United States was born in Kenya," wrote Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a memo sent to all GOP House members entitled The Official Republican Niceness Pledge. "From now on, we will say that he was born nearish America, and perhaps even as close as Cuba."

The Boehner memo said that the Party would have "zero tolerance" for Republicans who say that Mr. Obama "pals around with terrorists," instructing members to say instead, "Obama friends terrorists on Facebook."

The memo also instructed House members never to call Mr. Obama a "socialist," and instead to use the less politically polarizing term, "sociopath."

Mr. Boehner also warned GOP congressmen to stop referring to Mr. Obama’s health care reform bill as "The Job-Killing Health Care Reform Act," advising them, "There are many perfectly good synonyms for ‘killing,’ such as ‘strangling,’ ‘terminating,’ ‘annihilating,’ and ‘eviscerating.’"

In closing, Mr. Boehner wrote, "You owe it to your families and constituents back home to conduct yourselves in a civil manner, just as President Obama owes it to his relatives and comrades back in Havana.

http://www.borowitzreport.com/

A lot of Democrats think the GOP House is going to be the second best thing that ever happened to Obama .. right behind the improving economy. He's pretty good at using them as a foil, same way Clinton used the Republican House after 1994.

It doesn't hurt that the first thing on the GOP agenda is the meaningless, symbolic vote on repeal of HCR .. everyone knows that it's only a show for the Tea Party .. that it's futile, that they don't have the votes in the Senate .. and Obama has veto power anyway.

Many people, even some Republicans, believe that it's just a waste of time and money .. time that could be spent trying to provide more jobs.

A lot of people think the timing is just plain tacky .. what with the nation asking politicians for civility after the Tucson shootings .. then to have House Republicans push a divisive healthcare-reform repeal bill .. the very thing that caused all the nasty rhetoric and threats in the first place .. the very thing that had people showing up at townhall meetings armed with handguns and rifles ...

So, instead of dealing with real problems, the GOP will be rekindling political rancor .. and making Obama look like he's more in touch with the problems of the working class.

On the Daily Show last night, Jon Stewart nailed them on their "job-killing" lie - how they twist data. Example - yes, some jobs would be lost, but only because older workers would get to retire earlier, or work fewer hours, because they'd have healthcare.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-january-17-2011/tonal-recall

The GOP won't point out that the healthcare bill creates 300,000 new jobs and Dems put in several amendments that would give tax breaks for small businesses.

But Democrats are fighting back - Americans United for Change has released a new ad calling out Congress members who are trying to repeal.

The ad will run on cable news outlets, warning viewers that while "the Affordable Care Act gave your family the same health protections members of Congress get ... Republicans want to take that protection away from your family".

Watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwPJCt-am6I

New poll numbers show that Americans give President Obama high marks for leadership in general, and for the way he handled the Tucson shooting in particular - 8 in 10 approved of how he responded to the tragedy, even 71 percent of Republicans approved of his leadership.

Sarah Palin didn't do as well .. only 30 percent approved of how she responded to the shooting, while 46 percent disapproved of her response.

Obama's over all approval ratings are at 53/54 percent, the highest in more than a year. Interesting that his approval among Democrats and Republicans has remained the same since December .. but among Independents it has surged 15 points in one month.

Maybe Americans are beginning to realize that the snake oil Republicans sold them during the last election was crapola ...

In one poll approval numbers had risen 18-points when people were asked if Obama understands the problems of everyday people .. from 40 percent to 58 percent.

Another poll finds Obama's approval rating is up five points to 53% "as a growing number of Americans consider him a strong leader who is tough enough to handle a crisis."

Hmmm .. none of this sounds like a mandate for the GOP to lead, which is what they seem to think they have after the last election.

Here's the ABC News/Washington Post poll.

Here's the CNN/Opinion Research poll.

The man I love enters the kitchen
with a groan, he just
woke up, his hair a Rorschach test.
A minty kiss, a hand
on my neck, coffee, two percent milk,
microwave. He collapses
on a chair, stunned with sleep,
yawns, groans again, complains
about his dry sinuses and crusted nose.
I want to tell him how
much he slept, how well,
the cacophony of his snoring
pumping in long wheezes
and throttles-the debacle
of rhythm-hours erratic
with staccato of pants and puffs,
crescendi of gulps, chokes,
pectoral sputters and spits.
But the microwave goes ding!
A short little ding! - sharp
as a guillotine-loud enough to stop
my words from killing the moment.
And during the few seconds
it takes the man I love
to open the microwave, stir,
sip and sit there staring
at his mug, I remember the vows
I made to my pillows, to fate
and God: I'll stop eating licorice,
become a blonde, a lumberjack,
a Catholic, anything,
but bring a man to me:
so I go to him: Sorry, honey,
sorry you had such a rough night,
hold his gray head against my heart
and kiss him, kiss him.

by Laure-Anne Bosselaar

From The Hour Between Dog and Wolf. BOA Editions, Ltd., 1997. Reprinted
with permission

I'm not really buying Sen. John McCain's latest op-ed change of heart in the Washington Post .. which would lead us to assume he's ready to make nice with President Obama.

I saw how McCain turned his back on the president after the Tucson memorial speech .. as Obama was shaking hands with everyone he could. Don't believe me? Go back and look at the tape.

I'm skeptical, because I've been a McCain watcher for too many years .. watched him change personas too many times .. watched him flip-flop and abandon all of his prior policy positions .. watched him repeatedly throw red meat to the rabid right.

Here's McCain, writing about the memorial service in his home state:

"President Obama gave a terrific speech Wednesday night. He movingly mourned and honored the victims of Saturday's senseless atrocity outside Tucson, comforted and inspired the country, and encouraged those of us who have the privilege of serving America.... I disagree with many of the president's policies, but I believe he is a patriot sincerely intent on using his time in office to advance our country's cause."

Wow, Obama has come a long way from paling around with terrorists to being a patriot.

I don't think I'll ever forget how the McCain/Palin campaign whipped up a frenzy of hate against Obama -- "he's not like us, he pals around with terrorists!" -- causing some of their supporters to yell "Kill him!"

Anyway, people are still puzzled by this latest persona .. some think the Tucson tragedy caused him to turn over a new leaf. Others think that after the Tucson attack McCain maybe wanted to distance himself from Palin.

When McCain lost the election he was pissed, and became more and more angry and partisan. I don't think he's changed at all .. the bitter and belligerent tantrum he threw on the Senate floor over gay Americans serving in the military is still fresh in my mind.

History has shown us that McCain has never been a gracious man. His "maverick" persona may have fooled me a decade ago .. but now I only think of him as a hot-headed jackass, who sometimes makes a big show of his humility.

Besides, McCain is all but washed up, the GOP no longer looks to him as a leader. Maybe he's worried that his real legacy will be Sarah Palin .. a legacy that's done more damage to the nation than he could ever personally repair.

