Samson is Our Own Blago, but Florida is Not Illinois..

GOP leader Ray Sansom has only been House Speaker here in Florida since late November. However, his ethical lapses began immediately. Hours after he was sworn in, the Board of Trustees at Northwest Florida State College agreed to hire him to a part-time administration job that paid $110,000 a year.

There were no other applicants for the job and no advertisements. Sansom faxed his application from his office in the state Capitol.

The St. Pete Times noticed something fishy about that:

Soon after news crept out about the job, details began to emerge about a small college that had done unusually well in the annual budget roulette of Tallahassee. Sansom was the House's top budget writer during those years.

In 2008, Sansom accelerated funding for a student services building, taking what had been a $1 million appropriation and turning it into $25.5 million — the largest single appropriation for any college in the state.

This isn't even the first and only scandal--there are plenty of others that clearly show he abused his power to help himself and his buddies. It's just that this one got the most buzz and caused Ray Samson to step down "temporarily".

That's right. Samsom is planning to come back once his "name is cleared". Despite every major newspaper in Florida calling him out and asking him to step down, including his hometown paper, he is still expecting to come back and screaming that he had done nothing wrong.

That does sound familiar.

The difference is that Blago had no defenders in the Illinois legislature and they moved quickly to remove him from power. Gov. Charlie Crist, Senate President Jeff Atwater of North Palm Beach and Florida Republican Party chairman Jim Greer said nothing about Ray Samsom--except to commend him for stepping down yesterday. There also seems to be no plans to choose a new speaker who can serve out his 2-year term.

I can't really blame Samsom. After all, according to the St. Pete Times, this behavior has permeated the Florida legislature:

• Sen. Mike Haridopolos, a Merritt Island Republican slated to become Senate president, earned $38,000 a year from Brevard Community, where he did not have to teach but only produce a book on the Legislature. He has since got himself a $75,000-a-year job at the University of Florida as a part-time lecturer.
  
  
• Former House Speaker Marco Rubio of West Miami took a part-time job at Florida International University for $69,000.
  
  
• And Sen. Evelyn Lynn of Ormond Beach helped create a reading center at Florida State University, and then took a $120,000-a-year job overseeing it, which she gave up once her employment hit the newspapers.

It's just business as usual.

The state GOP should learn from the mistakes of their national party. With complete control of all three branches of government not but two years ago, they quickly devolved into a culture of corruption that has led to the mess we are cleaning today. I remember talk of a "permanent majority" not too long ago--which lasted all of two years.

One would think the state GOP would be trying to avoid a similar fate.

Planned Parenthood Should Sue Florida

First, a little background:

Here in Florida, former governor John Ellis Bush (W's brother), aided by our hapless right-wing legislature, authorized a "Choose Life" license plate. The plate was supposed to "provide for the material needs of pregnant women who are committed to placing their children for adoption." However, it acts as a fund-raising agent for zealots who to run anti-abortion "Crisis Pregnancy Centers", whose sole purpose is to keep women from having abortions, even it is means harrassing and lying to women. (One women's story in a local paper was particularly disturbing).

It is the only instance where state funds are given to religious organzations for distribution.

Fast forward to today:

There are literally over a hundred specialty plates offered in Florida. More than any other state. (Click here to see most of them.) Family Values, Trees, Soccer, you name it... we got a plate for it. Stephen Colbert even supported the "I Believe" plate one lawmaker is pushing hard for:




So no wonder one such group that wants their own plate is the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Despite the fact that Florida hardly played any role in the Civil War, and few would think of Palm Trees and Disney when they hear the term "Confederate Heritage", the group wants that term emblazoned on yet another specialty license plate so they can raise money for cemetaries, scholarships, etc. The have also met all of the requirements: a $60,000 application fee, a marketing strategy and a survey with 30,000 motor-vehicle owners who say they intend to buy the tag.

Despite meeting the requirements, our state legislature refused to sponsor the bill or even bring it up for a vote. So the SCV is now suing the state.

Whether you agree with this group or not is irrelevant. The point of the lawsuit is valid: equal treatment. When a group wants to have a parade, you must meet the requirements set out by the city or county--the government can't deny a permit because they don't like the message. The legislature can't pick and choose which special interest groups deserve to have a license plate (and fund-raising vehicle) and which ones can't because they don't like the message.

