Blagojebitching

(...as in "Quit your Blagojebitching")

I got word, yesterday, that Weldon Springs is being closed on Nov. 1. More accurately, I got word that big meanie, Rod Blagojevich, is closing our park. *sigh*

The loss of our State Park is a particularly devastating blow to Clinton and DeWitt County in lost tourism dollars, loss of a heavily used & enjoyed park, loss of jobs, loss of a business (Boondocks 2,) loss of a valuable feature to attract new businesses and residents to the area, etc.

This closure is a small part of the Governor's greater effort to get a balanced budget written and passed.

It may not be a popular view and I don't expect anyone to agree with me, but I fully support Rod's efforts to get a balanced budget written and passed. That doesn't mean I want my park to close -- quite the contrary! I NEED for it to stay open.

But I also know that we cannot continue the pattern of
spending in excess of revenues. That's a recipe for financial ruin whether at the household, local, state or the federal level.

Everybody wants the things our taxes pay for, but how many are willing to invest in this great state or this great nation to pay for those things? As a taxpaying resident of the state of Illinois, I am part owner in the park -- as is every resident of the state. It's a wise investment of my tax dollars.

Today, at 11 am, there will be a rally and press conference at the entrance to the park. Representative Mitchell (R) will be there, many area residents and community leaders will be there and I will be there. But, my being FOR keeping the park open is coming from a very different place than most of the people who will attend the rally to protest its closure.

It should not have come to this. The rift in the party has gone too far. Petty jealousies and bickering have gone too far. The legislators who submitted a budget that called for spending far in excess of next year's revenues KNEW Blagojevich would not sign it, KNEW Rod would make deep interim cuts while the state is without a balanced budget, KNEW that Rod would be vilified in the press and the court of public opinion, while they got a free pass on culpability. It was a strategic move made without the slightest care or thought given to those who might be felled in the crossfire.

I want a balanced budget passed, with real pork barrel spending cut, so that my park doesn't have to close. ...And I didn't wake up to the world going on around me, just yesterday. If taxes have to go up to balance the budget even after wise cuts are made, as so many are worried will be the case, I won't blame Rod for that necessity. I will blame years of rampant, frivolous spend and borrow Republican administrations in the Capitol that left us with a staggering state debt to pay off -- the interest alone on which eats up a significant portion of state revenues before a single pothole is filled or paycheck cut or park grounds mowed...

It's time for the people, economy and issues of this state to come before dynastic ambitions, petty bickering, etc.

Editing to update:

1. A friend and fellow Dem put it very nicely: "When the revenues won't cover everything something has to go and it's going to be parks before public safety."

2. I'm receiving useless Blago-bashing crap in e-mail, thinly disguised as an effort to keep the parks open. If you don't like Rod, fine, but that's a separate issue and bashing him isn't going to get you what you want from him. Revenue will get you those things.

Let's Stage An Election

I wrote these parody lyrics back in '04 to express the direction I've seen our elections heading. We seem to have arrived. Can I call 'em or can I call 'em? Enjoy!

Let's Stage An Election
alternate lyrics by Melhi, Oct 2004
To the tune of: Walk Like An Egyptian by The Bangles

Watch the old man sing on the tube
He'll do the fad dance for their vote
With the youthful clique (Oh way, oh!)
He's younger now, quite the daddio!

If the younger man's sense of style
Is not so manly, make him flex
Girl's love his smile? (Polls say so!)
Then flash his teeth on the TV set!

Give 'em hype, get it spinnin' tight, hey!
Way oh, hey yo! Oh way, oh way, oh!
Let's stage an election!

The bald net execs, script the race
They push the polls, for the ratings score
Exciting news! (Oh way, oh!)
It pops! It zings! See the numbers soar!

All the viewers so into looks
That's how they judge who's the better man
If he's wrinkl-ing (No way, oh!)
They schedule him for inject-i-ons

Do the lids, nip and tuck his face, hey!
Way oh, hey yo! Oh way, oh way, oh!
Let's stage an election!

Make the scene on the screen, stay on track
Flex their arms, then they talk some smack
Must rock the vote (Oh way, oh!)
So strike a pose with the quarterback

Autographs to sign, photo ops
And hanging out in the union shops
Now sing and dance (Oh way, oh!)
Go with the platoon on their walk

All the ragazines follow them
The party boys pay to fly them in
On the radio (Oh way, oh!)
They know their lines, keep repeating them

"Mindless schlock! Someone make it stop, hey!"
Hey, no way, yo. No way, Jose` oh!
Let's stage an election...
Let's stage an election...

What Are a Few Broken Commandments?

Ok, so I've been hearing little murmered concerns about whether McCain might be a closet atheist. Frankly, I don't know if he is or isn't and don't care. He's not asking for the job of pastor, he's asking for the job of President. So, it shouldn't matter, but just as some people are concerned that Obama might be a Muslim, which we do know he is not, even though it shouldn't matter to anyone, it does to them and that means both candidates have to work at making it clear that they're not whatever people are worried they might be.

Obama, of course, pointed to his membership in a Christian congregation led by someone who certainly drew enough attention for people to notice... and then THAT became a major concern.

McCain, however, seems rather oblivious to the speculation concerning him and to the world going on around him... and to the difference between his own personal experiences and tales he read in a book. ...And he has no problem breaking the "thou shalt not lie" commandment, in a church.

This last weekend, both Obama and McCain (in that order) sat down with Rick Warren of the Saddleback church to answer some questions. Mr. Warren assured viewers that McCain was secured in a "cone of silence" during Obama's interview. McCain confirmed this, on the program. But, it was later discovered that McCain was not even in the building during Obama's portion of the interview. He was in his car.

Did he listen to Obama's interview, so he'd have the advantage in his own interview? A savvy viewer caught a flub on McCain's part, that proves he did! ...And before anyone points out that McCain would have had to have satellite or cable tv in his car to view the program -- forcing me to go into how every senior citizen with a motor home has had satellite in those since the 80s and that McCain isn't exactly struggling, financially, bear in mind that McCain needed no special equipment to listen to the live radio broadcast of the event.

But, McCain didn't limit his dishonesty to lying about cheating on the interview. Oh no. He had to trot out a lie he's been telling for awhile... the moving cross in the dirt story he lifted from Solzhenitsyn, an author McCain's often referenced and has made very clear is one of his favorites. According to McCain's own biography, he was being moved from one prison camp to another on the Christmas in question and did not spend the day in his cell except for a few moments standing across from a guard who drew a cross in the dirt to worship with him.

But hey, maybe he didn't lie or intentionally steal from Solzhenitsyn. Maybe McCain is genuinely confusing the events of his own life with the events in his favorite author's book. Cutting him that generous measure of slack on this, though, calls his mental fitness to lead into serious question.

All of that, plus his geographical confusion, his obscenity laden quick temper, one copyright/performance theft after another from various music artists, lifting speeches directly from Wikipedia, using celebs in his ads without securing likeness/publicity rights, advertising Obama's campaign by handing out Obama tire guages at his events, trying to pimp out his wife Cindy (she's the make-up plastered trollup McCain cheated on his first wife with and whom McCain has affectionately nicknamed "You Cunt.") at Sturgis, plus, plus, plus...

Sheesh, no wonder I'm hearing Barr's name whispering up from the red grass, with increasing frequency, despite his almost complete invisibility in the media. Mind you, I don't have any more use for Barr than I do for McCain and I'm more than a little perplexed as to how Barr went from being Libertarian enemy number one to being the Libertarian nominee, so quickly, but I gotta hand it to Barr, his campaign strategy seems to be working... just smile, keep his mouth shut and win votes by not being McCain... or Obama, for that matter.

Banana Split?

Earlier this week, I attended the Gov's/Dems Day events in Springfield, IL. This included a brunch with Gov. Richardson from NM as our keynote speaker, the opportunity to observe the state party convention and a rally at the state fair grounds.

In the weeks and months leading up to this event, I've heard and read countless reports of rifts in the party... at the state level and between Obama & Clinton supporters. But, here's what I saw and overheard as I mingled with a few thousand of my fellow Democrats:

At the convention, I saw Speaker Madigan and Gov. Blagovich seated next to one another on the stage, quietly conversing and laughing with another.

At the brunch and at the rally, I overheard countless conversations about the Presidential primaries and how fortunate those conversing on the topic felt having so many good candidates to choose from, how hard it was to pick just one over others they liked, and how great if felt knowing that even if the candidate they voted for did not win the nomination, someone else they were excited about would. I heard several participants in these conversations mention who they'd chosen as their top pick from the broad field and I heard almost as many names as there were primary candidates. (The only two names I did not happen to hear were Dodd and Gravel.)

I also heard numerous people discussing the Edwards scandal. These discussions ranged from speculation as to the paternity of the child to some humorous off-color joking (nobody will have more fun with this than we Dems will.) But, as the day wore on and the conversations continued on the topic, one thing became very clear... we think John Edwards' penis is none of our business. If Edwards had run on a genitalia platform instead of an economic platform or if he'd written, co-sponsored or in any way supported an ammendment or bill criminalizing adultery, effectively making the sex lives of private, consenting citizens his business, only to be caught having an extramarital relationship, fling or one-nighter, THEN it would have been our business. But, he didn't. So, we don't care. The lying -- frankly, we think he shouldn't have been asked and because he shouldn't have been asked, was under no obligation to answer, much less answer truthfully.

At all three events our speakers, including our Governor, Gov. Richardson, Senator Durbin, Speaker Madigan, etc. move all of us to our feet amid thunderous applause, whistles and cheers. We are a party of individuals, we have as many unique positions on any given issue and how best to reach the goals we do set in common, as we have members. But, we agree on Barack and we agree that we would be just as enthusiastic and supportive of Hillary if she had won.

