The Republicans Lost In A Landslide

Because They Created The Mess We're In

And NOW They Want The Guy Cleaning Up Their Mess To Fail.

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Evan Bayh

The Indiana Senator and Former Governor Offers Political and Practical Payoff

Evan Bayh isn't my first choice for Vice President but I haven't offered a more coherent way of choosing a running mate for Barack Obama. The biggest challenge is that it's been hard to find someone who can both balance his strengths and who doesn't highlight his perceived-weaknesses.

For instance, it's been hard to find someone who can reaffirm Obama's brand of "Change" and who also has a great depth of old-school experience, (the Tim Kaine/Kathleen Sebelius challenge) Likewise, it's been hard to find someone who balances Obama on experience-perceptions but who doesn't obscure the "Change" brand (the Joe Biden challenge).

Ultimately, Barack Obama is at the top of the ticket, and people are going to be voting for him or against McCain. Evan Bayh does not directly reaffirm Obama's “Change” message. He's been in politics for 20 years as a popular two term Governor of Indiana and winning two terms to the U.S. Senate. But, Evan Bayh is a moderate-centrist Democrat, exactly the kind I don't vote for at the top of a ticket.

But Bayh has the background to help make an Obama Administration highly effective and successful. Between his experience cutting taxes while balancing the budget along with his decade-long experience and relationships in the Senate, he can do a lot to making Obama's inspiration-cast vision into a strong legislative and administrative strategy that Obama will need if he is to truly bring substantive Change to Washington. Don't think for a minute that that isn't still on the table.

Bayh also has served on the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, and also the select Committee on Intelligence, so his brain trust can give valuable insight as Obama forms foreign policy decisions with guys like Joe Biden and Bill Richardson. Yes, Bayh voted for the war and has at times had a hawkish stance, but Obama has always said that he wants a Vice President that will challenge him and express disagreement. At the end of the day, the decisions on war and peace as well as prosperity and wellness will indeed be Obama's to make, and can he have more confidence in those decisions knowing that they have been tested and challenged by people who are competent and achieved.

What really sets Bayh apart from other contenders is that he is good at not bringing too much attention to himself, because rarely does a showy running mate bring positive attention to the top of the ticket. He has done a decent job of not making it look like he wants it too badly.

Obama is in a position to win Indiana. A Democrat hasn't won Indiana since 1964, but the map has been changing. Some congressional and state legislative races in 2006 showed Indiana to be veering Democratic, and most polls show Obama with a slight lead there. This is especially remarkable because Indiana went for Bush by a margin of 60% to Kerry's 39%. Also, North West Indiana is in the Chicago Media Market, and they have seen Obama in local media for many years and they know him very well there, and they like him, as evidenced by his performance in the primary.

Evan Bayh is a popular former Governor who has twice been elected to the Senate from that state with huge margins. If Obama wins Indiana, McCain is toast unless he picks up Pennslyvania, Minnesota or Wisconsin. At the very least McCain will have to spend money to keep it Red, which means he spends less time and money on Ohio, Nevada, New Mexico, Michigan, Virginia and Florida.

* Evan Bayh balances the ticket with his experence in:
* National Security and Intelligence
* The Economy & the Budget
* Formulating legislative strategy
* Being too mellow to cause trouble
* Being a Hillary supporter who can help heal remaining rifts.
* Winning statewide elections in Indiana.

Between his experience and mellow demeanor, Evan Bayh can balance Obama on the ballot and in the White House much the same way Al Gore balanced Bill Clinton.

Then again, it COULD be Delaware Senator Joe Biden.

(theTruthOrSomethingLikeIt.blogspot.com)

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Balls To The Wall, Walls To The Heart:
The Smartest Art There Is To Cause Your Fall.

I'd rather have a happy ending
than a pitiful start.
I guess that's how it goes
When you're too old to care
and too young to hold out.

When your balls own your heart.
And you don't care who knows
that you aren't being fair.
And Now you're out of clout.
and in need of some mending.

It's time you should be spending
the kind where we're apart.
And not so much on clothes
or product for your hair.
'Cause it's no way to clear doubt,
it's just endless pretending.

Think about who you're offending
with your cruel, haughty art.
To keep you on your toes.
It's just enough to scare
you right out of your bout
and once again ascending.

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"Well, look, I find it amusing that those who helped to authorise and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticizing me for making sure that we are on the right battlefield and not the wrong battlefield in the war against terrorism.”

Sen. Barack Obama when several of his fellow Democrats critisized his remarks about his willingness to attack Al Qaeda targets in Pakistan.

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"George W. Bush took our assent, and re-configured it, and honed it, and shaped it to a razor-sharp point and stabbed this nation in the back with it."

Keith Olbermann

The other day at work I saw a woman wearing a bizarre tee-shirt. On that shirt was a picture of Jesus, Mary, some saints and a heavenly backdrop. In the middle was a picture of George W. Bush praying, and underneath it said, "We are a blessed nation." I called the attention of my coworkers to the utter ridiculousness of this shirt. To my surprise, they defended both the shirt and George Bush. In that room at that moment, George Bush had 66% job approval and 33% disapproval, which is the exact inverse of what it is nationally.

Most polls from the last several months put George W. Bush’s job approval in the high 20s to low 30s. More importantly his job disapproval has been consistently around 65%

Less than one-third of all American’s like George W. Bush. We have a national consensus that this guy is a total fuckwit. Yet there is a segment of the population that is holding on to the notion that he possesses a level of competence that allows him tie his own shoes unassisted.

The war in Iraq is not only an obvious failure, but it is the worst foreign policy mistake in U.S. history. As a nation, we are less safe, and less secure than before Bush's belligerent, baseless invasion of that country. Iran, North Korea, Russia and others have exploited our weak position in the world to work for their national interest at the expense of ours.

Nearly 4,000 troops have been killed. Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been killed, and an equal number of American service-people have been maimed. These sacrifices were not necessarily, and in fact they have impeded America's ability to confront its real enemies.

But alas, the Bush presidency is not just about Iraq.


It is about an administration that so much lusts for power and control that in insists that it needs the power to randomly incarcerate American citizens indefinitely without being required to tell them or any court with what they have been charged.

It is about an administration that has promoted a culture of greed through corporate giveaways, tax cuts for the wealthy, and no-bid contracts for companies that profit from war and that keep members of the administration on its payroll to this day.

It is about an administration thats permits oil companies to receive tax-payer funded subsidies while they continue to post record profits, keep refinery capacity low, and gasoline prices artificially high.

It is about an administration with such warped priorities that it doesn't think that taxpayers should support potentially life saving therapeutic stem-cell research, but insists that they should spend $100 billion per year to kill Iraqi's.

It is about a President whom as Governor of Texas refused to commute the death sentences of five men who are mentally retarded, but somehow found the compassion to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby who protected an administration that committed treason through its character assassination of CIA operative Valarie Plame and her husband Joe Wilson.

It is about a President who exploited 9/11, whom took our well wishes and support and as Keith Olbermann has said, "re-configured it, and honed it, and shaped it to a razor-sharp point and stabbed this nation in the back with it."

Geroge W. Bush took a nation at peace, and made it a nation at war with the world.

He took a prosperous nation and gave us the largest budget deficit, the largest national debt, some of the worst job and wage growth we have ever known.

Who are these people who think he is doing a good job? I suspect that it takes the same detachment from reality to deny the utter calamity that is the Bush Presidency as it does to enable a person to deny the existence of global warming, evolution, and Eskimos.It quite possibly could be indicative of a mental illness. Perhaps support of George W. Bush should be added to the DSM IV.

It takes a rare breed to defend George W. Bush. Those who do are an endangered species for sure. They are either too obstinate to die, or too rabid to understand their survival instinct.

The S.S. George W. Bush is sinking. These ignorant predications of support are merely some final desperate gasps for air from those who will surely go down with the ship. I however which that goddamn thing would just sink already.

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Under The Oval Office:
The Dark Secrets of America's Chief Executives from Taft to Bush
by Dorris Kearns Goodwin and Michael Beschloss

Part 1:

In 1909 William Howard Taft had a a dungeon built directly under the Oval Office. It is round and its walls are made from the same dark stones as the floor. On the walls there are only chains and other fasteners. The entire room is lit by torches that hang near the wall.

Historians have long been baffled as to why Mr. Taft had this underground chamber built. It has been ruled out that he is a sex freak as his weight (350 lbs while President) made him incapable of using his penis, as evidenced by his own personal diaries, his recently unsealed medical records, and memoirs published by his wife in 1912.

It is suspected that he might have used the dungeon to house Harland Jasper Taft, a Filipino child he conceived illegitimately while serving as Governor-General of the Philippines in 1901, when his waistline was a svelte 30 inches.

Harland Jasper Taft, then just 11 years old was known to have escaped the White House grounds in April 1911. He was captured by the Virginia National Guard while swimming nude in the Potomac, which was practiced recreationaly by John Quincy Adams.

Upon being returned to the White House, Harland Jasper was never seen again. William Howard Taft was never an angry man, though he was a hungry man. His wife Louisa was known as an opportunist whose influence was so great that her husband sought the Presidency at her urging, although he himself never desired to be President. It is suspected that because of the upcoming election that Louisa Taft had ordered that all food be removed from the White House, and that the young Harland Jasper be doused in balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and breadcrumbs. It is reported that 2 hours later that the President had eaten whole his illegitimate Filipino son. Taft weeped for hours but he soon had to turn his attention to winning the Republican nomination for President from his former ally Theodore Roosevelt. Because of the trappings of the presidency, a prejudice against Asians, and a rising popularity of cannibalism among societies elite, there was never an investigation.

The only known photo of Harland Jasper Taft

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Free Speech Is Supposed To Be Disruptive. How Else Could It Inspire Change?
This week the United States Supreme Court* heard arguments on the U.S. Court of Appeals case, Morse V. Fredrick, better known as the "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" case.

*It turns out that the Supreme Court is just a regular court with sour cream and tomatoes.