The Orlando Sentinel recently ran a column blasting our legislature for this debacle and saying they have no one to blame but themselves for this mess due to their rush to sign off on the ill-conceived "Choose Life" plate (while denying the counter pro-choice plate).

Planned Parenthood needs to watch this case closely. If the confederate group is defeated, their lawyers have suggested they will then move to have the specialty-plate law declared unconstitutional.

My guess is that the legislature will cave and we will soon have ridiculous license plates on pick-ups emblazoned with the stars and bars. If that happens, Planned Parenthood needs to pick up the ball and run with this.

One plate, emblazoned with the words "Reproductive Freedom", going to a fund to replace sexual ignorance with sex education, undoing the damage caused by the CPCs, and offering real family planning which would prevent abortions in the first place.

Godspeed.

For My GOP Friends This Inauguration Day...

I thought I would be gloating this day, the way you did 8 years ago. Even though it was the closest election in history, and even though there was a cloud of illegitamacy, you guys wanted to rub our noses in W's victory. The speeches leading up to it were condescending, including one speech I vividly remember where the speaker said how great it felt to say "EX-president Clinton".

But this is a new day.

Not only will I not be gloating, I actually accept what you said so long ago... that God chose W. to be president. Let me explain...


Our country has a miraculous history. By all logic, our nation should not exist. We were a ragtag militia going up against the greatest military in the world. Yet we not only survived but flourished after the Revolutionary War. We had brilliant leaders like Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin who forged the path. We experimented with this crazy notion of letting the people, peasants, rule in a time of absolute monarchy. We became a beacon of hope for the world.

Amazingly, at our most perilous times, we have had great men lead us just when we needed them. James Madison during the War of 1812, Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War, Roosevelet for WWII, and Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Could you imagine what would have happened if we had James Buchanan, Martin Van Buren, or Franklin Pierce as the president during the Civil War?? Could you imagine if George W. Bush and Dick Cheney were in charge during the missile crisis? (*Shudder*)

There is probably only one time in history, however, where George W. Bush's black and white, absolute vision of good and evil would have worked--and that's after the attack of 9/11. Al Qaeda had no side, no justification--they were just pure evil. For the one and only time in his presidency, immediately after the aftermath, Bush said just the right things and we all had each other's back. That was just what we needed during that time.

Unfortunately, he squandered opportunity, bi-partisanship, and universal good will into a narrow-minded agenda. This, along with stunning incompetence and bad decisions, led our nation into what has been the darkest of times. Yet through fear-mongering, he streched his agenda into a second term.

But let me say this, if there was no darkness, there would be no light.

If there was no George W. Bush, there would be no Barack Obama today. Bush's stunning incompetence and bad judgment caused millions of Americans to conclude that ideology, even racism, were luxeries they could no longer afford.

In our short history, we have not only never elected a minority--we never elected anyone without an Anglo-Saxon name. But just like our nation, whose existence defies all logic, we now have not only an African-American getting ready to be sworn in, but one with the same/similar name as two of our national enemies. Given the powerful smears by association thrown at him by your machine, the obstacles he had to overcome were not just huge, they were monumental.

But because he showed how a president should act--a steady leader who made decisions based on sound logic instead of "gut" reactions, and because he talked to people like adults instead of lowly pests who need information "spun" to them, he won people over. And he didn't just win, he won big. Places like Indiana, Virginia, and North Carolina. I was awed on election night.

This is why we believe he can do anything.

I believe that old saying that it always gets the most dark before the light--and I do finally agree with you, my GOP friend, that this was all divinely planned. Like you, I believe our nation was founded "under God" and is blessed. And once again, we have been blessed by our selection of just the right leader in what is now another perilous time. Obama is ready to guide America out of crisis.

And even though you do not support him, he will help you too. And I am glad you can witness history with me.

Dubya Ditches Phony Ranch: Moves to "Whites Only" Community

I visited Crawford,TX back in 2004 when I was visiting Waco. The whole town was just a post office, barbershop, coffee diner, a blinking yellow light, and three small shops dedicated to a complete moron. The luster wore off the prez in this little town as it had for the rest of the nation long ago, but luckily they won't need to put up with him much longer. Surprise, surprise, now that W. done being prez, he's dropping the "cowboy" schtik and is selling his ranch.

Democrats speculated that he would as soon as he left office. See here and here.

Bush didn't even bother to pretend by holding on to it for a little while--he bought it right before office and got rid of it days before he leaves office.

