Woohooo!!!!

Just checked the stat-counter....we set a new record yesterday...58 visits...unique...pretty good for a little county-wide blog huh?

About the Presidency.....

It's starting already....The run for the nominations. Today's news and views in both the traditional press and the blogosphere is full of little tidbit. For instance:

Outgoing Senate Majority Leader Bill (cat-killer) Frist has announced that he will not seek the Republican Nomination.

Senator Joseph Biden (D) says he's still looking.

Retired General Wesley Clark says he hasn't "ruled it out".

Senator Barack Obama says he's exploring the possibilities.

Giuliani (spelling incorrect?) is listed as a Republican front-runner.


Saint Senator John McCain is pandering as hard as any man can to please the Republican Conservative (wacko) base for his bid for the nomination.

It brings back a lot of pre-2004 memories and causes me to think about an important difference in candidates. I offer it for your consideration.

What I think we are observing is a flock of people who are actively SEEKING OR PURSUING the Office of President. (before you post a "Well...DUH...." comment, hear me out.) It is not a case where The Presidency is pursuing them....that is, none and I do mean NONE of the present candidates have led such a life of service to the country that they seem to be natural and logical choices for the office of the Presidency. Yes, I will elaborate.

Teddy Roosevelt was a natural for his times because of his strong background as a reformer (remember he was Police Commissioner in New York too) Franklin D. Roosevelt was a natural choice because he showed he could lead at a time when America was in desperate need of leadership. Eisenhower was a logical and almost unanimous choice because of his demostrated leadership abilities and was actively sought as a candidate by both Republicans and Democrats.

Let me make this clearer by using Eisenhower as an example. He was a Four-Star General who put together the Allied Victory in Europe ending WWII. He is most known for his planning of the invasion at Normandy but his work and strategic planning in the years leading up to the invasion were brilliant. The important point is that he didn't run that war with a press agent or focus group telling him what to do to enhance his image for a distant run for the Presidency. He ran the war in Europe as a professional military man and in doing so demonstrated strength of character and leadership that would be unmistakable years later. It was, in fact because of his character and leadership that he was so actively sought for the nomination by both parties.

Contrast this with the made-for-TV-and-prime-time candidacy we are being exposed to now.

Issues and topics are carefully chosen to appeal to a "demographic" and images are masterfully sculpted to meet the desires of focus groups. As Teddy White told us in his first edition of The Making of a President, 1960, the candidate is packaged, labeled and sold to us in much the same fashion we purchase a jar of peanut butter.

Does it make a difference? Does it really matter if we choose someone who has chosen to run as a result of a lifetime of demonstrated character and achievement or someone who has been carefully groomed and sculpted for our consumption?

You're damned right it does!

For example, see this from today's Digby (Hullaballoo)

This all proves that it really matters who the president is. It matters a lot. We will be electing a new administration in less than two years and it's important to try to learn from this, beyond ideology, beyond partisanship. The Bush administration debacle is not, after all, confined to Iraq. There was Katrina as well, along with untold numbers of domestic, economic and foreign policy crises that have been put into motion and haven't yet come to fruition. The malfeasance wasn't confined to Don Rumsfeld or Doug Feith.

http://digbysblog.blogspot.com/

George W. Bush is perhaps the best example of a pre-packaged President we will ever see. One of our (Democrats ) major complaints about him (okay, it was a complaint about Reagan too) was that he was an "empty suit" and it turned out to be tragically true.

In the next 18 months or so, we, the Wood County Dems, will start fractioning off to support different candidates for our party's nomination for the Presidency....consider these things as you choose...

it does make a difference.

Another Campaign Memory

Sigh..........it was a great experience...and DeDe has a nice souvenier picture to prove it.

Here's DeDe with Wisconsin's first Lady Jessica Doyle:



Thanks for the picture DeeDee!

Random thoughts on an open thread....

how's that for confusing....

actually I'm inviting all our friends to jump in here and have their say.....

Bush is at a NATO summit....met with German Chancellor Merkel...remeber what happened last time?

Wonder what he'll do to embarrass himself...and us...this time?

update: This picture looks like She told him to "Keep his hands to himself"....rofl

He's going to meet with Iraqi President Maliki later on....in Jordan...

IN JORDAN? Is Maliki defecting?

Meanwhile, Al Sadr's Shiia faction has withdrawn from Maliki's Government....ummmm...aren't they THE MAJORITY PARTY?.... http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2991704

Try answering this: There is no doubt we're going to leave Iraq. Do you think we should do it gradually or quickly? Post in comments.

Brief notes

I have a couple of meetings this afternoon/evening so this will be brief......

I'm glad I put the "statcounter" on this site...through Saturday there were 80 unique visits to the site and, get this, 48 of them were FIRST TIME VISITORS....so if you have something to say, this is a good place to say it.

BTW, Jenny sent me the web site info in late September but my email spam filter picked it up as spam and put it in the deleted items bin....I found the info there over the weekend...so I'll be updating the web site as soon as I can get to it.

see u soon

A different perspective

Etta Hulme puts a little different light on the subject of Iraq:

A few random thoughts....

I've spent most of the morning catching up on posts in my favorite blogs...surprisingly, it's been relatively quiet in the land of Left Blogsylvania.

Jesus General has an interesting post up that has me thinking a bit. This small "snippet" gives you a good sense of where he's coming from:

What happens, though, when we elect people who have no interest and/or ability to govern? What happens when we elect people who are more interested in their own personal power than in the general interests of society? We have been experiencing exactly that with the current Republican Congress and administration.

It may not be possible to document the full extent of Republican malfeasance and mismanagement of this country. Major crises, like hurricane Katrina and the 9/11 terrorist attacks, were addressed in ways that almost couldn’t have been worse. Minor issues have been dealt with in an even more incompetent manner. It might be easier to simply list the areas where Republican governance has been competent and effective.

(*crickets chirping*)

Aside from that, the news out of Iraq hasn't been good. Take a look at this compilation from The Raw Story.

Start with car bombs that kill 202 in one day, add to it, Sadr's militia taking over a major radio station, mortar fire into a US Base and the the Prime Minister getting stoned by his own supporters and I'd say you have....

what's that word?

Oh yeah, chaos.

I have to ask the question so many other bloggers have been asking over the past two or three weeks:

Exactly what does "victory" in Iraq look like?

What is our goal and is that an attainable goal? Bush said recently (on his trip to Viet Nam) that we will "win" in Iraq," ...unless we quit." Win what?

Here's an easy way out Mr. Bush. Remember that before the invasion of Iraq you changed your rationale for invading almost every day. Every time somebody contradicted your "reason of the day", you came up with another one. It was pretty tricky to do because you had multiple goals in your self-serving speeches.

You had to crank up your base with the USA! USA! USA!...KICK THEIR ASS AND TAKE THEIR GAS ..mantra...

You had to scare the crap out of Mr and Mrs Middle America and every Soccer Mom in the US...(that smoking gun = mushroom-shaped cloud line was a WINNER...kudos to Frank Luntz for that one heh?)

And, here's the tricky part...you had to refrain from mentioning to the United Nations that it had ANY thing to do with "regime change", so you spoke of "disarming Saddam". Slick. Absolutely slick.

So what does this have to do with getting out of Iraq now? Simple. Just pick one of the "excuses de jour" that you used in the run-up and declare "Mission Accomplished"...(maybe some different phrase would be better) .

For example: Try on the " If Saddam doesn't disarm, we, and a coalition of the willing, will disarm him."

Ta Daaaaaaaaaa! Victory. You sure as hell disarmed Saddam. And you didn't promise a democracy or a glowing republic or even a stinking rose garden afterwards. You didn't say what the cost of "disarming Saddam" was going to be. Who cares if you created another failed state or even another Islamic Theocracy or even another ally for Iran, you "disarmed Saddam".

Wooohoooo! USA! USA! USA!

See, it's that easy.

No charge for the advice Mr Bush.....

Can't pass this up....

Remember when one of the Right-wing loonies proclaimed that Spongebob was gay and the purpose of Spongebob SquarePants was to promote the gay agenda?

Well our friend TBOGG couldn't pass this up and neither can I....

Caption: The Gay Agenda hangs over the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl rofl

Pre-Thanksgiving notes

I think I'm going to make a list of things I'm thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1 I'm thankful we won so many races in the November 7 election because for the first time in six years, this Thanksgiving will be filled with hope for our country.

2 I'm thankful for the great, close friends I have made here in Wood County.

3 I'm thankful I survived the heart attack two years ago and I'm still (relatively) healthy.

4 I'm still thankful for health of my wife, my son and his new bride and all my good friends.

hmmmmmm.....I'll probably be adding onto this list as I go along.

I probably won't be blogging again until Sunday or so. I suspect family and friends will be insulted if I suddenly bolt away from the conversation proclaimilng, "I've got to get a blog entry up!"

I got an earful from my Republican Brother last night about how wonderful John McCain is and what a fine President he will be...notice that's WILL, not might, not could, but WILL. He went on and on about how the Democrats DIDN'T WIN but the Republicans LOST. He also said that a: The Democrats have no plan; b: Hillary is the front runner; and c: Obama can't be elected because....because...because...well, just because, but it definitely isn't because he's black because that would be wrong. I listened patiently and then told him to quit listening to Limbaugh for three hours a day and to lay off drinking the Republican Kool-aid.

okay...add to the Thanksgiving list: I'm thankful I DON'T have to spend Thanksgiving with this brother.