As a high school senior, Joseph Frederick was suspended for 10 days for displaying a banner that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus". He did this across the street from his high school during the 2002 Winter Olympics Torch Relay.The council for the school district is Kenneth Star who is the former Clinton Impeachment Czar, Chief Player Hater, and now a federally appointed buzz kill. Starr has said that schools "do not have to tolerate a message that is inconsistent with its basic educational mission".

As Justice Alito said, "I find that a very, very disturbing argument. . .because schools have defined their educational mission so broadly that they can suppress all kinds of political speech". Which is absolutely true. A school could define that their educational mission is to be fiscally responsible and that criticism of the schools continued use of antiquated history books printed during the Eisnehower administration is in conflict with the schools "educational mission".**

** We all know the true purpose of public schools has devolved into keeping half-witted bureaucrats and administrators employed.

I was a senior in high school during the tragic murder-suicides at Columbine High School. Weeks after Columbine, a student from my high school was suspended because, outside of school he was suspected of possessing firearms that were not registered.

During art class I made the remark that, "It doesn't make sense that they would suspend him, because his time out of school only gives him more time and opportunity to plot our violent and bloody demise". I was critical of school policy through a satirical remark. It was not obscene and it did not present a clear and present danger. I was suspended for three days because I made an effective criticism of Principal Douchebag's*** poor decision making. I threatened to contact the ACLU, but they made it clear to me that they were in a position to fuck with me in numerous ways, regarding things including but not limited college admissions.

*** Names have been changed to protect the douchey.

We should all be concerned about this not just because students rights are at risk, but the wrong decision on this case could set an ugly precedent. Essentially the criteria for limiting the speech in this case is that if the said speech is disruptive to the goals and ideas of a government institution then it is not protected. Will this prevent newspapers and full grown adults from being able to criticize the White House, Congress, The Supreme Court, the schools, and the IRS? Will this author be sent to Gitmo based upon this blogpost? Maybe, he could use the sunshine and ocean views, though he is not so much interested in the electrical testicular trauma and water-boarding.

The Deputy Soliciter General Edwin Kneedler said that they might pursue a ruleing that would narrowly limit speech that they say advocates drug use.

First, how do you get that out of this case? The banner "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" promotes drug use about as much as it promotes Jesus. Second, is it so wrong for a student to be critical of a school or government's drug policy? It can be argued that that drug policy in the U.S. is shallow, condescending, racist, inaccurate and hypocritical. If this particular topic is not protected speech would it not appear that no topic is protected speech?

What it will come down to is whether or not the Olympic Torch Relay was a school event and if the banner was disruptive. The main reason why speech is protected is because thoughts and ideas are powerful. Critisisim is the ultimate enemy of tyrants and oppressors. Free thought, free assembly and a free press are the pre-eminent players in the marketplace of ideas that moves our civilization forward.

The "Tinker Test" based on the landmark Tinker v. Des Moines ruling from 1969, which defined a student's first amendment rights. The 7 to 2 ruling said that the schools must have a constitutionally valid reason for limiting free speech.


The Tinker case came from three students who wished to protest the Vietnam war by wearing black armbands with peace signs. The students were suspended for this action based on the idea that they were disruptive. The majority opinion said that the students were unjustly suspended, ". . .based upon an urgent wish to avoid the controversy which might result from the expression". Ultimately the Tinker Test says that sometimes Free Speech can cause controversy but if it doesn't cause a profound disruption to classroom activities, such speech is protected.

If this Supreme Court has any regard for court precedent, it will vindicate Joesph Fredrick. He will then be able to sue the school district for millions of dollars and he will have a lifetime supply of Funions and he will be able to live out the rest of his life playing XBox.

God Bless America. And may his son toke it.

And then the LORD said, "Duuuuuuuuuuude I ate so many communion wafers, you have no effing idea!".

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Dave F.A.Q. Originally aired Wedseday January 8, 2007
© NBC News


Matt Lauer: You have probably never heard of him. Find out why that is. TODAY ™ we have David [omitted] in our studio. David thanks for being here. What are you doing these days?

David: I am substitute teaching, grades 3 to 12. I don't teach the younger kids because they refuse to wash their hands and they always want to hug me.

Matt Lauer: [Feigned Laughter]

David: [ Cold stare.]

Matt Lauer:: Any plans for the future?

David: I have applied to graduate schools, law schools, and I have even considerd pursuing a seccond Bacholers since I could do it at virtually no cost. Right now I am pursuing more bohemian endeavors.

Matt Lauer: So you don't know what you're doing next fall?

David: I am 100% behind continuing my education while I am still in my 20s, lest I be the fellow in class known as "creepy old guy."

Matt Lauer: [silence, shufles notes] Eh..well. . .

David: No, I'm not totally clear on what I am doing next fall. It will depend on the financial awards, assistantships and scholarships that I win.

Matt Lauer: Why don't you cut your hair?

David: Because whilst working in politics I always had to have a more professional hair-style. So now I am letting my large lusterious copper mane flourish like a wild animal with a violent and untamable lust to copulate with its own species for the first time.

Matt Lauer: [silence] [checks watch, eyes door]

CLICK HERE For Part 2!

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