I've spoken with a few die hard party-loyal Republicans who are planning to vote Libertarian, this year and who call it a "hard choice." Whether they'll actually cross party lines when the curtain closes behind them in November... I have my doubts that they'll do it in those final seconds, but that remains to be seen.

By contrast, I've talked with a LOT more Democrats, from yellow dogs down to casual supporters and I've yet to meet even one self-described Democrat who's planning to cross party lines to vote for McCain, as the press and the RNC are going out of their way to make people believe.

Have a Hot Dog With Me Stephen

... on your show, while you interview me... I'll even bring the hot dogs.

Gee whiz, what does it take to get booked on the Colbert Report? My press release has been out there for a couple of hours, I've been blogged and I introduced a whole new symbol for today's Republican party that I know Stephen secretly wishes he'd thought of first (only fair, I've often wished I'd thought of "truthiness" first... every time I have to send Stephen a nickel for saying it.)

Seriously, The General has everything...

He's dressed up like a 5 star general, even though he's seen combat only from the good safe distance of a live satellite feed.

His uniform is red, white and blue, so it's like he's wrapping himself in the flag to show how much more patriotic he is than the rest of us.

He's a pig... and you know how the enemy feels about pigs... really cheeses them off and I don't know if you've ever tried pig cheese, but, we could win the war with that stuff! Why, the smell alone...

The General's shiny new acronym is G.I.P. which is short for "Gipper" - patron saint of today's Republican party, PLUS it stands for Greed and Ignorance Party. Now, now... I know what you're thinking. But, it's not yet another of my mean, snark infested jabs at the opposing party. No. I'm reaching across the aisle to my conservative American brothers and sisters in all sincerity here. Need proof?

OK. Who's more conservative than Stephen? Nobody. So, if he'd like it, you know it's OK. ...And since he'd LOVE it, it's way better than OK. Right? Right!

Think about it: Greed is the opposite of giving poor people all of your money, so it's a no-brainer that Stephen likes greed. How many times has he said that if poor people want money, they should get a show of their own? Well, trust me, he'll say it eventually. Ignorance is bliss -- who doesn't like bliss?

We interrupt this blog article for an URGENT UPDATE:
Aug. 6, 2008 - Stephen came out of the closet as an Ignorant American, on The Colbert Report, embracing his ignorance, pleading for the anti-ignorant bigotry to stop and calling for Febtember to be named Ignorance Month. (See, I told you he was down with ignorance! Nyah!!)

...And party? Please... if you look up party in the dictionary, there's a picture of Stephen... rolling the drunk kids passed out in puddles of their own puke, on the lawn so he can turn their IDs into law enforcement.

Plus... The General has dozens of campaign slogans he can really get behind -- literally... the slogans are printed on the fronts of the shirts and it would be really cool of him to let the market speak through him to me by buying at least one of each. Slogans like... "Together We Can Prevent Change," "Together We Can Make Sure Our Troops NEVER Come Home" and "Vote Republican Or We'll Put You On The Terrorist List."

Seriously, Stephen... call me.

Meet the General

ATTENTION:

Fall in troops! Meet the General, a five star pig, who's just arrived on the election battlefield to represent the shape of the post-GIPper Republican Party. He's brandishing a killer new acronym and he's loaded full boar with side splitting campaign slogan ammo!

http://www.cafepress.com/melhi/5786389

Spread the word through the ranks.

At ease.
Dismissed.

Repiglican Hoglitics.

Soon to become available on a wide array of merchandise, which will be made available through CafePress and several other POD fulfillment companies I use... I present, the new symbol of the G.I.P. (Greed & Ignorance Party.) Copyright & TM -- Melhi.


I haven't thought the elephant a very accurate symbol of the Republican Party for a long time... but, I haven't had a good excuse to introduce what I believe to be a better symbol for them. Until now.

As some of you may be aware, the RNC is suing CafePress for allowing tradmark violations. The designs in question are designs that use various elephant depictions and/or the initials G.O.P. to refer to the Republican Party.

Despite both the elephant and the intials G.O.P. having been firmly in public domain use as reference to the Republican Party, since the 1800s, the Republican party's applications to trademark "G.O.P" and a SPECIFIC rendition of an elephant symbol (not just ANY pachyderm depiction as they seem to be trying to force) were approved in the 90s.

Many CafePress Shopkeepers have had their designs red-boxed (pulled from public view, but not deleted, permanently) as a result of the RNC's actions. The majority of these shopkeepers used the symbols in favorable, pro-Republican designs and many depended on these designs for their livelihood.

Thus, the RNC, in what's already shaping up to be a tough election year for the party at almost every level, managed to tick off the people who support and promote them, most. Smooth move, RNC. Way to fire up the base, there! (Note: At least one owner of a very successful right-wing shop has already told the RNC to remove him from their regular-contributers list.)

My new symbol for them is much more in keeping with their pork barrel spending and trough feeding -- and G.I.P. references pig, gyp and the Gipper, (who reshaped the party into what it is today,) all in one shot. The elephant? Maybe it was fitting in the 1800s, but they were a progressive party, back then. It was butchered for its ivory a long time ago.

It's My Party...

Recent events of nominal to no daily importance, have made me feel a need to make something about myself crystal clear... just for the sake of doing it.

I am a socially liberal to libertine, economically pro-labor progressive Democrat. ...And damned proud of it!!

I vote for Democrats.

I donate time, energy, skills and other resources to fielding and supporting my party's candidates, busting myths perpetuated about my party, raising funds for my party and our candidates and serving my party.

If I don't like one of my party's sitting politicians, I see it as a need for us to field a better candidate for that seat in our next primary, not as a reason to vote against everything I am by voting for a conservative.

I chose the Democratic party because it was and remains the best fit for who I already was and who I am, on my own... I don't bend to fit a party mold and I don't bend the party to fit me.

I won't support or vote for any candidate running on any conservative party's ticket and I won't support or vote for any conservative running on my party's ticket. I am not a conservative.

I will not vote for anyone who is too dishonest, too stupid or too wussy to run on the ticket of a party well-suited to his/her politics.

I will not support or vote for any single-issue, narrow-focus or axe-to-grind candidate.

I WILL support and vote for broad-focus liberal/progressive independents and liberal/progressive candidates running on the tickets of parties that are well suited to their politics when my party has failed to field a broad focus liberal/progressive candidate for that seat.

If there is no candidate suitable to my requirements in a candidate -- I abstain from voting in that race.

...And here's a fun fact for those of you who buy into the nauseating spin that the heartland is a wholesome conservative utopia while the west coast and upper north east are raunchy liberal hellholes -- this secular, liberal, progressive Democrat was born, bred and still resides in a small, rural county in America's heartland.

Election musings...

I keep hearing little murmers (heart murmers?) that to ensure 16 years of Democratic control of the executive branch, we should nominate Hillary, this election and Obama eight years, hence, because... get this... Hillary will be too old to run in eight years.

Here's the fun part: In eight years, Hillary will be about the same age McCain is now... so, if she'll be too old to run and serve in eight years, McCain is clearly too old to run and serve, NOW.

---

This morning, while surfing the TV dial, trying to get some local weather and news, I happened across the tail end of a morning show segment in which Tim Russert was just wrapping up an explanation of how it's likely, regardless of who wins the Democratic nomination, that the general election could end in an electorate tie and the Presidency be decided by Congress.

Uh... Tim... I think you're VASTLY over-estimating how well McCain's going to fare in November. To get out the vote, he not only has to win over large swaths of the "middle" and sway some Dems to his side, he has to win over the voters in his OWN party, that SHOULD be, but aren't, guaranteed votes! ...And with this weird "bio" tour of his, he's boring even his own core constuency into a group coma. Yeah... nothing like a good nap to fire up the base!

----

Another little murmer from the grass... should Hillary drop out?

My primary has passed. I didn't vote for either Hillary or Obama... and I didn't abstain... I voted for someone else, whose idea of which direction is "forward" came closest to my own. This was the first primary in a long time, that my party's nomination wasn't decided before I got a chance to weigh in. The same thing that makes me a Democrat, makes that very important to me... and it was SUCH a good feeling to participate in the selection, again, after all this time.

We're hearing reports from voters in states who, if Hillary stays in the race, will get to participate for the first and possibly only time in their lives. I want that for them, so I hope Hillary stays in to the bitter end (or that if things swing very heavily to her favor in the remaining states, that Barack stays in 'til the bitter end.) While I don't love the idea of super delegates breaking a statistical tie -- it's the tie-breaker that's been written into procedure for a long time.

--------
Finally... a couple of rumblings that almost tickle me, because they come from a complete lack of knowledge about who's who, politically.

First -- the whole race/gender thing with Barack and Hillary. Yes, it's historic that whichever gets our nod will be a groundbreaking first. BUT, does race or gender affect November? NO. As I've said, before, anyone for whom that's a factor at all, much less a deciding factor won't vote for ANY Democrat, regardless of race or gender.

Second -- I keep hearing that the Dems are bitterly divided between Barack and Hillary and that this signals a self-destructive rift in the Democrat party that could result in the death of the party.

Uh... nope.

The Democrat party is, by the nature of its members, a diverse party of diverse ideas, vision, motivation, focus, skills, etc. We're at our best, strongest and most unified when we DON'T agree 100% on everything.

We have taken a LOT of flack (mostly from lock-stepping Republicans hoping to convince the middle we're floundering as a party) for failing to have and deliver a "core message" -- but we wouldn't be Democrats if we DID have a so-called core message. We don't run our party for office, individuals run on our party's ticket. Whether at the polls or in Congress, etc. we don't vote as a unified block, we decide and vote as individuals.

We are a party of individuals.

Gravel Exits Stage Left...and Stage Right...

I've been saying, since Gravel first blipped on my political radar, back in April of '06, when he became the first person of either major party to throw his hat into the 2008 ring, that I thought he might really lean more toward Libertarian than Democrat.

I got a heads-up, earlier today, that Mike Gravel is indeed officially switching parties from Democratic to Libertarian and will be making an announcement to that effect, today. (He may have already made it, by now.)

Not a big surprise. Left socially, Right economically... I think the Libertarian party will be a better fit for him.

So long and thanks for all the sales in my shops, Mike. (Curiously, to date, Gravel merch has far outsold Barack and Hillary merch, put together, in my shops.)

Promoting Abstinence...

There are lots of new goodies in the Melhi Ink shop I have on CafePress, since the last time I mentioned the shop. I try not to post much about my shops, since this blog isn't about the shops, but one political design is about as omni-partisan as it gets and I thought it might be of interest:



I'd rather abstain than vote for McCain

(on bumperstickers, t-shirts, yard signs and more.)

Frankly, I was shocked to discover that McCain is the true uniter! But, thanks to him, it looks like there's finally something on which Democrats & Rebuplicans, Liberals & Conservatives, the left & the right agree. Heh.

BassAckward Punditry...

The Republicans have their nominee in John McCain. Our nominee is not yet determined and so, the contest between Hillary and Barack continues.

If you listen to the pundits, media, party insiders in both major parties or even the average Joe flapping his jaws on the topic, you might believe this gives a clear competitive edge to McCain, in regards to the general election, in November.

Here's the theory behind that mindset:

1. John McCain knows he's the nominee for his party and can begin campaigning for the office he'll be seeking in the Nov. General Election.

2. Barack and Hillary must, instead, focus solely on the race FOR the nomination and against one another. Only after our eventual nominee is chosen, can our nominee begin campaigning for the office he or she will be seeking in the Nov. General Election.

Here's why that theory is backward.

1. Part of any candidate's campaign for his/her party's nomination already includes and must include campaigning for the office he/she hopes to be seeking in November. Knowing what kind of President Barack intends to be vs. what kind of President Hillary intends to be is vital to our deciding between them in the race for the nomination.

2. There are two parts to every campaign --
A. Running FOR the office and/or nomination you are seeking
B. Competing AGAINST your opponent(s.)

The edge for November clearly lies with Barack and Hillary. Not only is each already letting Americans know why they should be our next President, each already knows who the opponent will be in November. While only one of them will get the nomination, both of them will be campaigning for our nominee to defeat him. Each of them can begin campaigning specifically against McCain, now -- they both differ from McCain, but in different ways from one another and there's no law or point of rule to prevent either of them from making their differences from McCain a part of their campaigns, now.

By contrast, McCain no longer has to put any of his campaign focus on defeating a competitor for his party's nomination. But, that's been true for quite some time in this campaign season. He can certainly continue to campaign FOR the office of President.

But, but when it comes to competing against his eventual opponent, he has three options. He can put it off until he has an actual opponent. He can split his competitive focus between running against Barack and running against Hillary. ...Or he can turn it into a purely partisan "McCain vs Any Democrat."

We've had eight years of hearing that all Republicans are good Christian, America loving, straight, moral, decent, protectors of all that is good in the world and that all Democrats are evil terrorist-abetting American-hating, atheist, immoral, public-gay-orgy-having threats to everything decent. Voters of every political persuasion have seen that neither extreme is true. So, running against the evils of "any candidate" from an opposing party, instead of against a specific candidate, for any length of time, is likely only to damage a candidate's chances for a win in November.

That leaves only the options to put off competing or to spend precious campaing time and resources running against two different might-be opponents.

The advantage is clearly to the future Democratic nominee, if Barack and Hillary both adopt the following strategy: "Here's why I'm going to be a great President, here's how my Presidency would differ from my Democratic opponent's and this is why you shouldn't let McCain anywhere near the Oval Office." Don't give McCain any similarities to exploit, each should compete with McCain on areas where both differ from McCain, but also differ from one another.

The more schizophrenic McCain's efforts to compete against both, as potential opponents, the better for whichever eventually wins our nomination.

Will they both run brilliant gambits for the end game as they duke it out for control of the blue squares or will they just continue to play to the next move, ceding a portion of their advantage to the red king? My money's on the latter, but they're both smart, surrounded by smart people and ultimately on the same side, so there's at least a hair's breadth of a chance they'll wise up.

...And this is from his own party!

(I didn't make this... I found it on YouTube)

Props to George W. Bush

Until very recently, I would never have believed I'd be giving George W. Bush props, but I'd be a hypocrite if I didn't give credit where it's due.

George W. Bush (yes, the one in the Oval Office, not some dude with the same name) taught us one very valuable thing... showing us by example of a job (I'm almost choking on the words) well done.

He showed us exactly how to beat McCain.

WWRE? (Who Would Russ Endorse?)

Russ Feingold, upon announcing that he had decided against a 2008 Presidential bid, warned his supporters against supporting anyone for the Presidency who had voted for the Iraq War, whether they later regretted it or not, saying his first choice for President in 2008 would be someone who had voted against the war, and his second choice would be someone who wasn't in Congress but who spoke out against the war, at the time.


Of the seven remaining candidates on the red and blue ballots...

Hillary Clinton (Blue) - Voted Yea (see below)

Mike Gravel (Blue) -- Would have voted Nay. Was one of the first current or former elected officials to publicly oppose the planned invasion of Iraq in 2002 and has been very public in his opposition to the war, from the beginning.

Mike Huckabee (Red) -- Would have voted Yea. In his biography of 2007, he said he believed invading Iraq was the right thing to do.

John McCain (Red)-- Voted Yea (see below)

Barack Obama (Blue)-- Would have voted Nay. Delivered famous speech, against the Iraq war in Chicago's Rockafeller Plaza in Oct. 2002. Has been very public in his opposition to the war, from the beginning.

Ron Paul (Red) -- Would have voted Nay. Has been very outspoken, in a very public way, against the war from the beginning.

Mitt Romney (Red) -- Would have voted Yea. Has not only supported the war from the beginning, but has displayed a stunning ignorance of the events leading up to the war by stating, during the June 5 Presidential debate, that there wouldn't have been an Iraq war if Saddam had allowed the IAEA into Iraq to inspect (he DID) and the IAEA had found that Saddam had no weapons of mass destruction (they DID find no "evidence of the continuation or resumption of programmes of weapons of mass destruction")

------------------------------------
Senate roll call on H.J.Res. 114 (Public Law 107–243), Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002:

Alphabetical by Senator Name:

Akaka (D-HI), Nay
Allard (R-CO), Yea
Allen (R-VA), Yea
Baucus (D-MT), Yea
Bayh (D-IN), Yea
Bennett (R-UT), Yea
Biden (D-DE), Yea
Bingaman (D-NM), Nay
Bond (R-MO), Yea
Boxer (D-CA), Nay
Breaux (D-LA), Yea
Brownback (R-KS), Yea
Bunning (R-KY), Yea
Burns (R-MT), Yea
Byrd (D-WV), Nay
Campbell (R-CO), Yea
Cantwell (D-WA), Yea
Carnahan (D-MO), Yea
Carper (D-DE), Yea
Chafee (R-RI), Nay
Cleland (D-GA), Yea
Clinton (D-NY), Yea
Cochran (R-MS), Yea
Collins (R-ME), Yea
Conrad (D-ND), Nay
Corzine (D-NJ), Nay
Craig (R-ID), Yea
Crapo (R-ID), Yea
Daschle (D-SD), Yea
Dayton (D-MN), Nay
DeWine (R-OH), Yea
Dodd (D-CT), Yea
Domenici (R-NM), Yea
Dorgan (D-ND), Yea
Durbin (D-IL), Nay
Edwards (D-NC), Yea
Ensign (R-NV), Yea
Enzi (R-WY), Yea
Feingold (D-WI), Nay
Feinstein (D-CA), Yea
Fitzgerald (R-IL), Yea
Frist (R-TN), Yea
Graham (D-FL), Nay
Gramm (R-TX), Yea
Grassley (R-IA), Yea
Gregg (R-NH), Yea
Hagel (R-NE), Yea
Harkin (D-IA), Yea
Hatch (R-UT), Yea
Helms (R-NC), Yea
Hollings (D-SC), Yea
Hutchinson (R-AR), Yea
Hutchison (R-TX), Yea
Inhofe (R-OK), Yea
Inouye (D-HI), Nay
Jeffords (I-VT), Nay
Johnson (D-SD), Yea
Kennedy (D-MA), Nay
Kerry (D-MA), Yea
Kohl (D-WI), Yea
Kyl (R-AZ), Yea
Landrieu (D-LA), Yea
Leahy (D-VT), Nay
Levin (D-MI), Nay
Lieberman (D-CT), Yea
Lincoln (D-AR), Yea
Lott (R-MS), Yea
Lugar (R-IN), Yea
McCain (R-AZ), Yea
McConnell (R-KY), Yea
Mikulski (D-MD), Nay
Miller (D-GA), Yea
Murkowski (R-AK), Yea
Murray (D-WA), Nay
Nelson (D-FL), Yea
Nelson (D-NE), Yea
Nickles (R-OK), Yea
Reed (D-RI), Nay
Reid (D-NV), Yea
Roberts (R-KS), Yea
Rockefeller (D-WV), Yea
Santorum (R-PA), Yea
Sarbanes (D-MD), Nay
Schumer (D-NY), Yea
Sessions (R-AL), Yea
Shelby (R-AL), Yea
Smith (R-NH), Yea
Smith (R-OR), Yea
Snowe (R-ME), Yea
Specter (R-PA), Yea
Stabenow (D-MI), Nay
Stevens (R-AK), Yea
Thomas (R-WY), Yea
Thompson (R-TN), Yea
Thurmond (R-SC), Yea
Torricelli (D-NJ), Yea
Voinovich (R-OH), Yea
Warner (R-VA), Yea
Wellstone (D-MN), Nay
Wyden (D-OR), Nay

-------------------

State of the Union...