That conversation brough up an interesting point though...one that's being debated on several progressive blogs at the moment. Prior to the election there was a belief that the main stream media (MSM) would gravitate toward the power (and subsequent wealth) after the election. Therefore if the Democrats were to win the election, the MSM would start pandering to them as opposed to the Republicans because, after all, the media is a whore...and not a very subtle whore either.

Well, that didn't happen.

Instead of pandering, the MSM is bashing the Democrats in every way they can. In all fairness to Mr Lakoff, they have effectively FRAMED the conversation to pose the Democratic Party in a negative or, more damaging perhaps, ridiculous position. It's devastating. We see Nancy Pelosi discussed in terms of "botox" or "lip gloss" as opposed to Minimum Wage Hikes or National Health Care. We see contested leadership elections framed as DIVISIVE or DISARRAY.

Will it end?

Who knows....I've seen thread after thread in another blog suggesting that we (Democrats) should use our legisaltive power to punish the MSM and prevent them from slanting the news and commentary against us. I can't be done. We DARE NOT mess with the first amendment. It's going to take years to build an infrastructure to mimick the Great Right Wing Noise Machine...or also known as the Republican Wurlitzer...but it must be done. Air America is a start and so is the Jones Network that carries Stephanie Miller and Randi Rhodes and Thom Hartman. It's going to be a long road but we can do it.

Another Note:

I have to agrree with "Brother Attaturk" about Thanksgiving being my favorite holiday and for the reasons he states:

Yes, it is almost time. Almost time for Atta J. Turk's favorite holiday,
Thanksgiving.Ah, the memories of a family Thanksgiving. There's no pressure to
give gifts or appear holy, just spending time in the warmth and bosom of your
family.

He's right I think......

Have a nice Thanksgiving everybody.

e

Meanwhile......

At this month's meeting of the Republican Woman's Club

(Thanks to Jesus General for the pic)

http://patriotboy.blogspot.com/

The Dilemma....

Let me talk about German Shepard Guard Dogs......Trust me, it's relevant.

My Father talked about the German Shepard Guard Dogs he saw in the Pacific Islands during the time he served there during WWII. He told me how vicious they were and how, when peace finally came, all the guard dogs had to be destroyed because the viciousness couldn't be trained out of them. He hated that this had to be done but he also noted that it was "damned nice" to have them around when Japanese "sappers" tried to infiltrate the camps. "You see", he would explain, "war ain't about rules, it's about killing the other guy."

I think I was in my teens when I first heard the story. (It was repeated many times over the years) and the dilemma has haunted me in other contexts a million times over the years.

Most recently it has presented itself in the context of politics, and, in the future of many of the causes in which we so strongly believe.

We, as liberals, have constantly decried the tactic used by the Republicans and their surrogates in elections. We know all about the dirty tricks of Donald Segretti, "The Plumbers", the inventor of the dirty tv ad "Lee Atwater and of course, his protege' Karl Rove. We're above that sort of thing and wouldn't dare participate in the activities like the Willie Horton Ad, the smear campaign against Edmund Muskie, the Swift Boat ads, the push polls...and on and on and on and on......

but we also know this:

The crap works...

It always has and it always will.

So that sets up the dilemma. Do we hire our own attack dogs? Do we use the same tactics in order to obtain the political power to the good that we intend? If we have people who are willing to employ those techniques to obtain power, can they be trusted to use that power wisely and relinquish it willingly to the the next Democratically chosen successors? Can we trust that they will let the Democratic process choose successors? Does this immorality lower us to their level?

Or, do we hire our attack dogs for the campaigns but never let them into the halls of power. ..sort of like destroying them after the battle....because, like the guard/attack dogs, they are too vicious, too dangerous to keep around in a polite society afterwards.

Or

Do we hold onto our principles and likely get pummeled by the the other side's attack dogs?

Therein lies the dilemma....

Does the end justify the means?

comments?

Seemslikeadream......

Okay, that's a screen name for one of my favorite friends over on another blog but what happened on this morning's edition of Meet The Press and also on This Week truly seems like a dream.

What happened?