He bought the phony ranch in 1999, right before he ran for president. It was always just a huge prop:

• There were never any animals on this "ranch", no farming, no nothing.
• There was plenty of "brush" that he pretended to clear--for what reason is anyone's guess.
• He was terrified of freaking horses, for crying out loud!

Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico and a real rancher, was appalled with his equinophobia and derided him as a "windshield cowboy"!

But Bush was never a cowboy. It was an image he copied from Reagan--another fake cowboy with a fake ranch. What Bush really was, and still is, is a spoiled, Conneticut-born, Harvard/Yale legacy, son of a multi-millionaire college cheerleader.

It runs in the family. His brother pretends to be named JEB for the hicks--(his name is John Ellis Bush you morons!). But at least JEB, nor anyone else in the Bush family, tries to have a fake Texas drawl.

Dumb followers thought he would "retire" on his phony ranch. Now Bush shows his true colors. He is moving into a $2 million house in an exclusive neighborhood that, until 2000, had a covenant that only white people could live there!

Granted, they gracefully made concessions for some minorities: "servants" of color could live there according to the covenant. If I had the choice to live anywhere I wanted, I certainly would not set foot in such a bigoted neighborhood. Yet these are the kinds of people Bush and his wife are obviously more "comfortable" with. Good riddance.

What is most insulting is that the mainstream press hasn't mentioned this at all. After years of playing up the fake cowboy image at the "Western White House", not a word about it being chucked. I guess it's not nice to call someone out as a phony, and compared to the lies that Bush has bestowed on the American people for the past 8 years, I guess playing a fake cowboy is small potatoes.

I will really enjoy the cult followers of this colossal moron who will no doubt still make excuses. Why stop now? But at least we can finally laugh about all this (and at them) since Bush's exit is here and he can't hurt anyone anymore. That's right, Bushies--our pain has finally ended. Unfortunately, yours is just beginning.

Dawn is Coming--the Countdown!

No Politics Today

Just Kittens.

Vern Buchanan...Our own Al Franken

According to the Herald Tribune, with Jeb Bush out, (Thanks for sparing our state the embarrassment of being responsible for yet another Bush disaster, by the way), Vern Buchanan of Longboat Key has "emerged as one of the leading Republican contenders for the seat being vacated in 2010 by Sen. Mel Martinez."

Telling, since Buchanan, who is one of the wealthiest members of Congress, was named one of "The 20 Most Corrupt Members of Congress" by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, an ethics watchdog group. The GOP knows how to pick 'em.

So why do I compare this Bush clone to Al Franken? These men are polar opposites in both ideology and ethics.

It is because both men have had contested elections, and both men had their elections certified by their respective state election authorities.

The difference is that the Democratic Congress in 2006 SEATED Buchanan on January 4, 2007, even though the election was not completely settled. If you recall, Democrat Christine Jennings challenged the results in court because 18,000 voters from Sarasota County, according to the electronic machines with no paper trail, skipped the Congressional race vote in the 2006 election. According to the touch-screen machines, more votes were made for an inconsequential hospital board than for the people's own Congressional representative.

The court challenge ended in June 2007, but the matter dragged on until February 25, 2008, when the House formally accepted the findings. And yet, Vern Buchanan was allowed to act as a representative throughout the entire process...even though there was an obvious dark cloud over the election.

Fast forward to today. NO ONE is saying there was any problem with the election equipment or any shady activities going on in Minnesota. It was just a very close election. Even if Minnesota allowed Norm Coleman to cherry-pick votes from the areas of Hennepin County that are overwhelmingly pro-Coleman, which they won't, he will still lose. There is no way Norm Coleman can win. But that is not stopping them from trying to drag this out for as long as they can, denying Minnesota a crucial voice in national affairs.

Ironic, since Coleman actually had the gall to lecture Franken at the beginning when the results showed him slightly ahead and say, laughably, that he would he would "step aside" if he was in Franken's shoes and save taxpayers the money.

Funny how his concern for the taxpayer changed now that he lost.

The Senate should recognize the canvassing board's final tabulations, and seat Senator Franken over the objection of hyper-partisan Republicans like John Cornyn of Texas. Senate Democrats should quit playing nice and at least seat Franken on a provisional basis until Coleman finishes his never-ending lawsuits.

How'd He Do? A Fair Evaluation of the Bush Years...

