Words to Live By

"He left us with a legend that all of us have the ability to do."

God Bless, peace and love always.
Thank You,
"BE ADEQUITE"
Lindsay Lohan

Drunken Danny

So Louie De Palma got drunk and made Barbara Walters do her distasteful face.

DeVito Apologizes

DeVito's publicist, Stan Rosenfeld, told ABC News that the actor has apologized to Barbara Walters, "The View's" creator and co-host.

"He has called Barbara Walters to apologize for anything that could be construed as unfortunate," he said.

Ha! I love that, apologizing for "anything that could be construed as unfortunate." I sure could have used that phrase back in the days when I had things to apologize for. It's wonderfully generalized, an apology without ever naming what you're apologizing about. And "could be construed" introduces an element of doubt about whether an offense ever took place in the first place. "I'm not saying I did anything wrong, and if I inadvertently rolled over on, and crushed, and then ate, a family pet that wasn't meant to be, you know, crushed and eaten, then I'm deeply sorry that I inadvertently did that... you know, if you construe that something like that happened."

Genius.

Traces of Radiation Puzzle Actresses

LONDON - Officials found traces of radiation on two British Airways jets, and the airline appealed Wednesday to tens of thousands of passengers who flew to Moscow or other cities to come forward....

Actress Kate Hudson refused to speculate on the implications this may have for the airline industry. "Really, those levels of radiation don't pose a risk over short periods of time," Ms. Hudson may well have said, "and traces of polonium-210 wouldn't worry me, though it is a very powerful alpha emitter and the maximum allowable body burden for ingested polonium is something like 1,100 becquerels."

Un-Stormy Weather

MIAMI - The mild 2006 Atlantic hurricane season draws to a close Thursday without a single hurricane striking the United States....

Actress Tara Reid hasn't commented on the situation and isn't returning my calls.

South Koreans Go All Mel Gibson on Critters

Headline - Bird flu: S Korea slaughters dogs, cats, pigs, mice

Animal-rights activists called the government move "unacceptable."

Actress Tara Reid did not comment on the policy.

Ahberjibberjabber

"OK, I'll take it from here. Just open the gate."


.

Imams Praying to be Victims

So were the flying Imams begging to be discriminated against à la NBC's Nascar trolling? Maybe.

Three of the men asked for seat-belt extenders, although two flight attendants told police the men were not oversized. One flight attendant told police she "found this unsettling, as crew knew about the six [passengers] on board and where they were sitting." Rather than attach the extensions, the men placed the straps and buckles on the cabin floor, the flight attendant said.

That, plus stationing themselves in pairs at every entry/exit of the plane. Plus being abnormally loud with their "prayers". Sure they wanted a response. I'm betting that the best possible outcome in their minds would have been a tasering, preferably caught on tape. I agree, except for the caught on tape part.

"Understandably, the imams felt profiled, humiliated, and discriminated against by their treatment,"

Well, maybe a little, not nearly enough, but it's a start.

[dog picture used to illustrate the wearing of green wigs, or "green-wiggery", which was not involved in this story... you know, it's just an excuse to steal another yahoo cutsie-image]

***Update: Modesty by request..

Alcee Again

Michele Malkin reports that she and I were named by Alcee Hastings:

Last week, disgraced and disgraceful Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) fired off an unhinged rant to fellow House Democrats denying he was corrupt and attacking "Newt Gingrich, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Michelle Malkin, Michael Barone, Drudge, anonymous bloggers, and other assorted misinformed fools"

BTW, that's me: "anonymous bloggers," not: "other assorted misinformed fools" Though ok, some would argue about my classification.

Good news for anyone derided by Alcee though: we have good reason to believe he can be bought. For the right amount, his views could change.