Well I caught the Steny Hoyer on This Week and he was absolutely masterful in avoiding being trapped into stretching the "Dems are in disarray" story line that the main stream media (MSM) seems to want to play even though the Republicans are absolutely at each other's throats right now, and, on top of that former Bush allies are now jumping ship and trashing him almost daily. But the MSM wants to play a couple of themes...the Dems are fighting among themselves and Nancy Pelosi is a bitch.....Steny avoided both memes this morning and deftly played George Stephanopholous (Mr Snuffleupagus) like a fine violin. The roundtable which usually features only a token liberal to be sconred by Cokie Roberts and George Will included eorge Will as the ONLY Republican and Fareed Zakaria, was joined by Robert Reich to tear George Will's Republican talking points to shreds. I couldn't believe it. It was stunning to watch Reich counter every Repub lie with the truth.

Then there was Meet the Press and "Timmah" (you'd have to be a South Park fan to appreciate the humor) had both of our new Senators on and they were absolutely wonderful. Rational and calm they both went about their agenda and didn't get caught up in any of Timmah's tricks. On Webb, he pulled the old "I'm going to quote you and make you skirm." trick but Webb stood by his words and didn't weasal one little bit. He tried the same thing with Jon Tester's comment about the U.S. Senate chambers reminding him of "his barn" and Tester didn't back down, he just told him how the barn was a place of great family tradition (built by his grandfather) and he had the same sense about the Senate. Timmah also tried to tag Tester with the "You're really a Conservative" tag and Tester crammed it wown his throat.

Two weeks ago I would have never have thought these things possible. Two wonderful Progressives on Meet the Press and two Progressives countering Republican lies on This Week .

It seems like a dream.

Couple of quick notes:

Traffic on the site for Sunday was down to about 15 or so but some of the hits came from Boston.

BOSTON???

Congratulations to all the officers of the County Party who were elected or reelected last Thursday Night.

It's late on Saturday night.....

and I'm surfing the web in a way that makes me wonder if I really have a life at all. At least a life outside of politics.

Some fun stuff on the web though, like:

I know there are probably dozens and dozens of analogies we can make of the proverbial "wolf in sheep's clothing" but at the moment, I'll only enjoy the picture without attributing it to anybody...like Joe Lieberman for example.




And then there's this disturbing picture of George W. Bush in Viet Nam...Whenever he gets around beautiful, or at least attractive Asian women, he absolutely leers....I posted a picture of him with Nancy Kwann a little while ago...actually a series of pictures of him looking like the worst "dirty old man" I've ever seen.

Anyway here's the other picture...

There were also a few blog entries about Dubya's behavior in Viet Nam. There was even a blog entry comparing his visit with that of Bill Clinton. The most obvious difference is that crowds filled the streets to see Clinton and he was more than willing to mingle with them. He was treated like a rock star, while Dubya, on the other hand, couldn't bring himself to come out of the hotel room except on one occasion for any non-official function.

Oh yeah, the one occasion he did come out for? A fifteen minute trip to the MIA center. There have been a few web comments about his visit where the bloggers expressed disdain for Bush while he visited the center because of his facial expressions in the "official" photographs. I won't go that far....I can't actually see into Dubya's heart and I am not an accomplished mind reader so I really don't know what he was thinking or feeling and I won't project my dislike for the man to attribute things to him that I really don't know. I can only compare his trip to Clinton's...when Clinton visited he actually joined in the sifting of soil for the bones of MIAs.....Bush did not.....

Take care....post comments....

note: I did manage to find a non-obtrusive (read advertising free) blog manager so I can check in on our blog and see what kind of traffic we're actually getting....I was a bit surprised when our first day of tracking revealed we had no less than 30 hits from around 3pm to midnight last night. There's a lot more traffic than "posters" so if you really want to get a message out feel free to click on "comments" and add an "anonymous" comment ...you can sign it if you want but blogger will force you to sign on as anonymous

Revisiting "the I Word"

Last night we had a member bring up the infamous "I Word" again....the one that generates so much controversy within the organization. The "I Word" is, of course, IMPEACHMENT".

This member worked tirelessly for his belief that George W. Bush should be impeached and single-handedly got the issue on two ballots for the November election. Unfortunately both issues were defeated by huge margins. But this member believes in what he's doing. He's undeterred and will try again.

I think most of us would be surprised to know that the issue garners the same kind of reaction anytinme it's brough up in any Democratic circles and it is usually the subject of hot-tempered debate. One of the cooler heads in the debate, however, is a very thoughtful poster on two other blogs who I admire for his research, logic and wisdom. He goes by the name of H2Oman. And he writes on a blog here. On November 15, he takcled the subject of impeachment again. Here are a few snippets:

Those opposed to the concept of impeaching Bush administration officials tended to express some common concerns. The first was that impeachment is all about "revenge." This is a weak position that deserves no serious consideration. If there is a bank-robber or a murderer in your community, you want the legal system to prosecute him/her. You don’t wring your hands in anxiety, fearful that the criminal might get mad.

