Polarizing

You have got to wonder, seriously - although it's fun to have a field day discrediting McSame's choice for Veep, what he is thinking here. I had two thoughts about this.

First, McSame must be getting the same folks to counsel him as have been giving advice to the President these past eight years. Really, selecting Palin seems like a Rovian device, but without the smarts behind it.

Two, the whole ploy is a move to polarize the country even further (what happened to the "I'm a Uniter not a Divider," gambit one rightly should wonder) and confused the undecided voters. It seems to me like this might backfire on them.

For example, Senator Boxer has some legit points here:

"The vice president is a heartbeat away from becoming president, so to choose someone with not one hour's worth of experience on national issues is a dangerous choice.

"If John McCain thought that choosing Sarah Palin would attract Hillary Clinton voters, he is badly mistaken.

"The only similarity between her and Hillary Clinton is that they are both women. On the issues, they could not be further apart.

"Sen. McCain had so many other options if he wanted to put a woman on his ticket, such as Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison or Sen. Olympia Snowe -- they would have been an appropriate choice compared to this dangerous choice.

Really, she's right. There are many Republican women out there who would have truck loads more experience than Palin. Why did he select a running mate that he really did not know and has no experience at all at the National or International level (aside wanting to give liberal bloggers a field day)? Well, perhaps they are doing the only thing that the Republicans know how to do well - to polarize the nation even further and hope that there are more people in their base to trump those at the other end.

Certainly, it's a Rovian ploy, but I don't see the same kind of Rovian genius in it. In fact, given how much the GOP has been harping on Obama not having any experience, the duplicity and hypocrisy of his decision has to be obvious - even to the blind "patriots" proclaiming to vote republican no-matter-what, and down right offensive to every thinking republican out there.

Del Martin Passes

I'm still trying to figure out how two sweet old women getting married damage the institution of marriage. Near as I can tell, the wedding of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon only elevates the institution and serve as a model for us all.

Sadly, Del Martin died today:

*** STATEMENT ***

MAYOR GAVIN NEWSOM’S STATEMENT ON THE PASSING OF DEL MARTIN


Today, San Francisco lost a local and national leader, Del Martin.

For over half a century, Del Martin, along with her loving spouse, Phyllis Lyon, served as an activist for women’s rights and the LGBT community. The marriage of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon on June 16, 2008, marked an historic milestone on our country’s road to true freedom and equality. Del laid the groundwork for all those who want a life of dignity, and we are forever in her debt. The greatest way we can honor the life work of Del Martin, is to continue to fight and never give up, until we have achieved equality for all.

Our deepest sympathies go out to Del’s family, her spouse, Phyllis, her daughter, Kendra, and all those who mourn the loss of this great and pioneering woman.

As a mark of respect for Del Martin, I have ordered the flags at City Hall and the LGBT Pride Flag on Market and Castro Streets to be flown at half-staff from now until sunset, on Thursday, August 28, 2008.

Having met Del and Phylis in person numerous times, I recognize the courage it takes to help lead a subjugated population out of the closet. That I would wish us all to have a small amount of her courage; it would certainly raise humanity another level.

Biden? = Boring

The first reaction I had to this news this AM was BORING. There is no risk involved in having Biden as a running mate. While this choice may be wise, I was looking for a complete change out - anti-incumbent all around. Biden is definitely not representing some one from outside the beltway.

But the American general populace may eat this selection up. We are about to find out in a big way.

Have A Great Weekend

I suppose if you have seven homes from which to choose to visit over the weekend, one would be having a better weekend than some folks in Afghanistan who will be burring their family members:

U.S.-led coalition forces killed 76 Afghan civilians in western Afghanistan on Friday, most of them women and children, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.

Nice war George.

How Many Homes Should The New President Own?

It's one thing to have a house in your home town, a place in DC because you work there as a Senator, and then perhaps, if you have the wearwithall to own a vacation home in some lovely location, but not knowing how many homes you own? My goodness.

"Somebody asked John McCain, 'How many houses do you have?' And he said, 'I'm not sure, I'll have to check with my staff,'" Obama said with a tone of incredulousness at an outdoor event here.

"If you don't know how many houses you have, then it's not surprising that you might think the economy is fundamentally strong," he said. "But if you're like me, and you got one house, or you are like the millions of people who are struggling right now to keep up with their mortgage so they don't lose their home, then you might have a different perspective."

The audience laughed and clapped, and then Obama added: "And, by the way, the answer is, John McCain has seven homes." That, it turns out, is true.

Raises an interesting question: How in touch with middle and average America can a person be if he doesn't have a clue how many homes he owns and has to check with his staff to discover he's got SEVEN! Holy Bleep!

"The Original Maverick?"

Does any one reach for the vomit bag when they watch McSame's "Original Maverick" commercial spots? I'm mean, come on, what's the definition of Maverick?

A maverick is a person who shows independence of thought or action, a non-conformist or rebel.

Really, McSame looks like Bush in a different wrapper. Calling himself a maverick is tarnishing those who actually fit the label.

There's a reason why they labeled Mavericks with the name - because you have to be out of your mind and a complete non-conformist to jump into deep waters with a high probability that you could lose your life for doing it. These guys are Mavericks:



McSame doesn't demonstrate one iota of Maverick qualities in my book. And, he looks like a fool for claiming so. Smells like more votes for the Dems in November.



Here's an interesting question for the day - Since when does discrediting a sitting president the modus operandi for the incumbent party? This is a clear sign that the W, Rove and Co has screwed the pooch so many times while they controlled the helm of the good ship America.

Here's one view on the matter:


Or, this view:

Proof That Prayer Works?

Okay, how many economists does it take to explain how prayers work to decrease the cost of a gallon of gas at the pump?

"Prayer is the answer to every problem in life," said Twyman, founder of the Pray at the Pump movement, whose members huddle around gas pumps and ask the Almighty to lower gasoline prices.

"If the whole country keeps on praying, we can bring down prices even more, to even less than $2," Twyman said.

What? Is the whole Country smoking crack now? Don't we have something better to pray for than the cost of gas at the pump?

If prayer worked, might we not pray for no more war? No more killing? No more terrorism? No more Russians in Georgia? Another gold medal for Michael Phelps? Come on, people. This is a clear sign that for some, their priorities are in the wrong place.

Why would we bother God with such trivial matters? Praying for lower prices at the pump amounts to really selfish SOBs, no?

Paris Hilton Has Some Fun Script Writers

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

If nothing else, we find that Paris has some funny writers at hand. Will Hilton's parents still contribute to McSame?

Remind Me Again: Who's Paying For Iraq?

Our economy is in the toilet and Iraq is looking at an enormous surplus?

Soaring oil prices will leave the Iraqi government with a cumulative budget surplus of as much as $79 billion by year’s end, according to an American federal oversight agency. But Iraq has spent only a minute fraction of that on reconstruction costs, which are now largely borne by the United States.

Remind me again; Who's side are the Iraqi's on? How much is this "Global War on Terror costing the American people? You can look here, or here. Either way, you have to wonder how the Bush Administration got our National Priorities all twisted around to lace us so tightly to Iraq as the first ever Nation Welfare State covered by another (that'd be USA).

It's ironic, no? I thought the Republicans were against welfare and other social programs, but it seems like we are married to Iraq and there's nary a dowry contribution to be found beyond the lives we sucked out of them for the privilege of becoming inextricably linked to the big kitty litter box that is Iraq.

Was Jefferson Right?

Perhaps, given the mortgage mess, Jefferson was smarter than all of us put together:

I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.

Do You Feel Safe Under The Bush Regime? Sub Title: Requiem for The Fourth Amendment

Now that we've had almost 8 years of experience in George Bush's America, are you feeling good about it? Not me.

I don't know about you, but I don't feel one iota safer because of the W, Rove and Co.'s actions since Nine Eleven. Now that I typed that, perhaps I should re-label the circus at the Whitehouse because Rove should be indicted and has been absent for while, but he's still responsible for some very shady and reprehensible, if not unethical, immoral and illegal, political practices (read: signing statements). Let's call the lame duck Whitehouse the Condi and Georgie Show for now. But I digress.

Since Nine Eleven, the common myth is that "we are safer here given that we fought them over there." In reality, the insideous nature of the Condi and Georgie's practice is that we didn't need much saving from the terrorists, more than we needed saving from ourselves. Remember the Fourth Amendment?

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Well, in Georgie and Condi's America, that goes right out the window.

Federal agents may take a traveler's laptop computer or other electronic device to an off-site location for an unspecified period of time without any suspicion of wrongdoing, as part of border search policies the Department of Homeland Security recently disclosed.

Also, officials may share copies of the laptop's contents with other agencies and private entities for language translation, data decryption or other reasons, according to the policies, dated July 16 and issued by two DHS agencies, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

This clearly falls in to the WTF category? Do you feel safer in George Bush's America? Not me! Turn on your iTunes, click on Mozart's Requiem, and turn it up loud because our rights have died and were downright squashed, spindled, and mutilated by George Bush and his crack team of GOP politicos.



.....Rex, Rex