Wow... Bush has a long list of things he intends to do in the remainder of his term. So much, he probably should have gotten started chipping away at the list awhile ago... like maybe 7 years ago.

Among other things, he made it very clear that he has a plan that, once put in action, would give us a surplus by 2012.

Pssssst... Dubya... I know you're basking in the thunderous Republican applause you got from that little gem, but... uh... two things:

1. We HAD a surplus... you replaced it with a deficit.
2. You made Clinton out to be a thief of Americans' pocketbooks for having the audacity to operate the nation at a profit... I still have the bad taste in my mouth from cashing the check from what you said was my share of the surplus -- I should have been cashing that check after I retire... and it should have come from the Social Security office.

So suck up that applause, Dubya... I'm just glad the end of this dark time you plunged us into is in sight.

...And yes, the union is strong, because we the people are strong and enduring -- in spite of everything you did to break us down.

Stimulating Whose Economy?

First, my appologies for taking so long to find time to blog on this. Like most Americans, I'm working around the clock. In my case, most of the work I'm doing is currently not compensated with a paycheck. I'm working, for free, as a member of the DeWitt County Development Council to help turn our local economy around and I'm busting my ascii almost around the clock, building a business to help improve not only the household economies of those of us working to build this beast, but to take the bite out of the bottom lines of businesses in an entire, huge, domestic industry... so that the savings will be passed along to every American who's struggling to make ends meet and maybe achieve a little of the American dream in the process. That said...

By now, you've no doubt seen the press on the bipartisan emergency stimulus package. Neither party is particularly thrilled with it, but boy are they quick to dangle that dazzling rebate in our faces.

What a shiny thing it is, too -- a $700 to $1200 (or higher) lump sum rebate payment. It sounds pretty darned good when you're deciding between fuel for the vehicle that gets you to the job that feeds your family or fuel for the bellies of the family you work so hard to provide for.

But, will it do what they say it will? Will we go spend it on beads and baubles at the big box discount store, thus stimulating the American economy by creating a demand for beads and baubles that will, in turn, create jobs in the beads and baubles industries?

You and I know the answer to that question is a huge, resounding "No." But, then, it's a little hard for us to lose touch with economic reality when we're the ones out here trying to survive it.

If they were in our shoes, they'd realize that we've been struggling to make ends meet for so long that $700 - $1200 isn't nearly enough to catch most of us up. Most of us will probably spend that money on necessities and catching up on bills.

But, even if we did all go out, en masse, to spend our little rebate windfalls on beads and baubles -- it wouldn't stimulate OUR economy, because we don't manufacture beads or baubles or much of anything else, here, anymore.

We have the economic equivalent of a gaping belly wound -- a band-aid isn't going to do anything to improve or even stabilize our condition. We need a real emergency cure, an enduring one, that stops the bleeding and keeps our money, here... or we're going to bleed to death.

That's the simple truth of it.

Eenie Meenie Miney...NO!!

I definitely won't be giving my primary vote to any of the top three candidates. I'm not terribly thrilled with any of them, to be quite frank. The best thing I can say about them is that the worst of them is still a damned sight better than anyone vying for the nomination on the red ballot.

What are some of the kinds of things are bugging me about the contenders in the big blue donkey race? Let me give you some examples for each:

Obama - Promised, repeatedly, that if elected to the Senate he would serve at least one full term before running for President. Broke that promise to voters, party workers and countless campaign volunteers several months before completing even one full year of his six year term.

Hillary -- two words: Wal-mart, NAFTA.

Edwards -- Two Americas... namely, his unabashed support, thereof. Example: One America for legal US citizens, legal immigrants and foreign students studying in the US under legal VISAs who have to pay the higher out of state college tuition rates when they fail to meet state residency requirements to qualify for lower in-state tuition rates and Another America for illegal immigrants who pay the lower in-state tuitioon rate despite failure to establish legal residence in ANY US state.

Richardson -- Voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. Supports "sanctuary cities" and drivers licenses for illegal immigrants, supports NAFTA, WTO & GATT.


Dodd -- Voted for the Defense of Marriage Act. Supports national tobacco smoking ban but, at the same time, supports decriminalization of marijauna. Wants to include undocumented illegal immigrant workers in health plan.


Biden -- Words don't match actions:
Said this, "...I don't think the government can dictate the definition of marriage to religious institutions. But government does have an obligation to guarantee that every individual is free of discrimination. And there's a distinction. I think government should not be able to dictate to religions the definition of marriage, but on a civil side, government has the obligation to strip away every vestige of discrimination as to what individuals are able to do in terms of their personal conduct"
Did this: Voted FOR the Defense of Marriage Act, which effectively bans churches of any religion or denomination from deciding for themselves, as they have the right to do concerning opposite gendered couples, whether or not to join same sex couples in legal marriage (civil) as well as in holy matrimony (religious.)

Gravel -- His "fair tax" plan is plenty fair to the same people the Bush tax plan is plenty fair to. His compromise health care voucher plan, while standing the best chance of passing Congress, of any health care plan put forth by any other candidate on either the blue or the red ballot, leaves MUCH to be desired and, if passed, would more than likely have the unintended (by Gravel) impact of preventing progression to universal health care, just as the "don't ask don't tell" compromise has so effectively prevented lifting the ban on gays in the military.

Kucinich -- Wants to ban handguns. Wants to extend more rights and protections to illegal immigrants. Supports national tobacco smoking ban but, at the same time, supports decriminalizing marijuana.


Heavy Sigh

Ethical Economics...

First, let me wish each of you a Happy Festivus, Belated Joyous Yule (Ves Heil!) and Belated Happy Solstice (the light is waxing!) to each of you.

As many of you are blissfully unaware, I have some uniquely ethical business philosophies I'm very proud to say that my friend and business partner in USBuyBid shares. I don't meet many entrepreneurs who share my mindset -- so far, outside of my own bloodline, I've met a grand total of one... the aforementioned friend and biz partner, Samuel.

Aside from working almost round the clock on developing USBuyBid with Samuel, I also have my own little semi-backburnered project, designing for products such as t-shirts, greeting cards, bumper stickers, etc. which I sell through shops on various Print on Demand fullfillment services.

I have at least one design available, in at least one shop, on each of 7 such services -- CafePress (my primary shop,) Printfection (my secondary shop and Evil shop) Zazzle (ties & keychains,) ArtsNow (supplemental shop for TONS of products per design,) E-shirt (just a handful of test designs,) Greeting Card Universe (just a couple of test designs) and Skreened (the inspiration for this post.)

As I went about the traditional preparations for my annual December gift-giving Holiday - sorting the gift bags and boxes I re-use, each year, by whose tag is on them -- a win-win-win tradition that saves trees, money AND landfill space -- my mind wandered to what I'd most like to have in a POD fulfillment service.

My wish list was as follows:

Tie-dye base apparel
Magnetic Bumper Stickers
More "Made in America" products
Sweat-free apparel
Hemp products
"made from recycled..." products
More "Organic" cotton apparel


Not expecting to find any of them, I went searching for the first two things I listed -- magnetic bumper stickers and Tie-dye base apparel. I did't find them, of course. But, I found a number of POD services I was previously unaware existed, including one, Skreened.com, which I was most surprised and thrilled to find because they're an American owned, American operated business, located in Ohio, that offers two of the things on my list, exclusively: a small assortment of sweat-free shirts all made in the USA, in a variety of colors.

I had to pinch myself to make sure I wasn't dreaming! I wasn't -- they're real and some more digging turned up their blog, which includes some indications that they share some of my own business philosophies. I couldn't sign up fast enough! This is a service I can feel REALLY good about each and every thing I sell through them... or buy through them.

It's a little late in the Fred (sometimes referred to as "Christmas") Shopping season to suggest that you check them out for December Holiday gifts you can feel particularly good about giving, but there are lots of good designs to choose from and I highly recommend checking them out and bookmarking them for the next time you're shopping for yourself or a loved one -- help keep American workers employed and earning a living wage, by buying sweat-free American made:

www.skreened.com
or, if you just want to check in on my slow progress in building a presence there, Click Here

(Those who are interested can find most of my other shops by punching "Melhi" and the name of the service into a search engine.)

Oh and it's a couple of days early, but... Merry Christmas.

Io Saturnalia - 2007

It's probably not pre-printed on your commercially produced calendar, but Dec. 17 kicks off the week long Saturnalia. Of the ancient December holidays and its modern variants, Saturnalia is my personal favorite and many of the trappings of a modern Christmas -- whether secular, religious or a mix of both, were taken from the traditional trappings of the Saturnalia celebration.

Amidst all the ruckus, in recent years, about the imaginary war on Christmas, there have been calls for a move away from the traditional greetings of my secular December holiday and a simultaneous return to even older, more traditional December holiday greetings.

Life is a series of choices and each of us gets to choose how to react to the world going on around us. As such, I can either allow the joy to be sucked out of my holiday by being incensed that anyone would have the audacity to ask me to give up traditions I hold dear and that trace back through several generations of my family while, at the same time, accusing me of waging war on their traditions simply by having and practicing my own or I can acknowledge that while the war is imaginary, the pain is real and make peace with those who've mistaken me for their enemy by taking this suggestion to heart and at face value. I've chosen to do the latter.

So, it is in the spirit of forging a lasting holiday peace, celebrating kinship, friendship, vitality & life and sharing my seasonal joy with those whose treasured company and presence on this Earth makes my own time on this orbiting rock seem to pass far too quickly, that I extend to you and yours a most joyous and heartfelt, ancient and traditional Saturnalia greeting....

Io Saturnalia!! Cast off your toga!!!

Mitts Off My Country, Romney!

Mitt Romney wanted to make 3 things very clear tonight.