I know that President Obama is smart enough to be careful .. this wouldn't be the first time his outstretched hand is slapped away.

"Sad news. It looks like 'Sarah Palin's Alaska' won't be back for a second year. How does that make her feel? She was governor, almost vice president. She gets one year. Snooki's on her third year." –Jay Leno

"Sarah Palin's reality show will not be returning as she contemplates a possible run for president in 2012. When a candidate walks away from a reality show, that's when you know they're serious about being president of the United States." –Jay Leno

"Sarah Palin should pick The Situation from 'Jersey Shore' as her vice president. That way, we can get rid of two reality shows at once." –Jay Leno

"Chinese President Hu Jintao will be at the White House next week. The good news is, he has no plans to foreclose. We can stay another month." –Jay Leno

"Former U.S. House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay, has been sentenced to three years in prison. One year for money laundering and two more for his performance on 'Dancing with the Stars.'" –Jay Leno

"Due to the recession there are now 15,000 less lawyers. Nobody ever talks about the good things that happen because of the recession." –Jay Leno

"Police are looking for a man in Phoenix who robbed a bank and told the teller he wanted the money in twenties, forties and sixties. Authorities believe he could be one of President Obama's economic advisers." –Jay Leno

"The blizzard was three hours of howling wind — kind of like Rush Limbaugh's radio show." –Conan O'Brien

"Former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger starts a speaking tour later this month. Tickets are selling for between $270 and $427. Imagine how much they would charge if he could actually speak." –Jimmy Kimmel

"The two biggest websites right now are Wikipedia, where you go to learn about things you care about, and Facebook, where you go to learn about people you stopped caring about years ago." –Craig Ferguson

"I wouldn’t blame our political rhetoric any more than I would blame heavy metal music for Columbine. And that is coming from someone who truly hates our political environment." –Jon Stewart on the Arizona shooting massacre

"I do think that it's a worthwhile goal not to conflate our political opponents with our enemies, if for no other reason than to draw a better distinction between the manifestos of paranoid mad men and what passes for acceptable political and pundit speak. It would be really nice if the ramblings of crazy people didn’t in any way resemble how we actually talk to each other on TV. Let’s at least make troubled individuals easier to spot." –Jon Stewart

"Last night was possibly the last show ever of 'Sarah Palin's Alaska,' for several reasons. She might run for President and would have to abide by the equal time rules. Also, she just likes to quit things." –Jimmy Kimmel

"John Edwards has denied 'The National Enquirer' story that he asked his mistress to marry him. Who are you gonna believe, the sleazy purveyor of lies or 'The National Enquirer'?" –Jay Leno

"A new study shows that a woman's tears can chemically lower the level of testosterone in a man. When that happens, the man will also start to cry and then eventually be elected speaker of the House." –Jay Leno

"Illinois officials report that drug sniffing dogs are wrong as much as 70 percent of the time — probably because they're sniffing drugs all day." –Jay Leno

"Over 400 people have volunteered to take a one-way trip to Mars to begin colonization. The last people we want starting a civilization on Mars are the people that volunteer to do it." –Jimmy Fallon

"California Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey referred to the war in Afghanistan as a 'national embarrassment.' Then she watched the premiere of 'Jersey Shore' and was like, 'Never mind.'" –Jimmy Fallon

"Lawmakers are getting tough on bullying. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signed some of the toughest anti-bullying laws in the nation. Then someone gave Christie a wedgie and said, 'Ha ha. You've got a girl's last name.'" –Conan O'Brien

[a tip of the hat to Daniel Kurtzman, NYT-laughlines, and newsmax.com]

Because Ron Reagan Jr. has written a book about President Reagan, saying he believes his dad suffered from the first stages of Alzheimer's disease while he was still president.

I remember seeing a news clip of President Reagan and Nancy standing outside under a tree .. reporters had caught up with them and were asking Reagan about his plans for talks with the Russians about weapons. I'll never forget it because he seemed so confused by the question, and couldn't find the words. Nancy whispered, "We're doing everything we can".. and he immediately echoed, "We're doing everything we can."

At the time I didn't connect it to Alzheimer's, not knowing much about the disease .. just thought dang, is Nancy running things behind the scenes?

I know this incident occurred during his second term because of where I was living at the time.

If it was Alzheimer's, then a lot of people who ragged on him might be feeling a little guilty about now ...

Read more here at ABC News: "In an interview with "20/20", Ron Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, said that when his father was in office, no one thought he had Alzheimer's disease -- the devastating illness he was diagnosed with less than two years after leaving the White House.

But Ron Reagan said that he did notice something had changed about his father during his presidency.The father and son often had spirited, fast-paced political debates when Ron visited the president at the White House. But during one such debate, Ron Reagan grew concerned. [..]"

True Grit takes off! When I first wrote about seeing the new Coen brothers movie, True Grit (loved it BTW), it was being surpassed at the box office by some silly Fockers movie. Well now - it went on to overcome Little Fockers to become the No. 1 film of 2011.

Hallelujah, Westerns could be making a comeback. After three-weeks gross True Grit has climbed past $110 million, already making it one of the top-earning Western movies of all time.

A favorite of mine, Clint Eastwood's Unforgiven grossed $101 million, by comparison .. another favorite, Kevin Costner's Dances With Wolves, raked in roughly $184 million at the box office .. making it the top Western ever.

Please Hollywood, more, more! 

ABC news went back to Tucson to reunite the victims, heroes, initial responders to the shooting scene and witnesses .. to promote a healing conversation a week after the grocery-store shooting.

One of the gunshot victims, Eric Fuller, 63, a disabled Viet Nam vet, got very agitated when a Tea Party spokesman stood up to speak. Fuller pointed a camera at the speaker and said, "You're dead."

He looked sad and confused as he was gently led away, no handcuffs, by sheriff deputies.

Looks to me like a case of post traumatic stress disorder.

I feel sorry for Fuller .. being shot, watching all those innocent people being murdered. It's a lot to take in the space of one week .. he has to be utterly raw at this point.

Besides, a bullet to the kneecap tends to really piss a person off. But, he should have stayed home, turned off the TV .. and tried to heal his mind.

Anyway, I'm glad that they took him to a mental health facility, glad that he's getting help, glad that things went no further .. he has my best wishes.

Come to think of it, maybe this incident was his way of letting somebody know that he needed help. He had been all over TV blaming the Tea Party for the shooting ..

Read more here.

.. then he proceeded to exit stage left .. it has been that kind of chairmanship.

Talking about Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele, who was voted out yesterday.

I'm amazed that Steele even tried to run again .. it's hard to defend a record full of words such as "gaffes" and "mismanagement," "embattled," "budget problems" and "mass resignations" .. oh, and "lesbian bondage nightclubs."

When someone once asked him about all the embarrassing gaffes he made as chairman, he said, "Accidents happen, baby." That pretty much sums up Steele's troubled two-year reign as chairman of the RNC.

We Democrats are sad to see him go, he was fun to watch, we knew he would usually screw up .. like he said himself, he's "the gift that keeps on giving."

One of my favorite gaffes was when he quoted the lines from his favorite book, "War and Peace" = "It was the best of times. It was the worst of times."

But my very favorite gaffe was when he treated RNC workers to a donor-financed night out on the town .. at a lesbian bondage nightclub. Gah, the comedians had fun with that ...

Lots of money was lavishly spent .. he liked to charter private jets, and stay in posh hotel rooms .. one time he flew the entire RNC convention to Hawaii.

Wonder what will happen to Steele now? He seems to love attention, but he's such a doofus that Fox might take a pass. A good way for him to stay in the spotlight would be to write a tell-all book about the Republicans .. settle some scores ... 

Steele and Palin were the GOP's token black and woman .. selected to appeal to minorities and women. Both were given important positions where they could've made a difference .. but both failed .. failed without honor and without dignity.

So now the Republican Party will take this failure as proof that minorities and women are not fit to lead .. that positions of real power are still best left to white males.

The new guy Reince Priebus is a white male .. and he's kind of scary. There's a Youtube video of a phone conference where he referred to the "execution" of Obama three separate times .. he meant Osama bin Laden. Can you say Freudian slip?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paosIScC61U

We know that he loves his guns because that was an important question for the new RNC Chair - "How many guns do you own?"

If you want to read more about Steele's gaffes, here's a good article.

Okies are having fun with this. "How cold is it in the Sooner State? Hell froze over because a Republican spoke the truth."

When our new governor took the oath of office, she solemnly swore to "support, obey and offend" the Constitution .. instead of "support, obey, and defend."

Don't say you weren't warned, Oklahoma.

OKLAHOMA CITY ..... Mary Fallin was sworn in as Oklahoma's first female governor Monday, but in reciting the oath of office she really didn't promise to "support, obey and defend the Constitution."

At an outdoors ceremony in teeth-chattering cold, Fallin told state Supreme Court Chief Justice Steven W. Taylor that she would "support, obey and offend" the U.S. and state constitutions......

Regardless of what she said, under Oklahoma law Fallin is still the state's governor. Taylor says she signed a copy of the oath in the governor's office following the ceremony." .....

Well, at least she made it to her swearing in .. didn't hold up her hand and take her oath of office while talking to a TV ...

And now, her first priority as governor will be keeping her promise to the Heritage Foundation -- repealing the Healthcare Act .. at the expense of Oklahoma taxpayers.

Up in the sky the lovers lay in bed
Naked, face to face and hip to thigh,
Her leg between his, his arm beneath her head,
Their hands roaming freely, up in the sky.
In the dark, Manhattan lay at their feet,
A blanket of glittering stars thrown down.
Beyond her bare shoulder, 59th Street,
And from her lovely foot the buses headed uptown.
They came to the city for romance, as people do,
And with each other they scaled the heights
And now, at rest, almost one and not quite two,
They lie almost forever in the sea of lights.
Where will they go? What happens next? I don't know.
I am that man waiting at the bus stop far below.

by Gary Johnson

"Up in the sky the lovers lay in bed..." by Gary Johnson. Used with permission of the poet

Talking about President Obama's Tucson memorial speech. It was one of his best speeches ever .. it was not only a memorial speech, he truly lifted up a country that's been grieving since the tragedy in Tucson. He spoke to us as an American Family. He focused on the victims and their families, and spoke movingly of those who died and those who saved lives.

He's not known for sentimentality, but he showed a lot of heart .. and everyone cheered when he shared the good news that Gabrielle Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time that evening.

He made a conscious effort not to get involved in the blame controversy .. he said we should not use this tragedy to turn on each other .. that we should "pause for a moment and make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds."

He told us that, with all our imperfections, we are still decent and good people .. that we couldn't get rid of all the evil in the world, but we could control how we treat each other.

I teared up several times .. especially when he spoke of the death of 9 y/o Christina Green .. very poignant, because you know he was thinking of his own two girls.

The entire speech is here. One of my favorite parts:

"...And in Christina…in Christina we see all of our children. So curious, so trusting, so energetic and full of magic.

So deserving of our love.

And so deserving of our good example. If this tragedy prompts reflection and debate, as it should, let’s make sure it’s worthy of those we have lost. Let’s make sure it’s not on the usual plane of politics and point scoring and pettiness that drifts away with the next news cycle.....[..]"

Another moving part of the speech for me was when he talked about American unity - "....that the forces that divide us are not as strong as those that unite us."

I thank him for his kind words - which he wrote himself - and hope that others in need of solace also found comfort in his words.

After I watched Obama speak, I flipped around the channels only long enough to see that Republican critics had immediately begun their diatribes. The slings and arrows of Beck and Palin and Rush are sure to come .. and when they do America will see them for what they are ....

Their kind of nasty rhetoric only hands Democrats a huge political bonus, because it's clear that the majority of the country is tired of vitriol.

BTW - The timing couldn't have been better for Obama. His uplifting speech was a jarring contrast to the Sarah Palin all-about-me video that came out just hours before ...

"Speaker John Boehner will host a cocktail party for the Republican National Committee at the same time that President Barack Obama will be addressing the nation at the memorial service for victims of the Tucson shooting.[..]"

He's the highest ranking Republican in the country and he should've been standing with the president at this memorial. It's actually important symbolism .. showing that the entire nation mourns this tragedy.

I suppose he didn't want to raise the ire of the GOP's more radical righties .. didn't want to be seen among a crowd that's cheering for the Kenyan-Socialist-Commie-Nazi-Usurper.

Seriously, Boehner should've been there anyway. That's part of his job as House Speaker .. Rep. Giffords and her staff are part of the institution that he leads. It was very lame of him to go to a fund-raising cocktail party instead.

I'm tired of hearing people (even my ex-governor) say that if only someone in the crowd had been armed, Jared Loughner would've been stopped sooner and people saved.

There WAS another armed man - Joe Zamudio. He was in a nearby drug store when he heard shots, he clicked the safety off and ran to the scene with his hand on his gun .. but he didn't draw it because he was afraid they'd think he was a second gunman.

When he came around the corner he saw a man with a gun .. he grabbed the man's arm and slammed it into a wall .. only to learn that the man was a rescuer who had taken Loughner's gun.

Zamudio then helped subdue the shooter .. just think what would've happened if he'd shot the first man he saw with a gun ...