Also: Alcee Blog

Upstanding Man

I wasn't alarmed by Tony Hendra's Thanksgiving prayer for the death of the vice president. After all, it was at the Huffington Post, a place where "there were no Jews at work in the WTC on 9-11" passes for intellectual thought. And really, Tony Hendra's article isn't the entertainment:

"George W Bush is, was and always will be that sneering, leering little creep who came to school in a chauffeur-driven car, yelled racist epithets at the scholarship kids, tripped up the guy on crutches, stuck his paw up the dress of any girl he pleased, had his toadies beat up anyone smart or weak or different, insulted teachers to their faces - and got away with it all, because his Dad had just endowed the new sports stadium."

That's just the grumbling of a bitter old man. What's entertaining are the Huffite comments after the article. To be fair, some Huffsters were put off by a prayer for death. But it's the staunch defenders who are fun to read. They're the reason I came across - way at the end - a suggestion to google Jessica Hendra. Whew! I hadn't heard about her accusations of molestation at the hands of the distinguished Mr Hendra. That's him in the picture, playing a pederast priest for a joke. At least he was half qualified for that shot. The bottom half is from the book his daughter wrote about the interesting childhood he provided.

So Tony Hendra isn't anyone I would want for a neighbor, not someone I would care to sit next to at dinner. But despite my general revulsion for the man, I can't imagine praying for his death.

Grandma

I'm trying to think of the stupidest thing my grandma ever did. Somehow leaving a pan of sticky-buns where the dogs could get to it doesn't seem so terribly dumb anymore.

Off to Eat

El Trencherman is off. But you knew that.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Macy's

Ronald McDonald is seen here getting his physical prior to going out on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Not seen is the giant balloon proctologist.

Best Comment Ever

Seen those incredible pictures of animals in the womb?



Best comment ever:

Amazing! Life really does exist in the womb!

Talk Gets Tougher

Has anyone noticed a shift in tone from even a year ago? From Fjordman:

All Muslim non-citizens in the West should be removed. We should also change our laws to ensure that Muslim citizens who advocate sharia, preach Jihad, the inequality of “infidels” etc should have their citizenship revoked and be deported back to their country of origin....

....Is that racism and Fascism you say? Muslims themselves in poll after poll state that their loyalty lies with the Islamic Umma, not with the country they live in. “I’m a Muslim living in Britain, I’m not British” is the sentiment. Well, if Muslims themselves state that their citizenship is not worth the paper it is printed upon, why not take their word for it?

That first para would have shocked even me a few years back. Back then I would have liked to think that across the board religious freedom and tolerance might work. See, you respect our religion and we'll respect yours, and well, everyone will just get along. Except for the Muslims.

I don't know, it still grates to contemplate deportation as a tool to stop Europe's slow drain-circling. It shouldn't have to come to that. But we'll see. Read the whole thing.

Dentist

Just came back from getting my teeth cleaned. And I heard a lady down the hall remarking how she loves how her mouth feels after a cleaning - she would skip lunch so she could go around all day with her extra clean mouth. Wrong answer. What's good about an extra clean mouth is going right out for a chocolate eclair. They taste just that much better with shiny clean teeth. (that's probably why God lets us live so long: so we have time to learn these things)

Hey, know what's fun to do when you first go to a new dentist? When they give you the free toothbrush and the little tube of toothpaste at the end of the appointment, pretend like you have no idea what a toothbrush is. "You do what with it?" Sometimes they realize you're kidding.

You'll Laugh When You Get Home

Or possibly not.

The Wave

Is this just the "OJ Wave" ? A shorthand way of saying, "Goodbye dear, have a nice day, and remember: if it doesn't fit you must acquit."

So "this was an ill-considered project," said Rupert Murdoch, News Corp. chairman. Gee, Ya think?

Oh yeah, I Cook

I usually check the Food Network when I'm interested in finding new recipes. But every once in awhile I'll run across links to epicurious.com. (most recently from an interesting fennel-potato recipe mentioned on Sisu). And I like a lot of their recipes; many of them are very good. But every time I go there I get drawn in by the comments on each recipe. Nobody ever says, "Well, that was good," or, "I had to cut back on the salt." They all go into how they modified the recipe. I know everybody changes the recipes to suit their own style; I do that too. But the Epicurious readers seem to be trying to outdo one another.