It has also been stated, numerous times, that impeachment would require investigations first. I would hope that we all could agree that in the history of the United States, there has not been a single impeachment of any official that was not based upon an investigation. Pro-impeachment people seem more aware of this than the anti-impeachment folks.

The last anti-impeachment point is that we have more important things to deal with now. That’s an interesting thought Let’s look closer. What was the #1 issue of concern to voters across the country in last week’s elections? The war in Iraq. Survey after survey showed that the war in Iraq is increasingly unpopular. Republican candidates who recognized that voters associated President Bush with the war were not in a hurry to have George campaign for them.

H2Oman certainly makes good points about impeachment but he also knows the limitations. In the end he recognizes that we must concentrate on the weak point or blocking point and concentrate all our efforts on that. He suggests that the "lies that got us into Iraq" is the weak point upon which we should concentrate our grass-roots efforts (for investigations, obviously) and that will lead to the blockage "VP Cheney", who he believes will be gladly dumped overboard by the Republican Party.

H2Oman also talks about his posts and surveys on another blog, but I'll let you find those links yourself.

What I find most interesting about his post on impeachment is that he seems to have thought this through at great length and sets forth a process as well as a goal. He understands the risks. Indeed, he realizes that even the investigations that are presently being discussed will lead to Republican hostilities and political posturing but believes we should go forward regardlessly. In some reagards it's like I've been preaching to some of our Democratic Office-holders who feel they have to modify their positions on concealed carry and weapons control in order to placate the NRA: It doesn't matter how you try to appease these folks, they're going to come after you anyway. So do what's right instead of what you think will appease....same thing here....

If we conduct simple and normal "Oversight Hearings" the Repubs will attack us anyway. If we convene investigations even into the most benighn of the the allegations, we'll be attacked anyway. We might as well proceed with what is "right" as opposed to what is expedient.

Let the investigations begin. Let them lead where they may.

Oh yeah, one more point.

We've got to be able to "walk and chew gum at the same time". That is, we have to be able to push our agenda forward and conduct the investigations at the same time. We have an agenda. Minimum wage, health care, Iraq...we have taken the "megaphone" away from the Repubs and we'd better damned well use it now that we have it.

comments?

Colin Powell was actually right.........

You broke it , you own it!

On this day in History....

actually,

This day is historic!

Nancy Pelosi

First female Speaker of the House

and

Second in the line of succession to

The Presidency of the United States.

saaaaaaa....lute!

Welcome to Left Blogostan....

I've got a couple of minutes this morning so I thought I'd give our audience a peek at what went on on election night when CNN invited the best, most popular, bloggers in the country to "live blog the election". (note: My invitation must have been lost in the mail....I can't imagine that my "sterling" work here went unnoticed)

TREX, one of the great contributors to firedoglake posted the snarkiest, most entertaining account of the evening I've ever seen. Here are a few quotes for your amusement...

This was the guy who was loudly and fatuously proclaiming at 7:00pm or so that there was "no fucking way" the Democrats would take the House. Heh! In the words of Brad at Sadly, No!

Warning: the following is an example of extreme childishness and poor sportsmanship. You have been warned.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAH AAAAAAAAAA!!!!
YOU LOSE, JERKS!! YOU LIGGITY, LIGGITY, LIGGITY LOOOOOOOOOSE!!!! L-O-S-E, LOSE, LOSE, LOSE! L-O-S-E, LOSE, LOSE, LOSE!!!!

and:

Yeah, Ankle Biter Dood! How was your first night at LOSER SCHOOL? I hear they have a great course where they teach you to evolve a thumb! I think you might want to look into that.

ROFLMAO!!!!

And then there was this rant about right wing blogger Mary Katherine Hamm.

Yes, dear, I was perfectly sweet to you UNTIL YOU TOLD ME WHO YOU WERE. And then, if you will recall, I politely excused myself. And trust me, darlin'. That's the way you wanted it. Otherwise I would have stood there and told you exactly what I think of you and your position as Reich Wing water-carrier. Maybe you don't realize it, sugar-pie, but the Iraq War is NOT A FUCKING TAILGATE PARTY. Thousands of American soldiers and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have died in vain. So, while I am sure you're a lovely person, kind to animals and children and generally clean and well-behaved, I can't in good conscience stand around and swap pleasantries with you as we nosh on bleu cheese fondue. You work for war criminals, little girl! Quod erat demonstrandum, babe, we can't be friends. Not now. Not ever.