Read about it here in Slate:

"[Z]amudio had released his safety and was poised to fire when he saw what he thought was the killer still holding his weapon. Zamudio had a split second to decide whether to shoot. He was sufficiently convinced of the killer's identity to shove the man into a wall. But Zamudio didn't use his gun. That's how close he came to killing an innocent man. He was, as he acknowledges, "very lucky."

That's what happens when you run with a firearm to a scene of bloody havoc. In the chaos and pressure of the moment, you can shoot the wrong person. Or, by drawing your weapon, you can become the wrong person—a hero mistaken for a second gunman by another would-be hero with a gun. Bang, you're dead. Or worse, bang bang bang bang bang: a firefight among several armed, confused, and innocent people in a crowd. It happens even among trained soldiers. Among civilians, the risk is that much greater.[..]"

That's certainly something to think about .. how in the chaos of such a tragedy mistakes could be made that would cause further needless death and injury.

Events don't always happen the way you imagine them. My late husband kept a loaded handgun by the bed .. but one dark night a cinderblock crashed through the picture window, followed by a hand pointing a gun .. all happening so quickly that there wasn't time to open a drawer and get our gun.

We were tied up and robbed by hopped up druggies .. guns were shoved against my husband's head .. the sheriff said that we were probably left unharmed because we remained calm.

Political assassinations are not new to this country -- what's new is gun technology. We've come a long way from stop-and-reload flintlocks to rapid fire Glocks.

Shooters such as Sirhan Sirhan, or the guy who shot Gov. Wallace, used regular pistols .. imagine if they'd used a 9-millimeter Glock with a 30 bullet clip. Imagine how many more innocent bystanders would've been mowed down.

The Columbine and Virginia Tech crazies would've done a lot less damage with regular rifles and pistols ...

Yes, Rep. Giffords would still have been shot even if the Tucson assassin had been armed with a regular pistol when he walked up behind her .. but it's a safe bet that most of those other victims would've been spared.

Everyone is still playing the blame game -- whether it was a stupid idea to put Rep. Giffords Congressional district in the cross hairs of a rifle on the Internet -- instead of asking the more important question about why people, other than the police and the military, are allowed to own rapid-fire weapons like the Glock 9mm or the AK47 .. weapons that are not suited for hunting or personal protection, but only for killing a lot of people very quickly.

The average citizen should not be able to buy this kind of weapon so easily .. people like collectors should have to go through rigorous screening .. just like for a passport.

I should point out that I'm a firm believer in the right to bear arms, and own a handgun for home protection. Many people in Oklahoma use rifles to hunt wild game .. which helps keep food on the family table in these hard times.

We already have laws stating that people with mental problems are not allowed to purchase firearms.

Another way forward is to identify those with mental problems, such as Loughner and the Virginia Tech shooter, and make sure that they are not able to buy firearms. For example - Loughner's community college expelled him because of his scary-crazy anti-social behavior, they should've reported this to city or state officials who could notify the Federal Gun Registration database.

I recently read about a crazy in Australia who killed 35 people and wounded 21 others with a semi-automatic rifle and a shotgun .. both bought without a gun license. After the massacre, the people urged the government to pass laws to reduce the number of guns available. Gun-related deaths dropped 47%.

Many Americans seem to think that while this tragedy is still fresh and causing nightmares, 'something' will be done .. but I don't hold my breath.

The NRA is one of the most powerful lobbies in the US .. and they are beholden to the manufacturers and sellers of guns and ammunition .. who want the right to sell as much as they can.

The gun-in-every-pot Republicans are beholden to the NRA and will never back down on this .. it will take the voters to put this Wild West mentality to rest now. It's time.

Let us praise good workers (you know who you are)
Who come gladly to the job and do what you can
For as long as it takes to repair the car
Or clean the house – the woman or man
Who dives in and works steadily straight through,
Not lagging and letting others carry the freight,
Who joke around but do what you need to do,
Like the home caregiver who comes daily at eight
A.m. to wash and dress the man in the wheelchair
And bring him meals and put him to bed at night
For minimum wage and stroke his pale brown hair.
He needs you. "Are you all right?" "I'm, all right,"
He says. He needs you to give him these good days,
You good worker. God's own angels sing your
praise.

"Good Workers" by Gary Johnson. Used with permission of the author.

While many of us are still sadly reflecting on the Tucson massacre, while we're trying to learn from it, political pundits are still digging around trying to find any shred of evidence that will absolve their side from blame, or incriminate the other.

They point to the books on the shooter's reading list, his internet ramblings, etc. .. anything to sell you the idea that this guy is a right-wing nut job, or a left-wing loon.

But it's hard to tell if he was motivated by any real political philosophy .. or just by the voices in his head.

The objective facts show him to be anti-government .. show that he did specifically target Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. There's evidence that he had been 'stalking' her for some time .. but no evidence showing that any political rhetoric directly influenced him. So far .. facts will still come out.

Now Timothy McVeigh .. there's a better example of someone who was probably influenced by political rhetoric .. judging from the rightwing political literature found in his possessions.

I am more ready to believe that it's our ugly, toxic political climate in general that goaded the Tucson shooting .. demonizing the other side, using violent imagery to preach about political Armageddon .. all of which zips around the Internet and cable television with lightning speed.

Someone who's unhinged and excitable could so easily be influenced by those political extremists who preach hate for profit or political gain.

I like to remember what President Bill Clinton said: "What we learned from Oklahoma City is, not that we should gag each other or that we should reduce our passion for the positions we hold, but that the words we use really do matter because there are--there's this vast echo chamber, and they go across space and they fall on the serious and the delirious alike. They fall on the connected and the unhinged alike."

And if all you people who are screaming about the new healthcare bill would just consider that if this very disturbed shooter could've had psychiatric treatment in the years leading up to this sad day .. how much safer everyone in this country would be if the families of the mentally ill had more support and easy access to healthcare.

Another thing that we should focus on - that such a mentally ill person was able to legally buy a semiautomatic weapon that can rapidly fire 30 bullets into a crowd. We should raise hell because the law restricting their sale expired in 2004 .. we should kick some ass in Congress because they were too chicken to fight the National Rifle Association and extend it.

Think about where you and your loved ones might be the next time some deranged sicko decides to randomly open fire ...

Rep. Robert Brady (D-PA) told CNN that he'll introduce a law that would make it a federal crime to use language or images that could incite violence toward members of Congress or federal officials...the same way it's handled when it involves the president.

Everyone still has a heavy heart about the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords .. and the deaths and injuries of the other victims. 

I don't know .. part of me agrees with Brady .. but a part of me worries that it might be just as dangerous to let our 1st Amendment rights be whittled away.

Could the right to falsely yell "fire" in a crowded theater be compared to the right to incite violence against our elected officials?

See, we all agree that outright threatening someone with violence is bad, but outlawing anything that could be "interpreted" as threatening? The "interpretation" would be where we'd run into trouble.