1. His religion shouldn't matter to any voter. (I'll agree with that. Render unto God what is God's, unto Caesar what is Caesars... Pray not in the streets.... )

2. If he's elected President, he won't be representing just ONE religion. (Could have been worded better... the President isn't supposed to represent ANY religion, but the President is supposed to represent ALL Americans... and that means people of many different religions or even no religion... )

3. Our religion or lack there of DOES matter to Mitt -- because if he's elected President, he absolutely will NOT be representing the secular humanist scourge that has infested America. (WTF?!?!)

Mission Accomplished Mr. Romney. Message received loud and clear!!!

You have no intention of representing me. I'm not American enough for you. I'm everything that's wrong with everything everywhere. You're better than me and better than several generations of my secularist American forebears. *cough* You also suffer from delusions of grandeur, you bigoted f**Ktard. *cough*

Actually it's good that Romney doesn't want to represent me -- doesn't look like he's going to get the chance to represent anyone, anyway... and that gives him less to be disappointed about.

I hope low-budget "who the Heckabee" wipes the floor with Mitt Romney in Iowa.

Whole Lott-a Speculation Going On

Seems like everybody's all a-twitter since Trent Lott announced, just this last Monday, that he'll be retiring five years before his six year term is up.

Speculation abounds and there seem to be as many theories as to why he's getting out of Dodge, barely a year after asking voters for the privelege of another six year term, as there are people talking about it. Is he still confused as to why praising Strom's 1948 political campaign was political self-mutilation? Does it have something to do with recent raids? Is there some other scandal brewing? Did he suddenly remember, as so many Republicans have during the Dubya adminionstration, that he has a family? Is it just no fun now that the big red rubber stamp is gone?

In honor of Trent Lott's resignation, I'd like to suggest a moment of silence... a break from worrying about WHY he's resigning, to savor and enjoy that he IS resigning.

Ahhhh... now, didn't that feel good?

Trent... if you're reading this buddy... so long and don't let the door hit you on the way out!

(singing quietly to self: "...and another one's gone and another one's gone and another one bites the dust...")

Sick?

Bush has vowed to veto a bill that would increase funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program by $35 billion.

Does he hate children? Good question, but be assured dear reader, by vetoing the bill he's not keeping affordable health care out of the reach of children whose families make too much to qualify for medicaid, but whose hard work still isn't enough to put decent private health insurance within financial reach.

No. Bush is looking out for smokers (like me)and for all the middle class children (like mine) who might suddenly find themselves potential victims of government run socialized medicine (as opposed to commercially run socialized medicine aka private health insurance.)

Bush knows that we can't afford to waste money on something as trifling as health care for American children. We just don't have the money, without a tax increase that might impact on the wealthy, who can least afford such an increase. Why, just look at how much a billionaire's family pays each month for private health insurance compared to what a working class family without health insurance pays each month for their coverage!

So, those slimy liberals in Washington found a way they might be able to sneak a tax increase by Bush... tax a product it's popular to hate, right now and that more poor and working class people than wealthy people are likely to consume! Cigarettes! Foxy!

But, thankfully, as sharp as they were, George W. Christ was sharper! He saw right through their two-fold plot to put the hurt on wealthy tobacco industry families while, at the same time, condemning millions of working class children to the evils of non-commercial socialized medicine. ...and, like the mythical, messianic, comic book hero that he is, he sprang into action!

Hitting the airwaves, he quickly reassured the people that he would veto this vile piece of legislation -- citing the many dangers cleverly hidden within the legislation and reissuing the threat that began with Nixon, and which every Republican President since has vowed to make good on:
If any version of universal health care is passed in this country, they'll see to it that it's micromanaged to death by the government and doctors are so far removed from decisions concerning the care of their patients that it's even more impossible to get health care expenses covered than it is with commercial enterprise micromanaging it to death and removing doctors from decisions concerning the care of their patients.

If you're still not sure you want to support Bush on this... just look at how deeply in debt the big commercial suppliers of health insurance have become... at how destitute the CEOs at the helm of these sinking ships are. Is that the kind of expense and loss you, as a taxpayer and thus stakeholder in America's financial solvency want to be burdened with?!

As someone who's experienced chronic nausea, headaches and anxiety since late 2000 or early 2001 and might thus be tempted to support non-commerical health care for every American, I get chills down my spine just thinking about how lucky we are to have Bush watching out for us and our 35 billion in tax dollars... don't you?

Meanwhile, in other news...

"The year 2008 is likely to be the most expensive year of the Iraq war, if the Congress approves President Bush's request for an additional $47 billion for war funding"

Hey, maybe we can fund that increase with a 61 cent per quarter pound tax on fast food hamburgers!

My Next Prez...

From Russ Feingold:

Today we are launching the "My President Will Be…" online campaign. As you will see, we put a different – and some might say slightly humorous – spin on an old Bob Dylan video, aimed at engaging the progressive community in a conversation about the qualities we want our next President to have. So take a look, forward to your friends, and upload your photos at www.ProgressivePatriotsFund.com today. Thanks so much for continuing to help move our country in a better direction.

Sincerely,

U.S. Senator Russ Feingold
Honorary Chair
Progressive Patriots Fund

Here are my wishful thoughts... what are yours?


My next President will be...

on OUR side.

weilding OUR voices.

working around the clock to undo the damage that has been done.

above calling my love of country into question to draw attention away from his misdeeds.

honest and ethical.

the first to admit when (s)he's made a mistake.

actively and agressively putting Americans first.

rebuilding our gulf coast, instead of rebuilding Iraq.

bringing our troops home from Iraq.

making sure we repay the debt we owe our veterans and the loved ones our fallen veterans have left behind.

deeply respectful of the sacrifice our troops have volunteered to make for us.

bringing jobs back to the U.S.

well informed, intelligent and thoughtful.

aware that he is our peer representative and that he represents all of us, not just those who voted or who voted for him or who come from a specific state or make a certain amount of money, etc.

a man (or woman) who counts the phrases "We the People...," "Of, by and for the People..." and "E Pluribus Unum" among his/her most cherished pieces of the foundation of this country -- and who fully comprehends, embraces and incorporates into his/her job, the meaning behind those phrases.

well spoken.

adaptive.

honored to have been granted the rare privelege to represent us.

a Democrat with a spine... and a mouth... like me, like Senator Russ Feingold... like most of us.

Today's Buzz Word...

Quick, if you had to guess, how many times, since the bridge collapse in MN, have you heard or read the word "infrastructure" in the news?

Now, in the three years preceding the bridge collapse, how many times did you hear it?

That's what I thought. BUT, some of us, myself included, have been screaming ourselves hoarse with that word for decades... yes, decades. Were our pleas falling on deaf ears? Hardly. We were heard, loud and clear.

What did it get us before the collapse? That look. We know that look well. It's the one that for many years was followed with accusations that we're just tax and spend liberal Democrats looking for excuses to raise taxes. ...And since Sept. 11, 2001 has been followed by accusations that those of us who'd rather invest in America than invest in Iraq are America hating, troop blaming, terrorist supporting liberal tax and spend Democrat traitors looking for excuses to slam Bush and raise taxes.

Since the collapse? It's just another buzz word in the double talk that leads to no action.

*heavy sigh*

Vintage Melhi

Long before there was a Melhi Ink blog, I never have time to mess with, I was writing posts for a home page column I never had time to mess with. I had thought all of those articles lost to a hard drive crash two computers back, but I found one, by happenstance, today and thought I'd share:

Security.
08-01-96

by Melhi


I was out surfing the web this morning, when I stumbled
across a question about US troops in Saudia Arabia and my opinion on it.

The response I chose ("Can't an oil rich nation afford to protect
its damn self?") set me to thinking.

They don't have to protect themselves because they can afford to
to pay others to do it for them. But, do they pay us? I have yet to see my "Thanks anyway, Saudi picked up part of the defense bill, this year" IRS refund check arrive, have you?

Do we get free oil?
Judging from the pump price the last time I tanked up...NO!

Are any of the nations to whom we are indebted getting free oil in exchange for forgiving our debts?
We're just lucky none of them have started forclosure proceedings against us.

Do we get so much as an "I protected a patch of Saudi Sand and all
got was a sunburn and this lousy t-shirt" t-shirt?
Nope. All we get is burnt.

Our guys are sitting out in the middle of nowhere *just in case* something bad happens. Hey guys...Woo Hoo!! Over Here!!! Bad stuff!! Plenty for everyone!! Come and get it!!!

Oh well, at least when I lie in bed, tonight, trying to ignore the screams of my neighbor being knifed while he's on hold to 911, I'll be secure in the knowledge that I worked half a year to pay to protect the remains of some long dead flora and fauna a zillion miles away in a land long devoid of flora and fauna. And then I'll wait for the antacid to kick in.

Happy Birthday, America

As one of the best fireworks displays I've ever had the pleasure to attend burst brightly, directly over my head, this evening, I was filled to bursting with patriotic pride. Those of my fellow countrymen who have the audacity to question my patriotism cannot fathom and likely do not share the immeasurable depth of my love for this great nation -- all she is, all she has been and all that she can be.

Thanks to a handful of men, liberal rebels, all, from our beloved nation's darkest hours to her most shining moments, we have always had and will always have a glorious history and the potential for an even more glorious future to celebrate. ...And just as we benefit, today, from the work those concerned citizens and budding politicians did, then, so to will our progeny benefit from the work we are doing, today. It's an awesome thing to be a part of history in the making.

Happy Birthday America. :)

A Moment...

Please take a moment to visit this website:
www.hrcactioncenter.org

...and fill out the form that will automatically send a message to the Senators in your state asking them to support the Matthew Shepherd Act which would expand hate crime laws to include sexual orientation and gender identity.

Any act of violence perpetrated against any person, for any reason or even no reason is horrific and tragic and must not be tolerated. A targetted act of violence perpetrated against people because of their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, etc. is an act of domestic terrorism.