Okay, I admit it.....a lot of that is like an 8th grade dance. And really, we should be ashamed of ourselves. The behavior, however if not excusable is certainly easy to understand. Six long years of wandering in the wilderness will most certainly induce a fair amount of giddiness when you finally emerge into the promised land. I suspect the denizens of Left Blogostan yielded to their more primal nature....and snarked the hell out of the right wing. Besides that, it was fun.

drop in at the link and enjoy the snark....for some of us it's the first real chance we've had to enjoy last Tuesday's victory.

e

Busy, busy, busy...

I've been "up to my Xss in alligators" since this weekend....

I'll just post an open thread for you to hang your thoughts on....

e

Sunday Open thread...

If you get a chance, drop in at firedoglake. Christy Hardin Smith has a great post up...and while your at it, click on the link to Matt Tiabbi's column...actually his election night diary.

here are some "choice quotes" from the diary:

11:08 p.m. CNN calls control of the House for the Democrats. Cheering
and orgiastic glee in Washington; correspondent Dana Bash, at Dem HQ in
Washington, looks like she's having a flashback to some long-gone Girls Gone
Wild: Sarah Lawrence Nights days.

snip

Just before midnight Candy Crowley weighs...well, let's not ever use
the phrase Candy Crowley weighs in, if we can avoid it. Let's say Crowley chimes
in on the "new direction" issue:

snip
1:36 a.m. McCain appears on CNN, broadcasting live from his Arizona
office. He's got American flags on either side of him and you can almost see his
boner straining against his pants. His smile is unseemly. He's talking about
Republican losses and trying to look sullen, but he's not fooling anyone. He's
like the bachelor who starts trying to fuck the widow before the funeral convoy
even reaches the cemetery

.
Packers just won. I think the only thing this game proved was that they suck less than Minnesota. With a 4-5 record, their tied for second place? NFL Excellence?

It hit most of the blogs this morning about the same time it hit my email box. Russ Feingold has announced he will not seek the Democratic Nomination in 2008. As much as I like Russ, I'm relieved that he's not running. He's an excellent Senator and he has an outstanding record as a legislator in making bold, principled decisions. But he has no executive experience. That's something I didn't like about Kerry either. I hope Russ stays in the Senate for many years and continues to be the conscience of the Democratic Party.

The "after-election" blahs have set in. I'm having no trouble finding other battles to fight but I have to tell you I miss the activity and the anticipation of the election season.

Somebody else feels the same thing I do.....

Among certain Democratic sites, the name Doug Thompson is anathema. He writes a column called The Rant for the website Capital Hill Blue. (website here) Doug earned (perhaps rightfully) the ire of progressive and Democrats by claiming to reveal inside information of the Bush administration and specifically about GW Bush himself. Rumors of drinking, and aberrant behavior ran rampant in 03 and o4 but they were always attributed to anonymous sources who could not be verified. On several sites, even mention of the name of Doug's site will get you banned.

Having said that....

I've been surreptitiously reading Capital Hill Blue because sometimes he hits the topic right on the head....Like this:


Memo to Democrats: Don't buy into Bush's act
Now that he's lost, he wants to make nice and demands that the opposition forgive and forget.
A recommendation for incoming Democratic leaders Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid: Don't fall for dubious act. He's a venomous political snake who will turn and bite at the first opportunity because that's what snakes do.

Don't turn your backs on him, don't trust him for a nanosecond and don't believe for an instant that he serves any interest but his own.

George W. Bush proved this past week that he will sell out anyone - including his own administration and his party's leaders in Congress. If, last week, he had announced his decision to replace Donald Rumsfeld, it might have swayed enough voters to keep at least the Senate in GOP hands.


I believe this.

I don't buy Bush's latest "charm offensive" for a nanosecond. He's proven time and time again that he cannot be trusted. He's like "the bad seed". Every time you think he has reformed you discover that all the time he has been plotting your demise once again.

There seems to be a movement within some factions of our party that we can't be vindictive or combative with the Republicans now because "we're bigger than that." Maybe we are but we're also NOT STUPID....

Bush said at his press conference the other day, "This isn't my first rodeo!" Well, George, I have another saying, "This isn't my first load of cabbages either". I'm not buying your act. I've spent six years watching you and I know your nature. You're going to get your own way; you're going to feed your ego even if you have to set the whole world on fire. You don't care who you leave destroyed in your wake or how much havoc you reek because, it's all about you.

In other words:

It Ain't over yet George!

...and it won't be over until you and your neocons are on the defensive, or politically destroyed so that you can never reek havoc on my country again.

So bring on the subpoenas

So bring on the investigations...

and if impeachment comes...so be it.

On Veteran's Day

The 11th Hour of the 11th day of the11th month.

I've been struggling for a couple of years to try to put this day in some perspective. Trying, desperately, to find a way to remember those who sacrificed their lives for our country without glorifying war itself. It's not as easy as it would seem.

I am the son of a career serviceman.

I served (begrudgingly for sure, but I served nevertheless).

But, somehow...I just don't get the hype of Veterans day. I think our friend, Attaturk over at Rising Hegemon put it close to what I'm feeling:

The purpose of Veteran's Day is not to celebrate the victory of the
soldier, their accomplishment of a policy end. But to remember those who
sacrificed, and risked their lives. Often, in our nation's history, these losses
have been for nefarious or useless ends (Mexican-American War, Vietnam, and now
we all know whether we want to or not, Iraq 2003-2006), as well as for noble
ones.

War creates heros, but mostly it creates victims. The former is usually
what politicians like Bush want to celebrate, but it is the latter that is the
reality we do not like to dwell upon.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row

,That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

A Little Afternoon Snark

for those of you (and I know a few of you) who have been too busy to savor the victory, here's a little something:

Whew! Busy Day...

I started just a little after nine this morning helping move out of the Marshfield Office and before the day was over, (at around 4 PM) I had been to Pittsville and Wisconsin Rapids too....

Yes, there was a bit of sadness in closing the office. It has been a wonderful gathering place... I was feeling a bit of the sadness last night when I posted this on another board:

Our campaign headquarters closes down tomorrow....we spent time this
afternoon packing up and getting ready for the trucking away of the
paraphernalia tomorrow morning....We're all still excited about our victory..we
swept the whole county....but it was "bitter-sweet" in tearing down the
office.Why?Because it's been our gathering place in a battle that we were all so
deeply committed to..it was a place to express our hopes and fears, it was a
place to go to get a few laughs (actually my designation was "Class Clown")Our
Office Manager, LoLo was a tireless and dedicated worker and was sort of like
our Den Mother, keeping us organized and on track...Madashell and Sybylla were
there to provide us with their wisdom and to exchange ideas...and then there
were the volunteers....maybe 60 or so of them...who manned the office, made
phone calls delivered signs, and another 40 or so more who did "doors"....They
were all more...much more...than just fellow Democrats to me. And, judging from
what I saw this afternoon, the feelings were mutual. It's going to be strange
not having the headquarters to stop by to see what the latest gossip,
intelligence was, or to help collate walking lists or call lists if they needed
help...to fix the $#@%^& Computers when they went down...hang more
signs...or....whatever...A couple of the volunteers shared those thoughts with
me this afternoon.I understand them completely......something like St Crispin's
day?

What I think will be more important, than having an office or headquarters,
is that the wonderful group of volunteers ( and leaders I might add) should make
it a point to get together socially if not politically for the next 1 year and
nine months (that's how long before we open up the offices again believe it or
not). We have the seeds of a tremendous grass roots organization
here and I think we can keep it together to make it an effective political force
in the future....post...talk about it

"The Onion" strikes again

this is ROFLMAO FUNNY:

WASHINGTON, DC—Republican officials are blaming tonight's GOP losses on
Democrats, who they claim have engaged in a wide variety of "aggressive,
premeditated, anti-Republican campaigns" over the past six-to-18 months. "We
have evidence of a well-organized, well-funded series of operations designed
specifically to undermine our message, depict our past performance in a negative
light, and drive Republicans out of office," said Republican National Committee
chairman Ken Mehlman, who accused an organization called the Democratic National
Committee of spearheading the nationwide effort. "There are reports of
television spots, print ads, even volunteers going door-to-door encouraging
citizens to vote against us." Acknowledging that the "damage has already been
done," Mehlman is seeking a promise from Democrats to never again engage in
similar practices.

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/55018

Since Bush is so fond of Purple fingers...

remember the "purple fingers" in Iraq after they voted after the invasion?

Remember Randy Cunningham and the host of Republican Congressmen hold up "purple fingers" in greeting Bush as he walked into the House Chambers for the STATE OF THE UNION MESSAGE ?

Well, here's a purple finger for you George!!!!

WINNERS!

Great night for the Democrats....

Nationally, we took control of the house and we're "teetering" on controlling the US Senate.

In Wisconsin, we took control of the State Senate and some of the worst of the worst of the neocons have been defeated in the Assembly.

Let's salute the new CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE"

DAVE OBEY

and a "walk-away winner" in our home districts

AMY-SUE

and two more walk away winners locally

Sheriff Tom and Marlin

WOOD COUNTY WENT DEMOCRATIC IN A BIG, BIG WAY and we owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to:

Chairman Dave Wille who worked tirelessly to organize, lead and actually work on phones, doors, delivery and ....and...EVERYTHING. Great Job Dave! Thanks so much.

