Hey John,  how loooowwwwww can you go?  

This is the worst McCain ad yet.   The ad calls Obama the "biggest celebrity in the world" with shots of the crowd in Berlin.  This is cut with shots of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears.  This is followed by the old, "Is he ready to lead meme," and then it goes into a whine about taxes and off-shore oil.  

The off-shore drilling issue is not just about pretty beaches.  The debate should also take up many issues including pollution of oceanic and seafood  with heavy metals.  It’s a more complicated issue and one that is harder to address in sound bits but has substantial health implications.  

I’m not an expert on this topic.  I hope scientists who do have expertise will join this discussion.  

I'm sorry. It's not a proper diary but I thought people might want to turn the tube on and not miss it.

Today, on Hardball, Chris Matthews talked about how unique it was to hear a Democrat talking about reducing the number of abortions.  Why, he wondered, aren’t Democrats working on developing that theme?  What rock has he been hiding under?   We have been there for decades fighting for education, empowerment and options.  

...truth to power.

Senator Carl Levin: "General, do you believe that waterboarding is consistent with Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions?"

Lt. Gen. Michael Maples, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency: "No, sir, I don’t."

For the longest time I could not decide between Clinton, Obama, and Edwards because I liked them all so much.  Now I’m trying to decide who I’m least irritated with.

Bill could have done Hillary’s campaign a great deal of good if he had kept his dick in his pants in 1995.  Now he needs to zip his mouth.

Hillary is not winning my vote by attacking Obama’s very impressive call to hope and optimism.  I like hope and optimism.

Obama, on the other hand, is defeating my optimism by attacking most inappropriately.  Maybe younger women are not so put off by his comments about her "claws" or her attacking during "periodic" downs.  The hair on the back of my neck stood up immediately at those comments because I’m old enough to remember well having had such criticism used against me when someone thought that, as a woman, I should not be in leadership positions.  

It's a good day to give someone a goat.  

What the F am I talking about?

We are all so worried about our nation and ourselves today.  Me too!  Me too!

It's a bit early in the day for climbing into a bottle of Vodka. I should be on the road to work.  Instead I'm sitting here panicking. I'm personally scared s***less. My palms are sweating.

I'm trying to decide if I should go get my money out of the bank.  I'm REALLY thinking a lot about that.

Will Cheney and Bush manage to invert history and begin WWIII before their days are up?

I don't know why I can't embed this video but with one little click you can see it.  I promise a real treat.

I’m trying to count the days without blinking.  

Lots of people noted that it was one-year yesterday (January 20) to the end of the Bush administration.   If you started a 365-day countdown, you were premature.  2008 is a leap year. Your 365-day countdown must begin today.

We cannot afford to focus our full attention on the primaries.  The Bush Administration must be watched every day.  

Bush has another 366 days of opportunity to ignite WWIII.  

I noticed the date and thought we had reached the 365-day point.  Because of leap year we have to wait another day for that.  For me, every Bush day is long indeed.

I've said it before and I'll say it again.  I am so proud of every one of our Democratic candidates and, regardless of who wins the nomination, I'll be there to organize, contribute, and vote blue.

Let's try to keep our eyes on the goal and, while we do all we can do--in a positive way--to promote our favorites, avoid negative attacks.  We can ALL win together.

Let's, please, not do anything in the primary campaigns the leads to keeping the Republicans in the White House for one day longer than is absolutely necessary.  

Riverbend, the intelligent and articulate author of Baghdad Burning, has, since the beginning of the war, provided a first-person account of the Iraqi experience. If you yearn, as I do, for news of this brave woman, you will be excited to know that she has a new post.

She is safe in Syria where she is learning to, "walk properly again- with head lifted, not constantly looking behind."   She writes that:

In the interest of "restricting piracy" AT&T has developed a "content filtering plan."  They "defended" their scheme before Congress this week.