"I sautéed the onions first, added allspice to the orange sauce, cracked an egg over the pineapple, and packed the turkey cavity with aquarium sand. Otherwise I followed the recipe exactly."

That kind of thing. And I'm not criticizing, really, it's just that I end up reading every comment and wasting even more time than I normally do. Anyway, the reason I mention it.... An idea popped into my head, i.e.- to find a well commented upon recipe on Epicurious and modify it, adding to it, and taking away from it, until all that's left, if you follow the modifications, is a grilled cheese sandwich. Bet nobody notices.

Drama at the Castle

In this photo Katie Holmes is "waving from a castle window," according to the AP caption. Does that look like a wave or a cry for help to you? Do scientologists normally wave with the backs of their hands?

Don't ask -I don't know what Katie Holmes is doing in a castle in Italy.

Educational Toys

Product Description
Open up your very own pretend play tattoo parlor. This easy-to-use tattoo maker kit includes an electronic tattoo pen and funky stencils. Using soft, safe pulsating action, the tattoo pen creates realistic, washable designs with dramatic effects. Requires two AA batteries (not included).

Don't get too excited, Amazon is currently out of stock. Darn. Guess I'll go with the Play-Piercing Kit for the kid's Christmas present. And she sooo wanted a barbed wire tat.

via boingboing

Shocking

Look kids, it's simple. And your mom and dad should have taught you before you were sent off to school: when the police order you to do something, you comply. If the police are acting improperly, you thrash them in court later; but when you're face to face with a policeman, you do as he says. That's it. Period.

The reason for this has to do with the nature of police enforcement. In order to even have a police force, there must be one basic rule: in a confrontation, the police win. If you resist, they manhandle you, if you fight, they pull non lethal weapons, if you threaten their lives, they may kill you. If the police went away when the bad guys confront them, they would quickly become a joke. Their aim is not to give you what you'll consider a fair fight, their aim is to win. It has to be that way.

So were these "bad" police, out to torture a student? The video I saw doesn't make it look that way. It looked like the student was given many chances to comply and he refused every time. At any point along the way the student could have stopped it all. Even if the police were acting improperly, he should have heeded the verbal warnings and followed the officers instructions. The courts are there to protect you from bad police actions, fighting back is a very, very, stupid way to solve the problem.

Should they have used a taser in that situation? I don't know. I'm sure the campus police have guidelines on taser use. And the video didn't show the earliest part of the confrontation. But it will be investigated, and if the officer with the taser acted improperly, he'll be punished. One thing is for sure though: the student could have stopped it at any time. His case won't be any stronger because he was tasered 4 times instead of 3, or 2, or 1.

ManLaws

Didja see any of the new Miller Lite ManLaw commercials? I checked their website but I didn't find any of the real man-laws there. Not going all girly-eek-eek when a bee flies into your ear isn't a law. That's a status thing. If you freak-out you'll lose status points. If you take it stoically, you're ok. If you casually pull the bee from your ear and bite off its head, you gain points. Extra points for not remarking on the event, and acting like this sort of thing is always happening.

But there are real man-laws, and almost all of them have to do with your conduct while standing in front of a urinal. It's not just the obvious "don't pee on other people's feet." It starts out with which urinal you choose when other men are present. It's not as simple as you would think, geometry is sometimes involved, and though the aim is to stand as far away from the other guys as possible, sometimes wet floors and low-boy urinals can complicate your calculations. Regardless, a manly clearing of the throat is required whenever the situation forces you into the proximity of another urinal user.

There are penalties for blatant disregard of the rules, and they vary depending on where the infraction takes place. Some sins can get you a fat lip in high school. Or get you labeled as the bathroom weirdo in the workplace. Or, in some bars it can mean a "world a hurt."