If only we could create a law that would curb the actions of people who actually PROFIT from hate and intolerance .. like media bigwigs and stars .. someone with a financial interest in inciting violence, veiled or not. Now THAT is what I would support.

And if this tragic event leads to anything, it needs to be a change in the gun laws .. there is no excuse for this obviously mentally ill individual being able to buy a firearm.

Read more here at CNN's Political Ticker: "....Brady is particularly incensed over a web posting by former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin during the 2010 election in which she targeted 20 House Democrats, including Giffords for political defeat. The posting showed a map of the United States with the 20 Democratic congressional districts identified by gun sights.

"You can't put bulls eyes or crosshairs on a United States congressman or a federal official," Brady said. "I understand this web site that had it on there is no longer in existence. Someone is feeling a little guilty."[..]"

Yes, SarahPac was scrubbed the day after Giffords was shot .. the images related to Giffords and crosshairs were removed .. but they are still all over the Internet.

A Palin staffer said it wasn't gun sights at all .. it was surveyor's symbols in the graphic, like crosshairs you'd see on a map.

Yeah right, the crosshairs were immediately followed by Palin urging like-minded "surveyors" to "Don’t Retreat, Instead RELOAD! .. everyone knows how surveyors' equipment needs to be reloaded .. then next thing you know "reload" will be Inuit for "peacefully express your opinion" ...

So, I have to wonder if Palin's images were entirely innocent, why scrub the website .. isn't that admitting an offense?

I am heartsick and stunned about the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords yesterday .. about the 6 who died, among them a federal judge and a 9 y/o girl, and the 11 other injured people. Giffords is still in critical condition, as are several of the victims. Police say that Giffords, who was shot point-blank in the head, was the intended victim.

The shooter, who may not have acted alone, was caught at the scene. Federal and state law officers said he carried a 9mm Glock outfitted with a 30-round magazine. He was trying to reload when several heroes in the crowd tackled him and took the gun away .. one of them a woman.

Here's the latest from CNN.

Angry Democrats are blaming the Tea Party's vitriolic rhetoric, saying it directly contributes to these violent incidents .. referring to the remarks of Sharron Angle, who had advocated "second-amendment remedies" to some of the nation's problems .. and Michelle Bachmann asking for people to be "armed and dangerous."

But what people are most riled up about is that Giffords, who was a swing vote for the healthcare reform bill, was among several lawmakers "targeted" in SarahPalinPac's "It’s time to take a stand" campaign .. an ad that put 20 Democratic members of Congress literally in the crosshairs of simulated gun sights on a map of the United States.

Yesterday SarahPalinPac servers were down and the target graphic was scrubbed from the website.

I will wait until all the details emerge before I speak my piece.

"An escaped prisoner in Alaska was on the run for six hours before he was finally caught near Sarah Palin's hometown of Wasilla. When I think of safe places to run, I think 'the woods near Sarah Palin's house.'" –Jimmy Fallon

"In Arkansas, thousands of dead birds dropped out of the sky and there were 100,000 dead fish in the rivers. Also, McDonald's is having a special on Chicken McNuggets and Filet of Fish." –Jay Leno

"You know why I think the birds fell out of the sky? Tweeting." –Jay Leno

"The new Republican-controlled House of Representative decided to start things off by reading the entire Constitution aloud. Then there was a break for lunch and a slave auction." –Jimmy Kimmel

"According to a group that monitors government waste, the Republicans' reading of the Constitution cost taxpayers a $1 million. Only politicians could spend money reading." –Jimmy Kimmel

"The new Congress adopted a rule that permits members to use electronic devices on the floor of the House. So let the sexting begin." –Jimmy Kimmel

"Now that the Republicans have taken over the House, they're going to repeal everything President Obama has done. They even told Michelle Obama that her vegetable garden has to go." –David Letterman

"How about the new Speaker of the House, John Boehner. Have you seen this guy's enormous gavel. I'm telling you, if in four hours, that gavel is still that size, he's got to call a doctor." –David Letterman

"John Boehner chose a huge gavel. I think somebody’s compensating for his small government." –Stephen Colbert

"John Boehner -- doesn't he look like every guy you've ever seen at a hotel bar? He looks like the kind of guy who licks his thumb when he counts his money." –David Letterman

"The first order of business for the 112th Congress: blaming everything on the 111th Congress." –Jay Leno

"The captain of the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier has been relieved of command for appearing in raunchy videos on the ship. They are calling this the most embarrassing video involving Navy personnel since that guy from the Village People." –Jay Leno

"The Republicans now control the House, and they say their plan is to stick to a strict interpretation of the original Constitution. So I hope you women and non-whites didn't like voting." –Jimmy Kimmel

"They're also hoping to cut back on government regulation on Wall Street. I think we can all agree that Wall Street does a good job policing itself." –Jimmy Kimmel

"Congress was broadcast live on Facebook for the first time in history. Now you can waste time and not get work done by watching Congress waste time and not get work done." –Jimmy Fallon

"We have a new Speaker of the House, John Boehner. His new slogan: 'Four more tears.'" –Jay Leno

"They now say that our national debt will have to be paid off by our children. So thank God for Kate Gosselin and the Octomom." –Jay Leno

"The commander of the USS Enterprise was relieved of duty because of his involvement in making raunchy videos while onboard the Navy ship. The good news: Today he was offered a job as a producer on 'Jersey Shore.'" –Jay Leno

"A man was arrested for masturbating while on a flight. He said he was just finishing what the TSA guy started. Now would that be a skyjacking?" –Jay Leno

"Jerry Brown is Governor of California again. How California is that, hooking up with your ex years later?" –Jay Leno

"Why is it no human being can withstand more than two years as a presidential press secretary? There must be an organ somewhere in the body that can only filter two years worth of heavy duty bullsh*t." –Jon Stewart on Robert Gibbs' retirement

"McCain stands now less a paragon of straight talk and independence for new members to admire, and more like an object lesson of how f*cking mad someone gets when they don't get their way." –Jon Stewart

"Airports are considering dumping TSA and hiring their own security. You see these TSA guys just standing around with their thumbs up our asses." –Jay Leno

"President Obama says he read three books while he was on vacation. Or as Sarah Palin put it, 'showoff.'" –Jimmy Fallon

[a tip of the hat to Daniel Kurtzman, NYT-laughlines, and newsmax.com]

Another embarrassing, and incredibly ironic Republican moment .. the symbolism here is too rich.

These two congressmen - Pete Sessions (R-Texas) and Mike Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) - were not on the House floor when everybody else was being sworn in the other day .. they were at a party in the Capitol Visitors Center .. where they saw the swearing-in ceremony on TV .. and they raised their hands and took the oath there .. at the party .. talking to the TV.

Next day, Sessions and Fitzpatrick cast their first votes of the 112th Congress .. never mind that they were technically not members of Congress at the time.