It will take but a brief moment to fill out the form, less time than it took you to read this far into this bulletin and it's important because while more than 2/3 of Americans (68%) support the act, various anti-lgbt hate groups and Christian right extremists have been inundating Senators with calls, emails and letters that are outnumbering supporters' calls, email and letters by 5 to 1. Word from the Hill is that some Senators are bowing to that pressure! Speak up, make some noise! Let the majority voice be heard over the din of the hate-mongering few!

Thanks. :)

Here's that link again:
www.hrcactioncenter.org

It's All in the Timing...

Last night's Democratic Primary Candidate debates on CNN... and the amount of time each candidate was given to speak:

Obama: 16:00
Clinton: 14.26
Edwards: 11:42
Richardson: 10:48
Kucinich: 9:02
Dodd: 8:28
Biden: 7:58
Gravel: 5:37

Only Clinton and Obama had more speaking time allotted than moderator Wolf Blitzer spoke! As for uppity Gravel and that little stunt he pulled at the first debate -- refusing to be silent and invisible, having the audacity to speak up and reflect some of the outrage of the average American Democrat -- well, they fixed his little red wagon, this time, didn't they?

Thanks for trying to choose my candidate for me, guys, but I'm a big girl. Unlike the slobbering Fox News enthralled sheeptards on the other side of the political fence, I can and do think for myself. (You remember me and my kind, don't you? We used to be your target demographic.) I'd already decided against your top two picks. Shoving them down my throat only gives them more opportunity to reinforce my decision.

Pssst... Pass It On

Today, I received a YouTube preview from PunkVoter.com (via their MySpace bulletins) for the "Iraq for Sale" documentary. Whether you support the war or don't. Whether you support the troops or don't. Whether you support Bush or don't. The documentary is a must see:

Iraq For Sale

In other news:

Just when you were about to write off the conspiracy theorists on the extreme far end of our side of the political fence as a bunch of nutjobs who made a lucky guess on domestic spying, Bush proves them right, yet again, with The National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directive. (For those of you just joining our new world order in progress, according to this vague directive, if any disaster befalls us that results in some undefined level of casualties or chaos, the President becomes dictator and stays dictator.) You can read about it here:
www.roguegovernment.com


Had enough? Tell Nancy Pelosi to put impeachment back on the table.

Farewell Falwell

R.I.H. Jerry.

From Russ Feingold

From Russ Feingold:

A Republican Senator is trying to derail my campaign finance disclosure bill, and I need your help to figure out who it is.
http://ga1.org/ct/r1euNo71yjWP/

My legislation, the Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act (S. 223), requires Senate campaigns to submit campaign finance reports electronically. Sounds simple enough doesn't it? House campaigns, political parties, Presidential campaigns, and even 527's already file their reports online - but that's not the case in the Senate.

The Senate has exempted themselves from this requirement and is only required to file paper reports. The public's ability to review these reports in a timely manner is substantially curtailed by these antiquated paper filings. Not only that, it costs taxpayers over $250,000 per year to have these reports scanned and made available online at a much later date.

When Senator Feinstein and I sought to pass this legislation by unanimous consent, an objection was voiced on the floor "on behalf of a Republican senator." Senators are within their rights to object to a bill coming to the floor of the Senate, but the objecting senator has not been named, and no one has spoken to me about any objection they may have to this legislation.

The use of these so-called "secret holds" has rightly come under attack in recent years, and I need your help to try and determine who may be delaying this common sense reform measure.

If you are represented by a Republican senator, please contact them and ask if they're holding up my Senate Campaign Disclosure Parity Act. You can get contact info for your senators here: http://ga1.org/ct/r1euNo71yjWP/

If you live in a state with two Democratic senators, consider forwarding this email to your friends in states that aren't so lucky.

If you learn of anything that may be useful in helping me identify the "Secret Hold Senator," email me at russ@progressivepatriotsfund.com.

I have no intention of dropping this issue and I appreciate your help in keeping the pressure on to try and identify this anonymous objector.

Sincerely,



Russ Feingold
United States Senator
Honorary Chair, Progressive Patriots Fund

You Reap What They Sow.

"When you sleep with someone, you're sleeping with everyone they've ever slept with and everyone they've ever slept with and so on..."

It's true in regards to sex and, as an analogy, it's true in regards to professional and public reputations.

I got a reminder of that, recently, courtesy of a decision made by a company I've contracted with to provide services in regards to the Melhi Ink store. They decided to migrate their in-house affiliate program to a 3rd party. I'd parted ways with that 3rd party, many years ago,vowing never to do business with them, again, despite the fact that I'd cashed a lot of checks from them. As much as I love money -- and I DO love money --some things are just more important.

This 3rd party is structured to favor large "incentive publishers," which, from the perspective of a merchant or another affiliate publisher, is a parasite that bleeds merchants dry while snaking commissions from other affiliate publishers and often diverting traffic. These programs are the lowest of the low... the bottom feeders on the underbelly of affiliate marketing. I will not be associated with them, directly and... going back to that safe-sex adage, above... I CANNOT associate with them, even by proxy or their poison spreads through me to the other people and projects I'm associated with.

I'm politically active. I've supported candidates, volunteered on their campaigns, I'm active in my local party, I've run for office, myself and may run again someday. I sit on an important civic committee and am helping to draft a new cooperative corporation that will set policy and shape the economic future of my county for many generations beyond my meager lifespan. I'm looking at starting a large, national-scale online business with a business partner who is a good friend and is also an honest and ethical man with a solid reputation. He has other projects and businesses of his own to protect. The potential damage from a simple business decision, made by a service provider I use for a small sideline project I barely have time for goes far beyond just linking my own reputation and brand to shady operations.

So, I lent my voice to the chorus of other concerned shopkeepers and designers who use this service and lacking an immediate answer to this concern, I began to search for alternative POD service providers. I found an excellent service for apparel, with a small but expanding gifts line and my designs will be available through that service, soon. I also found an excellent outlet for greeting cards and may make some of my designs available through that service, later in the year.

I lacked only a provider for bumperstickers, mugs and pinback badges when an answer came. After considering all of the information about incentive programs and our concerns about the damage associating with them, directly or by proxy would do to our names, brands & bottom lines as well as to the service provider's reputation and bottom line, the company determined that they will NOT accept incentive publishers into their affiliate program. So, I CAN continue to use this company, and will continue to use them, while also making my designs available through a wider selection of services.

While I'm very pleased with this service provider's decision, either way, the crisis would have been averted because I know that my personal, professional, political and public reputation is built not only on my own actions but also on the reputations of those with whom I choose to associate, which is built on their actions and their associations and so on.

It's a simple concept... most of us begin to grasp it and learn to implement it in our lives in pre-school when we refuse to play with the boogar eater lest we be likewise ostracized as boogar eaters by association. It's a shame so many of our current political leaders fail to grasp it in even the smallest measure.

Million Blogs For Peace Assignment

First Tuesday Topic -- One Million Blogs for Peace:
Think back four years ago, to when you first heard that the Iraq War had started. Were you for or against the war at the time?
If you were for it, what has changed your mind over the last four years? If you were against it, why were you against it?


I was firmly and steadfastly against it.

I knew the WMD claim was bogus -- anyone who'd paid attention from the first gulf war on, should have known that.

I didn't want our focus and resources shifted from Osama bin Ladin and Al Queda... certainly not to the extent that so many of my fellow Americans were duped into forgetting that it was Osama and not Sadam who was responsible for the 9/11 attacks!

Any idiot (except, apparantly, the idiots in the Bush adminionstration) could have forseen that destabilizing Iraq would lead to civil war, while at the same time laying open Iraq's once secure borders to terrorists, creating new breeding and training grounds for them.

I knew we had no justification for the invasion, I knew we were being lied to and I knew we had no hope of achieving a victory that was never defined.

...And I am not giddy to be proven right, as the few remaining Bush supporters accuse. To the contrary, every moment of every day since we invaded, I have ached to the pit of my soul with the desperate longing to be proven wrong.

Quick Brag

The Melhi Ink Peace Ribbon (in eco-green) was featured, favorably, on the environmental blog Living Gaia, today.

Steam Vent

"Stay the course"
We cannot achieve goals, objectives or victory if we have not defined goals, objectives and victory. We've set no course to stay.

"We can't just leave Iraq"
Then sell it to the highest bidder and treat it like any other real estate sale... we move out as the new owners move in. As I understand it, there are several interested parties in the region.

"Cut and Run"
Cut our losses.

"It's important that we rebuild Iraq"
It's important that we rebuild our own gulf coast and World Trade Center buildings. In regards to the latter, stop with the "it has to be a tribute to the tragedy" crap -- stop celebrating that we were attacked and start celebrating that we are a tenacious people who pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and keep living. You're showing those terrorists that we can be stopped in our tracks just that easily -- and the reality is that, except for those of you *cough*Pataki*cough* who've inserted yourselves in the rebuilding process and prevented it from going forward, we can't. How dare you? How F*cking dare you!!!!!

North American Union:
To everyone pushing this turd through: F*ck you. F*ck you sideways, backwards, upside down and inside out, but F*ck you!! NEVER have the f*cking audacity to question my patriotism, my concerns about our nation's security or my willingness to put my back into my living again you soft-handed, ignorant, anti-American, mouth breathing jacktards.

Guest Worker Program:
It's called a "work visa." If illegal immigrants were taking advantage of that program, they wouldn't be illegal immigrants. ...But those of you pushing for this know that, so what you're really trying to do is lay our borders wide open to anyone who wants to wander across to take jobs we Americans supposedly don't want, but which we DO and do quite damned well, thank you very much, in parts of the country that will still hire us to do those jobs or contract the companies we form to provide those services. Open the borders to anyone but natural and naturalized citizens, that is -- to re-enter our own country, we now have to have passports and be papered up to our eyeballs to prove we're who we say we are or we'll be barred from re-entry. F*ck you, right along with the NAU crowd.