By far, the most serious infractions involve where you aim your gaze while standing there. You can look down - no really, it's allowed, just once to see that you're aim is straight into the porcelain and that you're not standing too far forward or back. So say it's a crowded bathroom, say at a sporting event, and you look down, just the once, but the guy next to you sees you in his peripheral vision, and so he turns his head to look at you (and make sure you're not looking at him) .... see where I'm going? And you see him turn, so you turn, and well, it's just awkward... but it's ok, so long as you both acknowledge that no unmanly staring was going on by making appropriate man-comments: about sports, or NASCAR, or auto repair. Still, if you're new at this it might be best to always just stare straight ahead at the tile and risk peeing on your own shoes. Shoes dry, bathroom faux pas can earn you psychic trauma that it takes years to get over.

The more I think about it, the more nuances, caveats, sub-rules, and exceptions come to mind. I'm sure a book could be written. Call it Urinal Wisdom. Al Franken needs work, so he could write it, but it'd probably be better if it contained humor. Still, I'll bet Al learned every lesson the hard way.

Signs of the Apocalypse

Do you think that maybe Reuters isn't a Hesbollah sock puppet? Maybe they're just profoundly dumb. I've been told: never ascribe stupidity when the situation can be explained by daftness, or maybe it's never ascribe witlessness when the situation can be explained by insanity. Regardless, somewhere, cousins got married and their offspring went to work for Reuters. I mean, come on, Cats giving birth to dogs? Didn't anyone think to ask the neighbors about the litter of puppies that disappeared down the block?

By the way, when I was a boy, our scotty dog highjacked and nursed a litter of kittens from the next door over. Maybe the cat mom died, or ran off, or maybe Hilda just wanted the kittens more than their real mom. Hilda had just lost a litter and she felt that she needed puppies. In her mind, kittens were close enough. So she just kept taking the kittens from next door until the humans got tired of taking them back. Never occurred to us to sell the story to a terribly stupid news agency.

Rain

Maybe the rain has stopped. Maybe. So I'm done being a waterfighter in the basement for now. I looked in the back yard: the garden gnomes had water up to their nipples and were calling piteously for help, and the pink flamingos had all fled the scene. You'd think lawn ornaments could help one another in times of crisis.

Tom Overload

I think I'm joining the ranks of Those Who Just Can't Take One More Bit of Tom Cruiz News. "Scientologist Cruise to pledge loyalty and maybe a cat" ??? One more article about who'll be at the wedding and I'm throwing myself to the venomous snails.

Snail News

From AP, one of my favorites, a story about snails:

SALT LAKE CITY - University of Utah researchers have harvested a substance from the venom of a cone snail that shows promise in treating some human pain.

So, good news, but the question remains, why did it take so long to find this out? Maybe because since the dawn of time, no creature has been made who can’t outrun a snail. “Oh, a snail! Run, run! Don’t let him bite you,” And really, who would have guessed snails had venom? All these years and I never suspected they had fangs. So I suppose some food scientist was under a tree, taking a break from discovering that some foods are greasy, and a snail snuck up on him. One bite and it’s, “Oh, that’s better. Hey Bob, my back feels better than it has in years, you gotta try this.”

OK, so I know, they’re sea snails. And hey, just so you know, blogger-google is being evil again. The publish page just won’t come up. So if you’re not reading this.... that’s why. Also, if you're reading this for the sixth time, it may be that it did come back up, and is publishing every earlier failed attempt. Yup, blogspot is like a box of chocolates. Oh, and really, if you see the same post six times in a row, I don't expect you to read each one. Just read the first three or so.

.....later...... Oh, man, this is water torture. Thank you blogspot..

And if this is the only post I get up this week, I should recommend the Murtha video:
Would you buy a used car from this man?
Funnier than a chubby kid dancing around with a broom-stick light saber.

Disaster

via Boing-Boing

Iran Says Nuke Program Is Near Complete

Does Aberjibberjabber know his American democrats or what? He's dancing around going nyaa-nyaa-na-nyaa-nyaa about his nuke program. And that's odd, yes? Isn't he afraid that the tough on national defense democrats will go all Mel Gibson on him? From the WP:

TEHRAN, Iran -- President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday said Iran would soon celebrate completion of its controversial nuclear fuel program.

"With the wisdom and resistance of the nation, today our position has stabilized. I'm very hopeful that we will be able to hold the big celebration of Iran's full nuclearization in the current year," the hard-line president said referring to the country's nuclear fuel program.

Iran's current calendar year ends on March 20.

The hard-line president also claimed that the international community was caving in to Tehran's demands to continue its nuclear program.

"Initially, they (the U.S. and its allies) were very angry. The reason was clear: They basically wanted to monopolize nuclear power in order to rule the world and impose their will on nations," Ahmadinejad said.

Good thing I carry my own testosterone around with me. Aberjammer ranks my country behind France on his list of threats to his nuke-program.

Thank goodness George W is the real man in charge of our whomping stick. His ability to rattle sabers got muted by this congress though.

Chutzpah

chutz‧pa  /ˈxʊtspə, ˈhʊt-/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[khoot-spuh, hoot-]
–noun Slang.

1. unmitigated effrontery or impudence; gall.
2. audacity; nerve.
3. Alcee Lamar Hastings

The last part of this just struck me as too much in this era of Culture of Corruption:

An editorial in South Florida Sun-Sentinel denounced Rep. Hastings with this tidbit: "Personal and political paybacks are the first order of business for Hastings."

The biting editorial resulted from Hastings putting his girlfriend, a disgraced former lawyer who was disbarred by the Florida Supreme Court for "multiple offenses," on the public payroll as his "office liaison and staff assistant."

According to the Sentinel, Alcee Hastings owed her "more than $500,000 in legal fees for representing him during his 1983 bribery trial and his 1989 impeachment hearings before Congress." Alcee Hastings continues to employ her as his scheduling assistant, paying her more money than even his chief of staff gets, causing another reporter to comment, "She must be some scheduler."

And Rep.Hastings treated his scheduler Vanessa Griddine to many perks. For instance, he spent over $14,000 on a taxpayer-paid trip to Belgium. Almost $3000 of this was listed as per diem expenses for the lucky couple and 11,400 was spent on what must have been a marvelous flight across the pond.

Upon returning from the junket, Hastings told reporters that he was very concerned that the House Ethics Committee had not taken Rep. Tom DeLay's case more seriously.

OK, so he's a congressman and, well, boys will be boys. And who cares even about the background: That he was impeached as a federal judge for taking a $150,000 bribe. He'll note that he wasn't convicted of the criminal charge. (mainly because his partner in crime refused to testify - and was later pardoned by Bill Clinton) So Hastings just looks to be one of those congressional connivers, one of those scoundrels we shake our heads about. A well-what-are-you-going-to-do situation.

Except for one thing. This is the man Nancy Pelosi wants to make the next chairman of the House of Representative's Intelligence Committee. Yikes. Our secrets guarded by a man who can be bought for what George Soros spends on a party weekend.

H/T: TCS Daily
read more:
Axcess News
NYT
The WP

Moonbats

Michelle Malkin has a link to a Mike McIntee video that claims that the White House doctored the video of Bush’s “Mission Accomplished” speech. How odd that so many propeller hatted people could get this worked up and haven't noticed that the video is in 16:9 aspect ratio. That is the HDTV format.
Especially odd because this Mike McIntee looks like a guy who spends a lot of time in his mom's basement watching Star [fill in the blank] videos. [spluttering: "I always watch the DVDs in HD format so as to relish every pixel of the filmmaker's original intent."]