Remember that AT&T was the first in line to cooperate with Bush, Cheney, and Fredo jumping right up to hand over private communications without judicial oversight.  They are eager to protect us from the terrorists,  free speech, and Pearl Jam's critique of George W. Bush.

If you are not an AT&T customer, don’t assume that this does not apply to you.  Very few trucks and cars go through "the tubes" without hitting some AT&T line along the way.  As confirmed to Wired magazine AT&T is ready and willing to hit the kill button when the content goes left.  

Yeah, I know that you already knew that the war is about oil but here are some new quotes from the White House.

Speaking to the Associated General Contractors of America, yesterday the commander guy stated:

You know, the Iraq government has been in office about a year. And they're beginning to make some progress toward political benchmarks it has set, political benchmarks I support....snip....The council of ministers has approved legislation that would provide a framework for equitable sharing of oil resources. We strongly believe -- by the way, both Republicans, Democrats, and independents -- believe strongly that a good oil bill will help unite the country. That's why it's a benchmark. And they're making -- this government is making progress toward an important piece of legislation that would help the security track progress, as well as the political and economic track.

 All emphasis is mine.

An Open letter to Mr. Tom Oliphant,  

Mr. Oliphant, I am shocked and appalled that a journalist of your ilk would serve as an apologist for Don Imus after he called the young student athletes on Rutger’s women’s basketball term "nappy-headed hos."  Mr. Imus also laughed as his producer, Bernard McGuirk, called these young women "hard-core hos" and made reference to "the Jigaboos vs. the Wannabes."  These are not the kind of words that accidentally fall from the mouth of a fully moral person like a few bits of food might escape the mouth of a careless diner caught in a joke.  These are words that bounce around in the heads of racists awaiting an occasion for expression.  

I will not even speak of the history of racism, sexism, homophobia, and xenophobia on this show. This one action is more than enough to justify the most stunning rebuke.  

An open letter to Joe Scarborough,

Last night you backslapped the audience with a little dig, (approximate quote) "with all of the things going on in Iraq and Afghanistan how is it that Anna Nicole Smith is all America is talking about."  

Hint.  I’m not talking about Anna Nicole Smith. You are.  I’m home late after a 10-hour day.  I’m been to the computer to check the news but my eyes are tired so I’m lying on the sofa for a few minutes flipping in the hopes of finding some intelligent analysis of the current events that impact the state of our nation and the world.

I shall remember Molly for a long, long time.  I shall remember her as brave, bright, funny, and passionate.  I shall remember her wit and the comfort I found in knowing that she was there fighting to get the truth out. She loved this country so much.  She laughed, she taught, and she fought. She made the country better. She made us all better.

Thank you Molly!  Allow me to thank you first on behalf of women.  Allow me to thank you on behalf of men.  Allow me to thank you on behalf of children and elders, the rich and the poor, Americans and all citizens of the world.  Allow me to thank you on behalf of Americans who will be born in the future.  Thank you so very much.

Go in peace.

Scarborough reports that  Ms. USA keeps her crown. Ug..Oh..K. But then he uses the I(mpeachment) word.  [NO, I am not a Scarbrough fan.  I get home late.  My options are limited.] Even the wingnuts are distressed by the actions of this Presnut.

To my Jewish family and friends, I wish a Happy Hanukkah. (If you prefer Chanukah, I love you too.)

If you celebrate the African traditions, I ask "Habari gani?"   (Do I have that right?  If not, please correct me so that I may learn.)

If you are Wiccian, I hope Yule brings you celebration and rebirth.

If you are Christian, I wish you a Merry Christmas.  

Finally, I wish my atheist friends a Happy New Year.

If I forgot anyone, please teach me. (If I am ignorant it is an innocent, not an arrogant, ignorance.)

CNN just announced their “Top 5 Turkeys of the Year."

They put the Repub Congressional screwups together and called it a “flock” in order to make room for Dems on the list.  The CNN (Lou Dobbs show, transcript not available yet) list is: