Gov. Corrupt (D) of Illinois

Check this out.

While the Governor's conduct is disturbing (yet unsurprising) it's nice to see the Democrats call this guy out.  Reid, Durbin, and Obama are stomping this guy and standing behind Pat Fitzgerald, instead of calling this some kind of partisan B.S.  

Let's 'change' this Gov. out of office and out of the position to nominate Obama's successor to the Senate.

On Chuck Hagel

Great article on Chuck Hagel in the New Yorker.

Can You Believe This?

Republican, Democrat or Independent, this sort of corruption and ineptitude CANNOT be tolerated:

http://firedoglake.com/2008/09/03/fbi-wanted-obama-plotters-charged-but-a-rove-appointee-said-no/

Clintons and the Convention

The decision has come down the pipe that President Bill Clinton will will be speaking at the Democratic National Convention. I was thinking, "What should he talk about?"

Should he discuss what life was like in the 90s with our booming economy and budget surplus ($230 billion)?

Should he talk about what life was like before the foreclosure crisis, an the gov't bailouts of Bear Stearns, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?

How about life before Enron?

I'm glad

The Polls

Ignore them. Here's why:

How many of your friends have a cell phone and no land line? I don't think pollsters call cell phones.

The media always under-reports the youth vote (18-25) which also means that they don't get polled accurately. Most pollsters believe they never show up for election day, because historically they don't show up.

Here's a few looks at current youth voting trends:

an article in the Washington Post

YDA (Young Democrats of America)

Civic Youth

Is Obama Right about our National Security

Make up your own mind.

Barack Obama: On Iraq and National Security

Does L. Boone Picken Have It Right?

See for yourself:

http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php

A former Texas oilman is pushing wind, solar, and just about any other source of alternative energy to break our dependence on foreign oil. His goal is to make energy indepenence the No. 1 issue in the presidential debates.

On Obama and FISA

This is the second day of coverage on Sen. Obama's vote in support of FISA.

CNN is rife with reports of liberals in uproar over his decision. Conservatives seem split.

I spent a lot of time thinking about why I feel Obama's vote on FISA is a big mistake on several levels, but I think I've summed it up with two words...

Due process.

We've faced terrorist attacks prior to the Towers getting hit by airplanes (the U.S.S. Cole and the WTC at least once before) and we'll continue to be threatened by terrorism. Does that mean we should abandon due process completely on the premise of preserving our remaining freedoms?

The Operative Word is 'Further'

This morning CNN reported that Iran began a second day of long-range missile testing, this time with missiles with the range to attack Israel and a number of other targets in the region.

In response to a potential military reaction from the U.S. on Iranian targets, U.S. officials responded by saying that a strike on Iran would be high risk and would run the risk of destabilizing the region. Don't they mean further destabilize the region?

Reciprocity (or when nyah nyah nyah goes wrong)

This will be the first presidential election process that I've watched since the primaries, and man have I been watching a lot of campaign coverage.

So, here's a fun game you can play. When some anchor or political operative starts talking, especially when they are attacking someone else, pretend they are talking about themselves. See if the same criticism applies.

Is it just me, or do political phonies love to attack others for what are their own faults?

McCain Campaign - Be Honest about Taxes

So the McCain campaign has been beating the drum on lower taxes (who doesn't want that?) but the McCainites have gotten a little overzealous about Sen. Obama's record on taxes. However, I'm giving the McCain camp the benefit of the doubt, as soon as they issue a retractment. :)

According to this article, The McCainey's are claiming that the junior Senator from Illinois has raised taxes 94 times. The problem is their claim only bears a casual relationship with mathematics. In fact, if I used their math to count my fingers and toes I'd have around fifty.

The Body

Whenever I listen to political coverage on CNN or Fox News (and I watch both on a regular basis) every once in a while an anchor or a guest will say something so ridiculous that I double-take or laugh out loud.

This morning, Fox News had Gov. Jesse "The Body" Ventura on to discuss his thoughts on the presidental race, and the Fox guys brought up 9/11. They asked Jesse about his prior statements on 9/11, and Jesse brought up a perfectly valid point, which is why people who want to know more about 9/11 are attacked, called conspiracy wackos or leftie commies blah blah blah. The Fox anchor responded roughly by saying if you don't trust your government, then why don't you leave?

Are you serious? What is this, Communist China? Attention Fox News fool, dissent is PARTIOTIC. Questioning your government is essential to preserving our freedom, to preserving America, and regardless of your political affiliation you should care about that. The moment we allow government to do all the thinking for us is the moment the state becomes everything the Right despises: a massive, over-reaching government controlling way too much of our lives.

What do you think?

On Milton Friedman

On January 29th, the State of California will be celebrating Milton Friedman day.

So who is he and what did he believe? Wikipedia summarizes the essence of Friedman's beliefs like so:

"...Friedman advocated minimizing the role of government in a free market as a means of creating political and social freedom. In his 1980 television series Free to Choose Friedman explained how the free market works, emphasizing that he believed that it has been shown to solve social and political problems that other systems have failed to address adequately."

Is he right?

Milton Friedman in Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milton_Friedman