Burn Down The Mission

Drudge has a report about an Elton John interview in which he blames religion for fomenting hatred of gays. Which, I suppose does happen in some churches, I mean, some of them do snake handling, tambourine banging, and some come to your door and make you take pamphlets. I can't think of a single religion that preaches hatred.... oh wait, there is that one... Yeah, I suppose stoning to death could be considered hate. We best ban Christianity too, though. That way Sir Elton doesn't have to say "Islam" out loud. (and thereby lose his head)

Anyway, what got me was Four Eyes saying:

"I think religion has always tried to turn hatred towards gay people. Religion promotes the hatred and spite against gays. But there are so many people I know who are gay and love their religion. From my point of view I would ban religion completely."

Right Elton. Many gay people love their religion so we should ban it. Think that through, ok?

I agree, btw, that many gay people love their religion and that the church should welcome them. Islam's view is an abomination and doesn't belong in this century.

They Can't Go Devo-Crazy

One reason I don't expect the democrats to go absolutely Devo-crazy-nutso, and do the complete cut and run in Iraq, is because they hold the senate 51-49. They only have the 51 because the two independents are caucusing with the D's. If they get too out of hand, Lieberman (who btw, they've treated soooo well) can do a Jeffords on them and shift the balance to 50-50. That means power sharing and Shotgun-man is the tiebreaker.

***Update: From Boston.com, yeah, Joe Lieberman realizes he's the most powerful guy in the Senate right now:

HARTFORD, Conn. --Sen. Joe Lieberman on Sunday repeated his pledge to caucus with Senate Democrats when the 110th Congress convenes in January, but refused to slam the door on possibly moving to the Republican side of the aisle.

Asked on NBC's "Meet the Press" if he might follow the example of Sen. Jim Jeffords of Vermont, who left the Republicans in 2001 and became an independent, ending Republican control of the U.S. Senate, Lieberman refused to discount the possibility.

Waxguy

Henry Waxman recently said, "A lot of people have said to me, `Are you going to now go out and issue a lot of subpoenas and go on a wild payback time?' Well, payback is unworthy," he said. "Doing oversight doesn't mean issuing subpoenas. It means trying to get information."

Remember that. Also, remember this? Henry, on Saddam:

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do."
Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002.

Which, Henry, was correct.

Let the Robot Holocaust Commence...

Robot Identifies Human Flesh As Bacon

Let the robot holocaust commence: robots think we taste like bacon.

Researchers at NEC System technologies and Mie University have designed ... a metal man gastronomist, "an electromechanical sommelier", capable of identifying wines, cheeses, meats and hors d'oeuvres. Upon being given a sample, he will speak up in a childlike voice and identify what he has just been fed....

...But when some smart aleck reporter placed his hand in the robot's omnivorous clanking jaw, he was identified as bacon. A cameraman then tried and was identified as prosciutto.

Man, I've been looking high and low for a good prosciutto. The local supermarket delis pretty much always disappoint.... And it's not like we need that many cameramen..

Veterans Day

If you run into a veteran today, be sure to say thanks. And let's hope this country doesn't ever forget the sacrifices of its servicemen and women. If you have a few extra dollars, and want to show appreciation to those currently serving, there's Operation AC. This started out as a way to get air conditioners to the troops in Iraq but it has grown quite a bit since we gave last year. Check it out.

And to those of you who served, thank you so much.

See? Democrats Are Miracle Workers

From Jason Smith at Newsbusters, evidence that Democrats can fix things fast:

Afghanistan on November 6, 2006 - the day before the election:

Poverty, anger with government fueling Taliban support in Afghanistan

...Many in Kandahar say their confidence in the government is falling, and some say that is helping fuel support for the Taliban....

Afghanistan on November 9, 2006 - two days after the election

Poll: Afghans express confidence in country's direction, security....

Good News

It was good to get away from the TV and do some savage work today. Not that the work was in and of itself savage, just my approach to it. I've pretty much decided that any job can be made easier with a nice assortment of hammers.

So I just did a quick scan of the news and I see that some man in Britain got badly hurt trying to launch fireworks from his bottom. OK... And it seems Nancy Pelosi is breaking up with Kevin Federline, or someone. And in Virginia Allen did concede as expected.