Ironic that just before they dishonored it, both of them had read aloud from the Constitution on the House floor ...

Anyway, it all came to light when Speaker Boehner's office found a photo of Sessions holding his hand up while watching a TV showing his fellow colleagues being sworn in on the House floor.

ABC News reports: "Today Sessions and Fitzpatrick were on the House floor, voting and reading the Constitution — just like every other sworn-in member of Congress. And Sessions helped preside over a hearing of the House Rules Committee on the GOP's push to repeal the health care law.

But once GOP leaders learned that two of their members weren't yet legitimate members of Congress, they abruptly stopped the Rules hearing on the health care law....[..]"

People were making jokes about how the Founding Fathers didn't include anything in the Constitution about a remote swearing-in by television.

Anyway, they finally got it all straightened out .. a Rules committee hearing was stopped, and Fitzpatrick and Sessions both had to go back to the House floor where Speaker Boehner swore them in .. probably after another kind of swearing took place.

I can't stop laughing at them raising their hands while watching the ceremony on TV .. say what you will about the Democrats but I don't think any of them are that dumb.

And wild horses wouldn't keep me away from MY swearing in ....

Talking about the Republican idea of having House members take turns reading the Constitution in its entirety on the House floor .. and when the part came about how the president must be a natural-born citizen, an agitated Birther in the gallery interrupted by shouting, "Except for Obama! Except for Obama! Help us Jesus!"

I loved this healthy dose of irony .. but the woman was ejected.

Perfect .. she was exactly the kind of person they staged the reading for .. and they used this stunt just like they use God and the Bible .. they know exactly what buttons to push to fire up the uneducated and the almost unhinged.

I have to say that when I first heard the woman shout I thought it came from the House floor ...

Speaker Boehner said in an interview with NBC that he believes President Obama is a US citizen, but won't tell the other members of his caucus "what to think." How's that for wishy-washy leadership? It's a fact .. not an opinion.

Anyway, they weren't reading the actual text of the US Constitution .. they left out some icky bits .. glossing over that whole "slaves count as three-fifths of a person" thang ...

A whitewashing of history so to speak .. forgive the pun.

I wish they had read the complete document .. because it shows that as human beings, we are fallible, and as time goes by, society changes, and certain views become unjust.

The Constitution is not written in stone, it's a living document .. a guide for the generations that came later, as the Founders intended it to be .. if they intended for it to be written in stone, we'd still be living exactly the same as we were back in 1776.

I listened to the reading as I worked in my studio .. it tickled me when some pages were stuck together and nobody noticed .. they had to come back later and read parts of Art. IV and Art. V.

The high point, the part that touched my heart, was when Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), a leader in the civil rights movement, was greeted with a standing ovation after reading the 13th Amendment, which abolished slavery.

Read more here:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_house_constitution

Yep, Republicans will try to repeal Pres. Obama's healthcare reform bill .. but the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office released an estimate of how much the repeal bill will cost. It would increase the deficit by $230 billion over 10 years.

Deficit hawks my Aunt Fanny .. let me see if I've got this straight .. a repeal of the Healthcare Reform Bill would increase the deficit by a quarter TRILLION dollars ...

CBO's analysis also found that fewer Americans would have health insurance .. and the ones who buy in the individual market would pay more.

Good plan, Republicans! Let's repeal a long-needed improvement to our extremely expensive, out-of-control health insurance system .. AND, in so doing, INCREASE the deficit .. AND push more Americans out of the insurance system (thereby increasing costs).

It's an idiotic and vengeful move .. but good news for Democrats in the long run, since this stunt is going to look ridiculous to the public as well.

Two days in control of the House, and this is what they come up with?

And look how they ignore their own rules:

Politico: "The House Rules Committee meets today on the health repeal legislation with a procedural vote scheduled tomorrow and a floor vote next Wednesday. The new Republican rules will say that no bills can pass if they add to the deficit, but Republicans are making an exception to their own rules for the repeal bill."

Read more here: "New CBO Analysis: GOP’s Push For Health Law Repeal Would Increase Deficit By $230 Billion Over 10 Years"

You made crusty bread rolls filled with chunks of brie
And minced garlic and drizzled with olive oil
And baked them until the brie was bubbly
And we ate them thoughtfully, our legs coiled
Together under the table And then salmon with dill
And lemon and whole-wheat cous cous
Baked with garlic and fresh ginger, and a hill
Of green beans and carrots roasted with honey and tofu.
it was beautiful, the candles and linens and silver,
The winter sun setting on our snowy street,
Me with my hand on your leg, you, my lover,
In your jeans and green T-shirt and beautiful feet.
How simple life is. We buy a fish. We are fed.
We sit close to each other, we talk and then we go to bed.

by Gary Johnson

"You made crusty bread rolls... " by Gary Johnson. Used with permission of the poet.

Big day for political junkies yesterday .. the newly-elected members of Congress were sworn in .. the gavel passed from House Democrats to Republicans.

But not before outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi used the bully pulpit one last time to acknowledge all the accomplishments of her 111th Congress .. and there were quite a few, all of them benefiting women, children and the working class.

New Speaker John Boehner didn't cry as much as everybody though he would during the transfer of power, though he did have to use his hanky several times .. at least he could talk without sobbing.

Even Republicans are worried about "the crying thing" .. read about it here. 

I was amused that Boehner chose such an oversized gavel .. lots bigger than Pelosi's ...

House Democrats may have gotten a shellacking during midterm elections, but now things might be a little bit easier for them, because they are no longer in charge .. Republicans have the gavel now, and have to prove to the American people that they can actually get something done.

The president is also sort of off the hook .. he doesn't have to defer to Nancy Pelosi or Harry Reid anymore .. having the Republicans in charge of the House could maybe work for the White House.

It's Boehner who's going to have a very difficult job navigating between Tea Party wingnuts and the more moderate folks in the GOP. Tea Party activists are already complaining because Republicans have walked-back their "Pledge to America" campaign promise to cut $100 billion in spending first thing .. but now they say they maybe can do about half of that .. $50 to $60 billion.

I watched a lot of swearing-in day on C-SPAN because I'm a history buff and a political junkie. There was a lot of goodwill .. many kumbaya moments .. but don't hold your breath waiting for it to last.

The first thing Republicans say they're going to do is tear down the healthcare reform bill .. a bill that cuts $143 billion from the federal budget (according to the non-partisan, Congressional Budget Office).

But I predict the repeal will be more blather than substance. They have to go through the motions because it was another campaign promise .. but President Obama will veto it .. and there's not enough votes in the house to overcome a Presidential veto .. not enough votes in the Senate to repeal it either.

It amuses me that the new crop of Republicans want to destroy the president's health-care law .. but they eagerly accept their own government run healthcare .. and then vote to not make that public.

Certain Republicans are also talking publicly about plans to impeach Pres. Obama. They haven't offered any valid grounds for impeachment yet, but needless to say, that won't stop them. They've made it perfectly clear that their number one goal is to make Obama's next two years the worst hell they can manage.

ABC News reports that Tea Party crazy Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is seriously thinking about seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2012.

Oh, goodness .. I just sprayed coffee all over the place. I would like to thank Bachmann. I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard.

"A source close to the three-term congresswoman said Bachmann will travel to Iowa this month for multiple meetings to seek advice from political forces there and party elders close to the caucus process before coming to a final decision regarding a potential presidential run."

Man oh man .. End Days ARE coming.

You know, if Bachmann really does run it serves one of two ends. It will make Newt and Sarah actually seem less crazy (comparatively speaking), and more likely to win the nomination .. or, it will split the crazy vote, which might allow one of the written-off candidates - like Huckabee - to pick up steam. Yes, fundie Huckabee is just as right-wing nutty .. but his aw shucks southern charm seems to disarm people.

But then, if the crazy vote is split too many ways, it might leave the possibility that somebody halfway sane might slip through.

Palin/Bachmann 2012 .. wow .. the "dream" ticket is now within reach!

When Love is lost, the laughter's good and
gone,
The sun sinks down, the heavy fog rolls in,
Nothing is left to say and you know that no
good
Will ever come of this,
Life will never again be miraculous.
Tall dark woman in the café, I see
How the tears glitter in your blue eyes.
You drink black coffee for bravery
And weep onto the front page of the Times.
I had a love once too who now is gone, is
gone, she's gone. The waves roll along
The coast, the sweet summer rain blows in.
If I knew you, I'd sit by your side and
sing:
This world is not our home, we're only
passing through.

by Gary Johnson

"In A Cafe" by Gary Johnson. Used with permission of the author.

The other day I was complaining about how Republicans have set a record blocking Pres. Obama's judicial nominees, and someone said, "Excuse me, but didn't the Democrats control the Senate ..."

See, that's what everybody thinks, that Democrats had the power .. and rightie media certainly didn't mind pushing the myth.

In the old days the "filibuster" was serious .. senators would stand and speak, sometime for days on end, to give the leadership time to put together 60 or more votes to permit a (majority rules) vote .. then they'd vote.

But what people don't understand is - the current Senate rules give power to the minority and the individual. One (1) Senator can block ANYTHING, without a review, without the possibility of a vote, and without even being on the record as having blocked anything.

Constitutional law experts have argued that this violates the structure of the Constitution.

This is why Democrats have sworn to restore old Senate rules when the new Congress is sworn in .. if they fail, it'll be another 2 years before they can try again.

Seriously folks, regardless of your party - if, out of 100 senators, a 60-vote supermajority is not enough to conduct the business of government .. then it's totally broken.

I repeat .. if a simple majority of elected representatives support a bill - after a reasonable amount of time for debate, after all proposals and amendments have been offered - the majority should be able to end debate and pass or reject the bill with a simple majority vote.

Now back to that blocking judicial nominees thing - for over 30 years Republicans have been successful in moving the judiciary to the right a little at a time.

Republicans have said that their highest priority - I repeat, highest priority - is to replace Obama with a Republican president in 2012. They have every reason in the world to prevent Obama from appointing any judges .. they want the positions to remain open until they are back in power .. regardless of the impact on the country, regardless of how the back-up of caseloads slows down the courts.

This is just another example of Republican simple-minded priority of party over country. Their stall campaign has caused 102 out of 854 judgeships to remain vacant .. 47 of them are considered emergencies because of heavy caseloads.

Even conservative Chief Justice John Roberts said in his year-end report: "This has created acute difficulties for some judicial districts. Sitting judges in those districts have been burdened with extraordinary caseloads."

Silly Darrell Issa, Big Business won't hire because you get rid of regulations - they'll just pocket the extra profits - they'll only hire when the demand for their products and services starts growing.

From Politico: "Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) wants the oil industry, drug manufacturers and other trade groups and companies to tell him which Obama administration regulations to target this year.

The incoming chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee - in letters sent to more than 150 trade associations, companies and think tanks last month - requested a list of existing and proposed regulations that would harm job growth.[..]"

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0111/46995.html

The same Corporate Overlords who are enjoying record profits in the billions, taking home bonuses running into the tens of millions of dollars, while the average American worker suffers because these same Corporate Overlords shipped their jobs overseas .. the same Corporate Overlords who played a big part in bringing our economy to the brink of disaster, and had a hand in the worst environmental catastrophe the world has known.

And, lest we forget, the same Corporate Overlords who spent millions to help elect Issa to this position of power.

Found an interesting name for a church in Kentucky .. but they can't outdo Okies when it comes to religious crazy ...

WARR ACRES, Okla. (UPI) -- The pastor of an Oklahoma church said some members have been leaving due to a 10-foot crucifix that some say appears to depict a penis on Jesus' stomach.

Rev. Philip Seeton of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in Warr Acres said some members have left the church due to the crucifix, which some say appears to depict a large penis covering the abdomen of Jesus Christ, The Oklahoman reported Thursday.[..]" ....

Oh yeah ... here's the picture of the Kentucky church:

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/pictures/view/22831/

BTW, when you click the "enlarge" button for the picture, the steeple doesn't get way bigger.

Spooky things are happening in Arkansas .. on New Year's Eve thousands of blackbirds tumbled dead from the sky onto the small town of Beebe .. and thousands of dead fish washed up last week on a 20 mile stretch along the Arkansas River ...

Arkansas is Oklahoma's next door neighbor and I know them well .. somehow I see a scenario where the words, "hold my beer and watch this" were involved.

BEEBE, Ark. — Thousands of dead red-winged blackbirds fell from the sky in an Arkansas town on New Year's Eve after massive trauma, tests by veterinary officials concluded on Monday. ...

"The birds suffered from acute physical trauma leading to internal hemorrhage and death," the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said in a statement. "There was no sign of chronic or infectious disease." ...

That evidence, and the fact that the red-winged blackbirds fly in close flocks, suggests they suffered some massive midair collision, he added. That lends weight to speculation that they were startled by something. ...[..]"

A study by The American Association of Wine Economists - "Women or Wine? Monogamy and Alcohol" - finds that societies that drink alcohol practice monogamy .. and societies that do not drink alcohol - Muslims, Mormons - practice polygyny.

The study has a lot of big words .. but the gist of it seems to be:

As wine-making spread through Europe, monogamy also spread. Ancient Greeks and Romans liked to get roaring drunk, and preferred prostitutes to wives .. this caught on, and soon became the predominant trend.

Read more here: "Intriguingly, across the world the main social groups which practice polygyny do not consume alcohol. We investigate whether there is a correlation between alcohol consumption and polygynous/monogamous arrangements, both over time and across cultures. Historically, we find a correlation between the shift from polygyny to monogamy and the growth of alcohol consumption. Cross-culturally we also find that monogamous societies consume more alcohol than polygynous societies in the preindustrial world. We provide a series of possible explanations to explain the positive correlation between monogamy and alcohol consumption over time and across societies." ......

In a way it's understandable why drunken men would only want one wife .. imagine being bitched at by five wives after drinking all night with the boys.

Talking about Rep. Darrell Issa, incoming GOP chairman of House Oversight and Government Reform (who will be investigating corruption), appearing on CNN yesterday. Seems he had to clean up the demonizing language he'd used about our president on radical right-winger Rush Limbaugh’s radio show .. language that is, as we say in Texoma, all hat and no cattle.

Issa had called President Obama "one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times" .. but now it seems he meant to say the Obama administration instead of the president.

Can he back that claim up? Wellll .. on CNN’s "State of the Union" he said:

"When you hand out $1 trillion in TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) just before this president came in, most of it unspent, $1 trillion nearly in stimulus, that this president asked for, plus this huge expansion in health care and government, it has a corrupting effect" ....... [..]"

So let me get this straight...

The TARP money he’s talking about was passed under Bush .. AND he’s not pointing to anything specific to back up his claims that Obama's administration did anything corrupt with what was left of the money .. only that "it has a corrupting effect."

I want them to to be specific when they claim that the Obama administration has broken the law, or has not abided by the Constitution.

This proves Issa will be fishing for any excuse to impeach President Obama .. forget about the other problems in this country, radical righties will focus on defeating Obama .. to hell with the country.

Don't forget, Issa will have subpoena power to subpoena almost anybody he wants to .. and here he's already coming to all these conclusions before he even brings people in ...

Issa will be just another in a long line of hypocrites .. who cry foul even as they dig holes to hide their own bodies. They'll soon trip over their own lies, they always do .. they just can't help themselves.

Hopefully Obama will ride Republican vindictiveness all the way to re-election.

You still love the ones you loved
back when you loved them—books.
Records, and people.
Nothing much changes in the glittering rooms of the heart,
Only the dark spaces half-reclaimed.
And then not much,
An image, a line. sometimes a song.

Car doors slam, and slam again, next door.
Snow nibbles away at the edges of the dark ground.
The sudden memory of fur coats,
erotic and pungent,
On college girls in the backseats of cars, at Christmas,
Bourgeois Americana, the middle 1950s,
Appalachia downtown.

And where were we going? Nowhere.
Someone's house, the club, a movie?
See the pyramids along the Nile,
WKPT, I'm itching like a man on a fuzzy tree.
It didn't matter.
Martin Karant was spinning them out,
and the fur was so soft.

by Charles Wright

"15" from Littlefoot. © Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2007. Reprinted with permission

Are you ready for it? Being able to count every high-fructose-syrup fat dimple? Even the women's butts in the commercial don't look good wearing them .. "smooth butt-lifting design" my eye .. just wait 'til they start bagging ..

If you love wearing comfy, fat-assed-spandex-sweat-pant PJs .. if you love fake-fly fronts, if you hate squeezing out your muffin tops in real jeans, if you love fake rivets, if you love camel toe, you'll love Pajama Jeans.

Seriously, just how dang comfortable do we really need to be in public? Where do we draw the line?

I've just noticed the commercial .. apparently Pajama Jeans are 39.95, and they offer a bonus crew neck T shirt:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFoGg_aJYkM

It almost makes you wonder if they're serious or satirical. Like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S2p7AiNX9g

Anyway, everybody knows the bestest most comfy jeans ever are men's button up Levi's 501's .. made out of high quality thick cotton denim, and they last forever. The older they get the softer .. and the best way to break them in is to wash them and put them on while they're slightly damp ..

It doesn't surprise me that Little Fockers outdid True Grit at the box office .. maybe it's these hard times that make people desperate to laugh at children projectile vomiting in bad comedies.

I'm embarrased for Robert De Niro .. that such a great actor would stoop to such tired fockin' schtick. But don't get me started ...

Anyway, true to Coen brothers style, True Grit is heavy on violence and doesn’t have much in the way of sex .. which is good, because the main character is a 14-year-old girl.

Which brings me to the odd fact that this is quite the feminist film .. it takes place in a world where women are shuffled off to kitchens and whorehouses, and part of the movie explores the true grit of females in that world.

Hailee Steinfeld -- who plays Mattie Ross, a Huck Finn in pigtails who wants to avenge her father's death -- is an exceptionally-talented actress (13 when the film was made). She's an absolute pleasure to watch on screen .. her performance alone is worth the price of admission.

I love Joel and Ethan Coen .. loved Fargo, Raising Arizona and O Brother Where Art Thou. I even like their movies that other people don't .. I'm a fiend for Barton Fink. I don't necessarily like gore and violence, but I liked No Country For Old Men for its interesting dialogue.

I enjoyed the Coen brothers rich and dark take on True Grit. The cinematography was great, showing the true bad-ass terrain of Oklahoma Indian territory. The first TG was filmed in pretty California.

I also love Jeff Bridges and good Westerns, so it's right up my alley. We haven't had a really good gunslinger flick since Unforgiven back in 1992.

I'm usually leary of remakes, but I trusted the Coen brothers on this one and glad I did. It was closer to the Charles Portis novel than the original .. even down to the Bible-flavored dialog. Back when people didn't use so many contractions, and said things better with fewer words.

Believe me, the Coens didn't remake the first True Grit, they made the novel .. used a lot of its dialog word for word. They also paid amazing attention to detail .. the ugly period costumes and sets were dead-on authentic.

Bridges is a more restrained Rooster Cogburn .. only half a ham as the drunken lazy lawman, whereas John Wayne was the whole hog, chitlins and all. But, people who should know say that having Wayne play an obnoxious drunk was type casting .. so he didn't have to stretch too far to win his Oscar.

And having Matt Damon as the vain Texas ranger LaBoeuf instead of Glenn (Rhinestone Cowboy) Campbell .. well, was very refreshing.

Bridges looks right at home in this film .. he deserves an Oscar for this role, but won't get it because he won last time with Crazy Heart.

Yet it may be a different story for Hailee Steinfeld .. she should start working on her acceptance speech right now ...

True Grit is definitely one of the best movies of 2010 .. a wild ride and a great sense of adventure. Great filmmaking .. great acting .. but it's the dialogue that really sings. Saddle up.

1/2/11 UPDATE -- from Entertainment Weekly: "The Coen brothers' critically acclaimed Western, True Grit, can add another superlative to its run:  No. 1 movie in America. It took the top spot 10 days after its release with $8.2 million in receipts Friday, a 72 percent increase from the same day last week..."