Fields of Presidential Dreams

Election 2008

Of note:
We have our first casualty in the race! As of Feb 23, Tom Vilsack, the second Democrat to declare official intent in the 2008 Presidential race, became the first official candidate of either party to drop out of the
race.

This is the current lineup of 2008 Presidential hopefuls (so far as I'm aware, from my own ongoing research) in both major parties:

- - - - - - - - - - - -

DEMOCRATS:

Officially announced (at least remotely viable) candidates:
• Illinois Sen. Barack Obama ( Feb. 10, 2007)
• Delaware Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Jan. 31, 2007)
• Connecticut Sen. Christopher J. Dodd ( Jan. 11, 2007)
• Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards (Dec. 28, 2006)
• Ohio Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Dec. 12, 2006)
• Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel (April 17, 2006)

Official intent expressed via establishment of exploratory committees:
• New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (Jan. 20, 2007)
• New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (Jan. 21, 2007)

Widely speculated:
• Civil Rights activist Al Sharpton
• Retired Gen. Wesley Clark of Arkansas
• Former Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee

Grassroots Draft Push efforts:
• U.S. Congressman John Conyers Jr. of Michigan
• Environmental Atty & talk radio host Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
• Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer

Less widely speculated:
• Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano
• Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell
• U.S. Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska
• Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen

Not remotely viable official candidates:
• Laura Davis-Aaron (Tennesse) (FEC)
• Carlos Alvarez (NC) (FEC)
• Warren R. Ashe (Virginia) (FEC) Famous for faux-resume
• George Ballard (Pennsylvania) (FEC) Says he, not Barack, is the African American candidate America is ready for
• Emperor Caesar (Florida) (FEC)
• Randy Crow (NC) (FEC) Raving conspiracy theorist lunatic & openly anti-semetic end-times freak
• Richard Flynn (Arizona) (FEC)
• Michael K. Forrester (Colorado) (FEC) Single issue (repeal "No child left behind act) platform
• Danny M. "Dan" Francis (New York) (Exploratory) Former Marine, teacher & Vietnam vet
• Edward Gittelson (New York) (FEC)
• Amanda Hardy (DC) (FEC)
• Michael Hayes (Maryland) (FEC)
• Alfonzo Jones (California) (FEC) Fourth time's the charm?
• John Joseph Kennedy (Georgia) (FEC) Thinks he's on an anti-Bush mission from God
• Karen Keville (I've found no additional info, yet.)
• Karl E. Krueger (South Dakota) (FEC) Long haul trucker & Vietnam vet. Energy independence platform
• John Mason (NC) (FEC)
• Sherry Meadows (Texas) (FEC)
• Lee Mercer (Texas) (FEC)
• Sal Mohamed (Iowa) (FEC) Campaigns by wearing a sandwich board. Not U.S. born, so can't legally run.
• Oloveuse O. "Ole" Savior (Minnesota) (FEC) Weird artist/poet. Big fan of tv's X-Files and the biblical book of Revelations. Anti-nuke.
• Charles Vick (Tennessee) (FEC)
• Tony Vintinner (Texas) (FEC)
• Rubin Young (Florida) (FEC)

Official Drop Outs:
• Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack

• - Announced candidacy Nov. 30, 2006
  
• Dropped out Feb. 23, 2007

Officially not running:
• Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (Oct. 12, 2006)
• Wisconsin Sen. Russ Feingold (Nov. 11, 2006)
• Former South Dakota Sen. Tom Daschle (Dec. 2, 2006)
• Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh (Dec. 15, 2006)
• Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry (Jan. 24, 2007)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

REPUBLICANS:

Officially announced candidacies:
• Attorney John H. Cox of Illinois (March 9, 2006)
• Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (Feb. 13, 2007)
• Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback (Jan. 20, 2007)

Official intent expressed via establishment of exploratory committees:
• Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (Jan. 29, 2007)
• Texas Rep. Ron Paul

• Filed papers with state authorities in Texas on Jan. 11, 2007
  
• Has not yet filed with the Federal Election Commission

• Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani

• Established exploratory committee Nov. 20
  
• Numerous public statements that he's running
  
• No official announcement, yet.

• Arizona Sen. John McCain (Nov. 16, 2006)
• Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson (Dec. 13, 2006)
• Former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III ( Jan. 9, 2007)
• California Rep. Duncan Hunter (Jan. 12, 2007)
• Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo (Jan. 16, 2007)

Widely speculated:
• Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia
• Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel
• Former New York Gov. George E. Pataki

Officially not running:
• Former Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist (Nov. 29, 2006)

One Million Blogs for Peace

The Melhi Ink blog has joined the One Million Blogs for Peace project.

If you have a blog and you're willing to (or already do) use your blog to further the cause of ending the Iraq war and bringing our sons & daughters, sisters & brothers, mothers & fathers home safely, you should sign up your blog to participate in the project.


Important Reminder:
March 19 marks the four year anniversary of the beginning of the Iraq war and March 20th marks the beginning of our fifth year at war in Iraq. Events will be taking place around the country over those two days. If you're interested in attending an event, it's time to start making any necessary schedule/travel plans.

New Anti-war/Bush Inkware

For those of you who enjoy checking out the latest additions in my Melhi Ink store:

The Melhi Ink store proudly introduces to its political line, a new anti-war/bush, pro-peace demonstration slogan that is reminiscent of the popular Vietnam War protest rally chant, "Hey, Hey, LBJ -- How many kids have you killed today?"

Just as the LBJ slogan referred to both the war and the Johnson administration's failure to address deadly domestic problems of that era, the Melhi Ink "Screw W" slogan is intended to refer to much more than just the casualties in the Iraq war, but also to deaths attributable to: the mishandling of the Katrina disaster, the gutting of MSHA safety regulations by Bush appointees with corporate interests in the mining industry, un/underemployment, budget cuts that led to the downsizing of police and firefighting forces across the nation, un/underemployment, lack of decent health insurance, etc., etc., etc.

I've also added a beastly new goat-lord design to the Pop Culture Shack line. He's the result of an exercise to increase my mouse accuracy with the lasso tool... the inspiration came from the light/shadow on the ram's horn he's almost entirely crafted from and the lines on a Grand-Am I saw in traffic.

I invite you to click on the above links to see the designs on various merchandise and to offer your feedback on my product selections and design work!

If you currently have a website or blog on which you'd like to mention and link to either of these designs and your web/blog host also allows affiliate advertising, please remember to sign up for a CafePress affiliate account and tack a question mark and your affiliate PID onto the end of the URL before linking, so that you'll earn 20% commission from any purchases resulting from clicks on your referral link. :)

As always, I'm grateful for your interest!

Mel.

Totally to say "I told you so!"

Can I call 'em or can I call 'em? In my eight part series on same-gendered marriage, I warned that precedent set in the banning of these marriages would lead to this...

Read the Kings5/AP News Report

MPIA, Wash. - An initiative filed by proponents of same-sex marriage would require heterosexual couples to have kids within three years or else have their marriage annulled.

Initiative 957 was filed by the Washington Defense of Marriage Alliance. That group was formed last summer after the state Supreme Court upheld Washington's ban on same-sex marriage.

Under the initiative, marriage would be limited to men and women who are able to have children. Couples would be required to prove they can have children in order to get a marriage license, and if they did not have children within three years, their marriage would be subject to annulment.

All other marriages would be defined as "unrecognized" and people in those marriages would be ineligible to receive any marriage benefits.

“For many years, social conservatives have claimed that marriage exists solely for the purpose of procreation ... The time has come for these conservatives to be dosed with their own medicine," said WA-DOMA organizer Gregory Gadow in a printed statement. “If same-sex couples should be barred from marriage because they can not have children together, it follows that all couples who cannot or will not have children together should equally be barred from marriage."

Supporters must gather more than 224,000 valid signatures by July 6 to put the initiative on the November ballot.

Opponents say the measure is another attack on traditional marriage, but supporters say the move is needed to have a discussion on the high court ruling.

Hey, I tried to warn you...

Taking It Up The Budget

Once again, Bush's budget gives the American people an intimate look at how Bush feels about us...

If we're obscenely wealthy, he's on his knees pleasuring us with permanent tax cuts.

If we're middle to upper middle class, whether we're traditionally employed or self employed, he's made sure that more of us than ever before will be bent over by the alternative minimum tax that was created to make sure the afore mentioned wealthy pay taxes, at all.

If we're working class and have health insurance through our employers, we're bent over with Bush's greedy fist poised to plunge deep into our burden rate to tax our employer's contribution to our health insurance as income.

If we're poor or elderly, we'll be taking it particularly hard up the budget. The doctors who treat us will have ceilings placed on their incomes -- which will likely discourage many of them from treating us at all.

To recap:
1. Our most wealthy get permanent tax cuts.
2. Millions more of our middle class will be paying higher "alternative minimum tax" rates.
3. Our working class gets a NEW TAX
4. Doctors will be penalized, through salary regulation, for treating our poor and elderly.

And who is the real winner in Bush's budget? Not America. Not Americans. Not American families. Not American soldiers or veterans. Not American seniors or children. Not American workers. Not the American Gulf coast. No. The winners are Iraq and the Iraqi people. For them, we have billions, pulled from the pockets of the people who can least afford and have to work the hardest to foot the bill.

Let Them Eat Johnny Cakes!

Remember that vile, vicious, vindictive, strictly partisan thing the Republicans moaned and bellyached about Democrats doing to a handful of Bush's Judicial nominees? That thing no God fearing, patriotic American Senator would stoop to? Yeah... that's the thing: FILIBUSTERING.

Steady dear reader, gazing upon that word can no longer corrupt you. Apparantly, filibustering is no longer an indication that Senators are in Satan's employ and Republican Senators are piling on the filibuster bandwagon faster than flies flocking to a ripe corpse!

No, no, no... they're not taking a stand against a laughably unqualfied or frighteningly extremist judicial nominee... if Bush says he's known a nominee for at least 10 years, that's still good enough for them.

They're taking a stand against the nation's hard working poor. (Who are only slightly less a plague on society than those lazy bastards who can't find a job.)

Not only are they filibustering what, if it passes, will be the first minimum wage increase in a decade, they've successfully defeated the House's clean and simple version of the bill. ...And they're making sure that if the Minimum Wage Act passes, 121 pork barrel ammendments, some of which will provide even more tax breaks for large corporations, will pass right along with it.

I'll wait while you savor the warm fuzzy it gives you to know that, as a member of the working class, you'll get to work harder than ever to keep less than ever so you can bear the lion's share of the nation's rapidly growing expenses.

Ok, now that you're all warm and squishy, inside (your mouth, where you've no doubt just vomited...)
Click Here to find out who your Senators are, if you don't know already. Then, dial (202) 224-3121 to ask for your Senator's office. Let your Senators know that they are in Washington to represent YOU and that YOU want them to vote in favor of passing the CLEAN VERSION of the minimum wage act!

Accolades!

For the moment, at least, my Melhi Ink store is ranked the number one 2008-election Political Gear shop on top08gear.com!

:)

Carrot Top Has Lock on Ginger Write-in Vote.

AP Headline: No lock on black voters for Obama

Washington Post Headline: Can Hillary Count on Women?
Author Linda Hirshman discusses why New York senator cannot rely on women's votes alone in '08.


Similarly pointless headlines, soundbytes, speculation and stories abound...

ENOUGH already!!!!!! We get it! It didn't escape anyone's notice.

Barack has a permanent tan and Hillary has a vagina.
Big friggin' whoop!

This isn't news and it has nothing to do with electing or not electing either of them as our next President -- as should be pretty damned evident considering that the current adminionstration is headed up by a Dick and a Bush.

Speculation as to whether all blacks will vote for Barack or all women will vote for Hillary? Insulting. Beyond insulting.... and, frankly, moot. There is no target market for this non-information!!

Here's a newsflash, for those of you in the right wing media who don't get out and mingle with us real people much:

This is 2007. The remaining handful of slobbering neanderthal f*cktards who still give even a fraction of a whit about a candidate's gender or race wouldn't vote for either Barack or Hillary, regardless of their race or gender, because they're something far more sinister. They're Democrats.

Worth a Listen

A Florida orator on Bush & the war:

MarkTalks (Listen to the file entitled "True Fiction")

Open letter...

Dear Democratic Senate Majority,

Stop wasting time and our hard earned tax dollars on non-binding resolutions. We sent you to Washington to weild our voices, pass binding resolutions and enact real pieces of legislation, not to busy yourselves sculpting do-nothing machines from empty words.

Stop lollygagging around on our dime and get to work -- real work! ...Or we'll be more than happy to field candidates who will, when next you're up for re-election.

The real McCain

Before you consider voting for him, get to know him! McCain, in his own words...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioy90nF2anI

AP headline: Lieberman may back Republican in 2008

A. Bush-lite is open to supporting a Republican? Big Friggin' Duh!

B. Does the Ap really think anyone's so interested in who Lieberman endorses that it's necessary to report on it before he's even chosen someone to endorse??

Drag Him Forward (part 3)

The remainder of the Iraq Study Group's recommendations discuss what Iraq, we and the rest of the world can do. I won't go through them recommendation by recommendation because they don't discuss what MUST happen.

Here are my recommendations:

1. We MUST butt out. We've done enough damage and our continued presence only delays what MUST transpire for Iraq to become a strong and stable sovereign nation, once again. (This is not bloody likely to happen.) We must also make it very clear WHY we are leaving, so there is no misperception that we are "cutting and running" on a mess we're too lazy to clean up after ourselves... and this won't be easy, if it's possible at all, given the ways in which the right wing media and the Bush adminionstration have purposely politicized this war to villify any American who doesn't fall into lockstep.

A. Shift our focus and resources from rebuilding Iraq to rebuilding our own gulf coast.

B. Take our "war on terror" to the people who ACTUALLY orchestrated the attacks of 9/11/01 -- Osama bin Ladin and his growing Al Queda organization.

2. The rest of the world also MUST butt out -- completely. (Not any likelier to happen than our butting out.) Isolate Iraq -- let them sort it out on their own.

3. Iraq MUST have its civil war, especially since WE waged their revolution for them. It's important that they win their own independence -- that's why they're fighting US for it, now and why we'd be doing the same, if the situations were reversed.

4. After their civil war has ended, Iraqis MUST determine what their new Iraq will be and how it will be structured and set about to the task of building it.

5. We and the rest of the world MUST accept whatever they come up with... even if they choose a form of government we detest. It's THEIR country -- not ours.

This concludes my series on the Iraq Study Group Report.

Sunshine 3

HR 5 -- PASSED -- College Student Relief

Democrats:

Aye: 232
No: 0
MIA: 1 (Obey)

Republicans:

Aye: 124
No: 71
MIA: 7



HR 6 -- PASSED -- Creating Long Term Energy Alternatives

Democrats:

Aye: 228
No: 4 (Barrow, Boren, Lampson, Marshall)
MIA: 1 (Cooper)

Republicans:

Aye: 36
No: 159
MIA: 7

How did YOUR Representative in Congress vote on these and other important pieces of legislation?

Anti-Val

In my ongoing duty as an evil liberal destroyer of all that is sweet and snuggly, I decided to enter a couple of designs in this year's anti-Valentines contest on CafePress. These are the Melhi Ink store's entries... enjoy!

Beware Love (Valentine skull & crossbones)



and

"Can't we just be strangers with benefits?"

Sunshine 2

HR3 -PASSED- Stem Cell Research:

Democrats:
Aye: 216
No: 16
MIA: 1 (Bishop-GA)

Republicans:
Aye: 37
No: 158
MIA: 7 (Buyer, Gilchrest, Hastert, G Miller, Norwood, Radanovich,
Westmoreland)

(Note: Johnson(R)IL-15 voted No)

HR4 -PASSED- Medicare Prescription Drug Price Negotiation

Democrats:
Aye: 231
No: 0
MIA: 2 (Levin, Loebsack)

Republicans:
Aye: 24
No: 170
MIA: 8 (Buyer, Gillmore, Hastert, Kirk, McHue, G Miller, Norwood, Radanovich)

Let the Sun Shine In

The 110th Congress. You voted 'em in, now keep track of them!
For more info see: http://clerk.house.gov/evs/2007/index.asp


H.R. 1 - Implementing the 9/11Commission Recommendations Act -
Democrats:
Aye: 231
No: 0
MIA: 2 (Moran-VA, Ortiz-TX)
Republicans:
Aye: 68
No: 128
MIA: 6 (Buyer, Gillmor, Knollenberg, Marchant, Moran-KS, Norwood)
PASSED

H.R. 2 - Minimum Wage Act -
Democrats:
Aye: 233 v
No: 0
MIA: 0
Republicans:
Aye: 82
No: 116
MIA: 4 (Buyer, Knollenberg, Miller, Norwood)
PASSED

Getting back to normal.

The new Democrat controlled Congress has convened. It's a little premature to be feeling even a hint of relief, but... at least now there's a chance.

In other news...

Bush tacked one of his infamous signing statements onto yet another bill. This time, it's a postal reform bill that, among other things, says Uncle Sam can't snoop through your private mail. The signing statement pretty much amounts to "Oh yeah, just watch me."

AND

America's number one enemy and chief instigator of the loony left-wing media conspiracy, CNN, ran a trailer for a piece about Osama bin Ladin, which captioned footage of the hardly-worth-troubling-Bush's-thoughts terrorist leader with "Where's Obama?"

Presenter Wolf Blitzer, believed by some to be Satan's he-bitch, issued a formal appology to Senator Barack Obama, saying later of the oopsie "We had a very bad typographical error... We certainly deeply regret the error."

It's a shame someone hasn't developed a technology that could be afforded on a media cable giant's budget that would allow them to edit and record such things ahead of time, instead of making them up on the fly, so that news outlets could have their captions glanced over by a proofreader who has a vague awareness of the fair and balanced Obama name game media blitz of the last few weeks and can tell an "s" from a "b."

Typographical error? BZZZZZZZT -- try again, CNN. Granted, I don't have a PhD in typing, but I do know my way around a keyboard. I got my first typewriter when I was 6 and officially learned how to touch-type at 12. I type too fast for regular keyboards and, to avoid multiple keyboard replacements per year, while slowing my speed enough for the computer to keep up with me, I have to use an allegedly "indestructible" jelly board (fondly referred to as "the medicine board." If you've tried to use one, you know why.) I type very fast, I type a lot and while I'm usually pretty accurate, thanks to the medicine board slowing me down to what is, for me, an unnatural, finger-tying speed, I do make all of the common typos... usually several times each in a single blog entry, as you've no doubt noticed, by now.

So let's examine the many common typos, shall we?
B is neither adjacent nor mirrored to "s" on the keyboard. B isn't typed with the same finger as s -- on either hand B doesn't appear when the strike finger lingers too long the s key. S doesn't require pulling the strike finger from its home key and stretching to strike a non-adjacent position as b does. The word "Obama"does not result from typing the letters in "Osama" out of order. "B" isn't a common aurally induced "brain fart" substitution for "s" (as "ing" is for "ink") and it isn't a common visually induced "brain fart" substitution (as d,g,p or q would be for b.) Etc. Etc. Etc.

Not a typo and nobody who viewed the piece in production noticed it until everybody who viewed it on television noticed it? If I didn't know better, I'd say that either the left wing media is turning on its own... or... nooooo... it's almost too absurd to think... could it be? THERE IS NO FRIGGIN' LEFT WING MEDIA AND NEVER WAS.


Yep, things are getting back to normal, quickly... just not the particular brand of "normal" I was hoping for. *long, heavy sigh*