Hey, it could be worse. The Briton will most likely heal, and bonus, I'll bet he doesn't ever try that again. Kevin Federline will find someone new. And best of all- the democrats won't be screaming 24 hours a day for the next two years about how Diebold stole the election from them. They also have in front of them an example of how to lose a closely fought election. (though I'm not going to kid myself that they will remember it the next time they lose)

And if you must feel despondent, I suppose you could dwell on how Bush's job in Iraq is going to be harder now, but that's all it's going to be: harder. If George W Bush is the man he seems to be, he will not let the worst possible ending in Iraq happen. No matter how hard this job becomes, I think he gets it. The very worst ending here would be if the Jihadists chased us from Iraq. That would make many, many, many, more terrorists. That's the part of the leaked intelligence assessment that didn't get leaked. But it's the crucial part. That's what the President gets, and I think he'll fight with all he's got to keep us from that worst of all possible outcomes.

Strange Times

Stenny Hoyer is a fixture in Maryland. I gave up hope of getting an R in there long ago. We weren't given an alternative to Hoyer this time, but if there had been a "NO" alternative, I would have put my mark there. Odd then, I find myself rooting for the guy:

Current Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) was not similarly hesitant, formally announcing his bid for the Majority Leader’s office early Wednesday morning and confidently predicting that he will secure the post when Democrats vote in leadership election on Nov. 16.

“I think I’m going to win,” Hoyer said in an interview Wednesday. The Maryland lawmaker, who has served as Minority Whip since 2003, said “over a majority” of House incumbents as well as newly-elected lawmakers “have indicated that they would be supportive of me.”

But Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) — who stunned fellow lawmakers when he announced in June that he would campaign for the Majority Leader post against Hoyer — re-affirmed his own interest in the office Wednesday.

“I’m working diligently now trying to convince people that I’d make a good balance” to the leadership team, Murtha said in an interview with National Public Radio.

How Bad Could It Be, Really?

No it can't get that bad. One thing I'll note though: In the Webb/Allen race, every headline I've seen has been an unqualified "Webb Won", no mention of a recount. You can bet if it was an Allen squeaker, the headlines would be much more tentative until a concession or completed recount.
(I'm not really pinning my hopes on a recount, BTW - barring provable voting fraud I expect Allen won't quibble)

***Update: And of course right after I hit 'post', I read the news that Allen threw in the towel. I expected he would. Good news: the Webb people will be slow to gloat; their faces having been set for righteous indignation should it have gone the other way. It will take a few days to get their legs back under them. Never underestimate the power of "macacca" being repeated daily for weeks on end.

OK, One Last Time

I promise not to post this until the next elec... Who am I kidding? I'll probably be posting this every month until blogspot runs out of pixels.

Rumsfeld Gone

Odd, with all the reasons people are giving, nobody has hit on the obvious: With a democrat controlled house, Rumsfeld, if he stayed, would be Witch Hunt #1. He would spend day after day complying with subpoenas and testifying in front of committees. There would be no time for the job of Secretary of Defense. A new face in there means a clean slate. The democrats can still go after Rummy but it would be seen as what it is: partisan vindictiveness.

Words

Just as a diversion, I was scanning the "We Won, We Won" posts, and the "We Won And Bush is Satan" posts, over at the Huffington Post.

And flipping through the comments I noticed something. See if you can guess: There are (now) 78 pages of comments on one of the election posts. How far do you think you have to go to find the first page that doesn't have the word f*ck in it?

Answer: page 28

Oh yeah, a return to civility. Youbetcha.

The Unjumped Upon Bandwagon

Well, I'm searching the blogosphere and I'm finding not so many bloggers declaring a Steele victory in Maryland. Come on guys! We need to all get together on this; and thereby lay the groundwork for a future legal challenge of the results. (on the grounds that "we really, really, thought we'd won" - just like the D's last election)

Lumberjacks Calls It - Steele the Winner

If MSNBC can call them with 1% of the votes counted, I can call them when we get over 50%. So that's that. Lumberjacks is calling Virginia an Allen victory over Jim (upside down and disturbing) Webb. And Lumberjacks predicts Steele as the winner over Ben (where does the beltway go?) Cardin.