But we also know that Lois and DeDe were the workhorses in this effort. I don't know how many hours they put in each but I surmise that they were substantial....I have personal knowledge that Lois worked herself hard during this campaign and have heard that DeDe did also. Thanks Lois! thanks DeDe!

on edit: OOOPS....I forgot that I had a pic of one of our local heros...Lois....

here shie is with ANOTHER GREAT WOOD COUNTY DEM, Linda Melski, and their very best friend, Lt. Governor Barb Lawton.

Just One Word!

VOTE

VOTE

VOTE

VOTE

VOTE

snark, snark, snark...relieves the tension

Thanks to watertiger posting on firedoglake

Yes, this is the great nation of Kakistan, home to such luminaries as Ann Coulter, the bowsprit of the wingnut ship of fools, the shrieking harpy with a law degree who doesn't see anything wrong with committing voter fraud.

Incidentially, live blogging in the firedoglake book salon tonight is KEITH OLBERMANN....

He's blogging on his new book THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD. I tried to join in but the pc won't even open the comment section because of the heavy traffic....His book is currently #4 on the NYT best sellers list....thanks mostly to the denizens of Left Blogsylvania...remember, his book will make a GREAT CHRISTMAS GIFT to your liberal/progressive friends.

Man...it's getting NASTY out there

I did a lot of traveling yesterday into the northeastern part of the state...listened to local radio ads...nasty stuff...mostly coming from the Repub side...Kagen seems to be taking the worst of it from Gard (same crap from the TV ads.."rich Dr. Kagen..sues his patients...etc., etc). Heard one radio ad FOR the Marriage amendment saying "don't believe those TV ads against the amendment". I've never seen anything like it.

I've seen some pretty ugly tv ads against Doyle and also against Faulk...also got a robo call about Falk supporting "illegal immigrants" this morning.

Locally, the Zein ads against Kreitlow are just disgusting....

I'm not buying this crap that "both sides do it". I think we hold ourselves to a higher standard.

On the more paranoid side of the ledger, there was the Sadam death sentence announced this morning . I wonder about what effect (if any) it will have on the election....then there's the crap from the Sunday morning talking heads that seem to be revolving around the theme, "The Republicans are closing the gap!" I this being done to create a cover story for stealing the election again?.....yeah, I know, it's paranoid as hell but who would have ever thought that Diebold voting machines could be hacked? Who would have ever thought that our own Presidennt would lie us into a war? Who would have ever thought Bush could be so breathtakingly incompetent?

Paranoid or rightously cautious?

I think cautious...

Calling All Wood County Dems!

It's time for "all hands on deck"......it's time for the big, final push to begin

Can you?

Walk Princincts?
Make GET-OUT-THE-VOTE CALLS?
Donate time?
Donate money?

Let's all do JUST ONE MORE THING! to assure a Democratic Victory...some races are close..too close...We don't want to wake on November 8 and find that we fell just short....

Got that?

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do not vote"

I'll have to admit that I've been one of these who has been warning not to get over confident; not to believe all that you hear in the (national) polls. But our good buddy from Last Chance Democracy Cafe, Stephen C. Day, has a totally different take on the situation.

“Oh no, don’t say that,” tends to be the response of many of the Democrats who post comments on the web. “We can’t afford to get overconfident,” they insist.
But I can’t see overconfidence as a realistic worry here. What I feel in the air isn’t complacency; it’s enthusiasm. And we shouldn’t fear it.
It may be just the fuel we need to carry the wave all the way across the country.

Let's get out there and make this victory happen.....it could be one of historic proportions.

You GO Digby!

I don't usually print in full but.........wow....I love this:

by digby9Bush on Limbaugh's show):

'Give me a second here, Rush, because I want to share something with you. I am deeply concerned about a country, the United States, leaving the Middle East. I am worried that rival forms of extremists will battle for power, obviously creating incredible damage if they do so; that they will topple modern governments, that they will be in a position to use oil as a tool to blackmail the West. People say, "What do you mean by that?" I say, "If they control oil resources, then they pull oil off the market in order to run the price up, and they will do so unless we abandon Israel, for example, or unless we abandon allies."

Digby commentary:

Huh?

So he's saying that oil prices will go up unless we abandon Israel and our allies? What the hell is he saying?

I have to give the Republicans credit, I really do. The head of their party, the president of the United States, the leader of the free world is virtually unintelligible when he speaks, he insults people, he creates international incidents and when not making gaffe after gaffe he is almost entirely incoherent. Yet they just got away with two days of wall-to-wall pearl clutching and hanky wringing over an irrelevant Democrats' blown punchline. They may not be able to keep their majority after this disasterous experiment in Tinkerbell governance, but they continue to impress with their gigantic brass... impudence.

Gentlemen, I salute you.

A few images to ponder.....