***Update: Um, disregard.

Lamont Concedes to Lieberman

Way to go Kos kids.

So what was the net effect of the D's running Lamont? They turned a guaranteed D seat into an I. Not for nothing do I say, they may want that Democratic seat back before this is over.

In Maryland it seems everyone is projecting a Cardin win with just 26% counted - which seems a little early to me.

Back to TV-watching and nail-biting for me.... please don't let the drunken monkeys gain control of the senate.

Fingers Crossed

For those who don't know, this is Ben Cardin, the nonferrous alternative to Michael Steele. He does have an advantage in that Maryland is just lousy with Democrats. We may just beat him though. Some democrats have been complaining: (1) President Bush made it rain all day, (2) Voting shouldn't have been scheduled for trash day (3) President Bush made it get dark at 5:00 PM (4) The voting machines confused democrats more than republicans.

Most Important Thing You'll Do All Year

Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an actress, I think, but if she could talk, I know she'd urge you to go out and vote today. And if she could think, she'd urge you to go out and vote R today. If she could think, talk, and she lived in Maryland, she'd urge you to go out and vote for Michael Steele. He's Ferrous!

Important Information

You may have been wondering what's up with Scarlett Johansson these days. As the above picture shows, she went somewhere only just the other day. If it turns out that she did anything while she was out, rest assured that I'll post more pictures. Because we need to know things sometimes.

Funny

Michael Steele Cares About MS

Man Am I Getting Phone Calls

Anyone else getting way more calls this election year than they ever have in the past? Most of them have been recordings from the candidates, several were from actual campaign workers, and a few have been from disguised campaign workers. "We just were wondering how you were going to vote..." Sure you were lady. So I say I'm voting R and you kill my dog. No thanks, I've had it with you nonviolent types.

Anyway, this last one was Argumentative-Linda from Call For Change. I got an immediate protect-your-genitals vibe from the way she was asking questions so I claimed to be voting solely on the candidates' astrological signs.

Well, would I be voting for Cardin?

Linda, are you aware of that man's sign?

No she says.

So I tell her that I can't discuss politics with anyone so ignorant of the important factors in this election. She hung up.


Turns out Call For Change is a Move-On.org effort. There's a surprise. I'll be voting for the man who's showing up in Linda's nightmares. And the Zodiac has nothing to do with it.

Saddam

I so seldom follow the sensational headlines from Drudge anymore. "CIVIL WAR MAY FOLLOW SADDAM DEATH VERDICT..."
is one I skipped. Who wants to read an account from someone who is wishing for civil war?

I've found that Iraq the Model is a good barometer of the mood in Iraq. So what is Mohammed saying?

"The overwhelming majority of Iraqis are looking forward to seeing justice be served tomorrow which will give the fascist dictator, who brutalized and abused millions of people and their homeland for decades, give him what he deserves.
We have been dreaming for such a day to come and it will be a true turning point, not only for Iraq but for the middle east, for it will be the first time a ruler gets paid back for what he'd done by a court of law."

Let's hope those who will try to exploit the situation to cause division have their plans frustrated. Whatever the verdict, this should be a step forward for Iraq.

Student be Stupid

I know it's bucking the trend but I'm going to accept the apology of the U of P prez Amy Gutmann. At least she's saying that she disapproved of the costume:

"The costume is clearly offensive and I was offended by it. As soon as I realized what his costume was, I refused to take any more pictures with him, as he requested."

OK then. I'm inclined to take her word for it. And I can even see how the one picture could have been taken before she had a chance to react. I'm always having people come up to me at parties and wanting to have their picture taken with the lumberjack; sometimes they sneak up on you. Course, Babe, the blue ox, gets it even more than me.