He still makes me angry. The Middle East is blowing up right now... and he's on vacation (literally). After a final couple of "Screw You" executive orders, including one that allows medical personnel to refuse anyone treatment for any reason of "conscience"--(one nurse pointed out that this would mean she would refuse treatment to Bush and Cheney), Bush is exiting as abysmally as he came in.

After all of our suffering, don't let the door hit you on the way out...



HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!! A better, stronger America starts January 20!

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE SEMINOLE DEMOCRAT

No Christmas like a Florida Christmas...

Hey Big Three! Why Can't We Get This....

The new Ford Fiesta:


(Picture from Federal Review.com)

65 miles per gallon on the highway.

Where to find this car? YOU HAVE TO GO TO EUROPE! They only sell the stylish models there. HERE in America, we get this crap:


(Picture from Federal Review.com)

Same Car, but uglier and 35 miles per gallon on the highway--on a good day.

Or this showroom "beauty":


(Picture from Ford.com)

Five more miles to the gallon, but you pay for it by having to drive a box on wheels.


Ford insists they cannot sell the stylish diesel-powered Fiesta in the US because they don't have the $350 million necessary to buld a facility capable of manufacturing the engine. (Just like they can't sell us any cars without the stupid 3-grill design).

However, they do apparently have no trouble spending $1 billion a month of their reserves to keep churning out the same old crap with ridiculously low gas mileage.

After all, Americans don't want fuel-efficiency. WE want ugly box vehicles capable of stopping a Gdamned airplane!!!:



(Picture from 3.bp.blogspot.com)


For years, the Big 3 insisted on building Huge, Ugly, Gas-Guzzling vehicles while laughing at American's growing concern for high gas prices and global warming. Even after crisis mode they still built giant SUVs and Hummers while their European and Asian competitors built stylish, fuel efficient cars that are currently kicking their collective butt.

Breaking: NOW that you have just received the 17 BILLION from us taxpayers for NOT buying your cars--maybe you can rethink that factory?

Florida is Number ONE! Take THAT Illinois!

Florida is the most corrupt state in the union according to the Department of Justice if you go by the number of federal convictions of public officials in all 50 states and territories.



Despite a record of having a governor going to jail on average of once every 10 years, Illinois could only muster 7th place. Pathetic.

There are so many people to thank. I'd like to thank JEB Bush and his cronies...And let's give it up for whole city of Miami! You know you put us over the top! I'd also like to acknowledge Tom Feeney and all the other corrupt sleazeballs who were never convicted but were with us in spirit...

Of course, some would argue that going by number of convictions is unfair. After all, we are a big state. All of the big states were in the top five.

DOJ got you covered. They also tallied the number per capita. In that case, Florida falls out of the top ten, but still comes in at a respectable fourteenth.
DC comes in number ONE--which is also slightly unfair. That tiny district has the highest concentration of public officials. North Dakota is the top state in this arrangement, which is surprising. The next one, Alaska--not so much:

JEB was a failure. Make sure he stays gone!

Do you guys really want to be the national joke again?

The nation resoundly rejected a continuation of the Bush policies by overwhelmingly rejecting John McCain--and he did his best to run AWAY from the Bush name. If George W. Bush had been able to run, I think you would have seen an election reminiscent of Mondale's 1984 shellacking (just without Minnesota and DC).

Good citizens, how is it that Jeb Bush, a man who, like his brother, squandered a huge surplus from a previous Democratic administration with a massive $6.6 billion in tax cuts that only benefited Florida's wealthiest residents, is a serious contender for Mel Martinez' Senate seat?

Now our state is in such a fiscal crisis that the GOP legislature is now making huge cuts to our public schools and healh care facilities--and more are coming. JEB did to our state what Bush did to our country--which is why I can't understand why anyone would reward that man.

What makes the situation worse is that while JEB shared his brother's priority to help those who need it the least while hurting those who need it most, he was simultaneously lying about the severity of the state budget.

(What do you expect. The man lies about his own damn name. It's not even JEB--he hicked it up for the yokels. His real name is John Ellis Bush for crying out loud.)

Being responsible for the state's fiscal crisis should be enough to discourage anyone from reliving the Bush years. But, as it goes with the Bush legacy, there are many more reasons. People tend to look at the past with rose-colored glasses, so let me give a few more examples of live under JEB:

JEB is the one responsible for dropping legitimate voters who had been illegally purged by him and his Secretary of State, Katherine Harris. Even after the 2000 debacle, he had a "solution" for "those people" by instituting a complicated process that had the purged voters reapply for their own rights that never should have been taken away to begin with. In 2004, he hired a company that kicked off thousands of African-Americans, but surprisingly, less than 80 Cuban-Americans (who tend to vote GOP). Even JEB couldn't explain that one and, under intense pressure, finally backed off.

JEB turned critical state services over to private corporations. He shifted the job of providing for the poor to faith-based organizations while making huge cuts to spending programs to Medicare and health care programs for the elderly and disabled. The underfunded Department of Children and Families, which had few caseworkers, took 15 months to discover that 5-year-old Rilya Wilson was missing from her foster home. JEB, like his forever blameless brother, blamed the caseworkers.

JEB said he had "Devious PLANS" to kill the classroom-size amendment that voters demanded. Sen. Kendrick Meek called Bush's proposal to kill the classroom size amendment & threats of more cuts to much needed social services "a premeditated abuse of the highest office in Florida to circumvent the will of the people.''

JEB fought like hell to force a brain-dead woman, Terry Schiavo, to be force-fed because he claimed he was "pro-life". Yet he was unmoved by this letter to the St. Petersburg Times on 04/15/2003 by another citizen who desperately wanted to live: "I am just one of the 26,000 who received the letter from the Department of Children and Families last week, informing us that Gov. Jeb Bush and our elected public servants have given me until May 1 to continue my chemo. Then I must prepare to die in half the time I would live with chemo."

I could go on with the corruption, the failed Medicaid Reform Plan, or a host of other reasons that I have written about in previous blogs during his reign. But the truth of the matter is, its the Florida Democrats who are the reason JEB is now a serious contender. I talked about all the issues I have just mentioned and more, and how the FlaDems were giving JEB a free pass in this blog post back in December 2006. I warned that this meant he could return at a later date--but I thought at the time it would be as either VEEP or a presidential contender. (Even I didn't see how quickly the Bush family and their principles would fall out of favor).

But in this strange bubble we live in called Florida, JEB is poised to become a serious contender for Senate--bringing back what we have all fought so hard to overcome.

This time, we can't afford to roll over.

Just one more...

I promised no more Bush bashing. It's over.

But damn it you don't make this easy for me, Mr. President. His exit interview with Chucky was priceless. My favorite quote:

ABC News' Charles Gibson: You're only 62. Is there one more thing you really want to achieve?

George W. Bush: Um, that's interesting question... Wouldn't it be interesting for baby boomers not to retire in, y'know, nice places, but to retire during their retirement to go, y'know, help people deal with malaria or AIDS? ... In other words, I'm not suggesting that is what I'm gonna do. It is the kind of thing that intrigues me.

Jon Stewart: That's like walking up to a homeless guy and going, "Hey, imagine if I just gave you thousands of dollars...I bet that would totally change your life! Intriguing to think about, isn’t it? Alright, See ya later!"

Child: "Santa Doesn't Visit Me"

It tears my heart out to think of children who get nothing for Christmas, either because they are too poor or because they have no one. If you see a tree with cards or candy canes somewhere that has a child's name along with a toy wish--PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go ahead and get it.

I grabbed one where all the kid asked for was a coat. One stinking coat. I bought him a nice coat with a Transformer, packaged it, and put it under the tree. It will probably be the only gift he gets. It breaks my heart to see so many other wishes left. If I am ever wealthy, I'm buying every damn one of them something nice.

There is a tree at the Publix at the Winter Springs Shopping Center for the kids from House of Hope. If you know of other ones in the local area, please let me know so I can post them here.

Whether you are inside or outside Central Florida, if you run into one of these trees, please don't just walk by.

Merry Christmas and God Bless.

FoxNews: Obama Would Have Negotiated with Terrorists?

Idiot non-savant Jon Kraushar, who calls himself a "Communications Consultant" for FoxNews, found a way to take the unified stance Bush and Obama showed against the awful terrorist attack in India to an awful partisan smear of Obama. Granted, he is just a flunkie who gets paid to do their blog, but FoxNews featured this at the top of their website today.

The mind of Krushar:

As details emerge about how commandoes ended the brutal attack on Mumbai, India it will offer the incoming Obama administration — and the world — lessons about the most effective ways to quickly end a terrorist strike on a city and may also suggest longer-term strategies to discourage future terrorist traumas.

President-elect Barack Obama’s campaign declarations on everything from national security to economic security are undergoing severe reality checks day by day.

Under what conditions is it effective to negotiate with terrorists? What anti-terror strategies result in at least limited havoc and horror?

Can anyone tell me when exactly Barack Obama said he would "negotiate with terrorists"??

Barack Obama said he would conduct tough diplomacy with leaders of nations who are not our allies. (Who the hell else would you conduct diplomacy with?) He never said he would "negotiate" with Al Qaeda. Al Qaeda is actually worried now because they face a presidential advesary who is actually focused on wiping them out: as opposed to endlessly trying to justify why we instead need to be distracted by a pointless and bloody conflict.

And their attempt to smear Obama by using Malcolm X showed how desperate they are. Al Qaeda is clearly worried because the world is now rallying behind our president-elect and have started to wave, rather than burn, our flag.

Is the author actually suggesting that Obama doesn't negotiate with unfriendly world leaders? Barack Obama is articulate and intelligent enough to conduct tough negotiations. Just because we have had someone for eight years who could barely put a sentence together is not a reason the conservatives should try to condemn someone who can.

Any president worth their salt knows you have to sit down at the negotiation table at some point with other leaders you may not like. Reagan did it with Yuri Andropov, FDR did it with Stalin, Kennedy did it with Krushchev, and so forth. Bush's unwillingness to negotiate with Iran or North Korea hasn't exactly paid any dividends: Iran is now a regional power developing a nuclear weapon, and North Korea has already gone nuclear. Well done.

I know FAUX News feels it has to provide opposition to our president-elect to placate their base. But it is possible to provide thoughtful criticism without resorting to lies and smears.

If you think it's wrong, let this moron know how you feel by leaving him a comment.

Happy Thanksgiving! We have much to be thankful for!

That everyone around the world is waving American flags again...

The team that Barack has put together is already creating confidence...

That Bush has continued with the tradition his father set of being magnanimous and helpful, even in defeat...

A great election...

Real change...

And the obvious fact that so many in this community have contributed to that change. Thank you so much for your kind words and telling me how you've gotten involved or been inspired.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

Impossible to Vote for Franken and McCain!

Quicknote: This was my sixth recommended diary on DKOS:

While FoxNews is doing its best to smear Al Franken by questioning some of his challenges of poorly marked ballots, (while ignoring the fact that Coleman is doing the same thing), the Coleman camp kicked it up a notch and did the unthinkable.

Coleman is now challenging ballots that were clearly marked for McCain for president and Franken for Senate--because anybody who voted McCain HAD to have meant to vote for Coleman!!!

That's right folks. If you live in Minnesota and voted for John McCain, according to Norm Coleman, there is no way you could have voted for Al Franken. Your ballot is now in jeopardy.

The anger I have is extreme. I can't imagine in this day in America that a national party thinks they have the right to DICTATE how I vote!


Coleman's camp wouldn't have challenged these if they didn't think they could get away with it, although I can't fathom how that this will stand. If it somehow does, then it sets one hell of a scary precedent. If I vote for president, then apparently I have to vote for everyone down the ticket on the same party no matter how objectionable they may be.

No. It can't possibly be that someone in Minnesota respected John McCain's service but DIDN'T want a chicken-hawk draft dodger like Coleman.

Or that a Republican agreed with McCain's moderate stance on stem cell research but was appalled by Norm Coleman not only voting against stem cell research, but palling around with right wing extremists.

Or how about this conservative explaining how Coleman lost his vote.

Could you imagine if Al Franken challenged every ballot that voted for Obama but not him? Could you imagine the outrage on the right if he had done that?

For that matter, the voter could have been intending to vote for Obama and made the mistake.

Send this video to everyone you know. This shows just how desperate the GOP has gotten and gives a new, cold meaning to the phrase "Win by any means necessary".

Seriously, please DONATE TO FRANKEN'S LEGAL RECOUNT FUND: https://secure.alfranken.com/page/contribute



NOTE: It is likely that these challenges won't stand. But this does warrant outrage because a sitting US Senator is arguing that clearly and properly-filled out ballots against him should be thrown out or given to him instead! I was outraged when the GOP was challenging thousands of people's voter registrations as well. Just because most didn't stand--you don't just laugh it off and ignore it. I'm a Floridian, I've seen what can happen.

Palin - Crist 2012

My friend Tally at FlaPolitics is asking people to email all the traditional state media political journalists and urge them to do two things: 1) Ask Charlie Crist if he supports a Palin presidential campaign in 2012 and 2) Ask Sarah Palin if, considering the importance of winning Florida in a presidential election, she would consider Crist as a VP choice.

Although he is asking that to stir up trouble, I actually wonder if this will actually be the GOP answer to Obama in 2012. Obama will be much more formidable than he was now: they won't be able to throw the inexperience factor at him, nor will they be able to stir up fears that he's "risky" since he would have run the country for 4 years. (Even doing a half-assed job, which he won't, would be a severe improvement).

But I think it's likely. The GOP is screaming about returning to their "roots", (i.e. right-wing extremism), and there is no one more right-wing extremist than Palin. Besides, she may be able to convince the party elders that she can claim the coveted "turn". Bob Dole was selected to go against Clinton in 1996, even though there were stronger candidates, because it was his "turn". He performed well ("proved himself") against Bush in 1988, lost but then became a big-Bush backer. It was his turn. McCain did the same thing--he performed well against Bush (w) in 2000, lost but then became a bigger-Bush backer.

I don't think Palin did well before she lost, but to hear right-wing pundits like Bay Buchannan and others, it was McCain who blew if for Palin. Palin "excited" her base and drew thousands. She should be the GOP leader, the argument goes. (And for once, I totally agree.)

The problem is that they keep trying to give her the torch, like they did with the GOP governor's conference speech, but she keeps fumbling. Having a moron is not a disqualifier (see W), they just need someone in the number #2 position to run the show. My idea is that the GOP will pick Palin in 2012, and Charlie Crist as the veep. Palin would be the extremist idiot in the top slot. As they learned from McCain, the GOP stays home unless there's an extremist on the top of the ticket. However, they need a semi-competent person to run things--and Charlie can fit that bill. His moderate persona, the thinking will go, should be enough to draw in others.

This isn't my thinking, mind you. Anything with Palin on it will fail miserably. And Charlie Crist is probably too smart to join a ticket like that. But he may realize that the GOP will NEVER allow him to be on the top of the ticket--a closet-gay Republican simply won't be asked to lead the party. Plus, he's way too moderate. He can't win the top of the ticket--he may figure this is the only shot he has.

Better hurry up and speculate, folks, only 1436 days to the next election!!

Hey NE? Where are your pro-lifers now?

I heard a radio story today that broke my heart. A young child, like mine, under 10, was dropped off at a NE hospital under their no-age limit safe haven law. For those that arent' aware, it's the law that was designed to allow a parent to drop off an infant without fear of prosecution for abandonment. The unicameral legislature erred in not having an age limit--allowing parents from all over the country to abandon their kids at any NE hospital.

The story focused on a young child crying and pleading with his mother to love him and not abandon him at the hospital. He promised her he'd be good. But she left him alone with strangers.

The pro-life governor said he doesn't have the resources to deal with the unwanted children coming in: 34 and counting. And all I could think was, were the f**k are the pro-lifers??

I was in tears. I imagined this little boy, fearful and crying. His mother just didn't want to deal with the stress of having a child and saw this as a way out. Misbehaving teens, unruly children, or even severely disabled older children are being dropped off--not one infant. The legislature is trying to fix it, but it will be at least another week or so.

I think about Nebraska, which ranks as the most pro-life state in the union, and wonder why all of those ardent pro-lifers aren't stepping in to take care of, or even adopt, these children.

Why hasn't anyone from the powerful Nebraskans United for Life come in, picked up, and comforted that poor child??

For that matter, anyone from these large organizations: National Right to Life, American Life League, etc.
Do you only care when it's a clump of cells? Do you only care if it's a fetus in a woman's body? THIS IS A LIFE!! This is someone who needs someone.

WHERE ARE YOU?

Ask them. See the reply you get...info@nebraskansunitedforlife.org

No More Bush Bashing

The election is over.

It's time for us as Americans to come together and tackle this nation's problems.

I can't think of any benefit that will come by bashing McCain or George W. Bush. John McCain has given the most gracious concession speech I ever heard. I wondered if the outcome would be different if the American people were given the choice between Obama and the McCain we heard Tuesday night.

George W. Bush, in the tradition of his father, has been very gracious as well. He has gone above and beyond to ensure a smooth transition. His father set the standard when he offered to pick up Clinton on Air Force One after the election and pledged not to criticize him for a period of one year after he was sworn in. That became a nice tradition that once again made our nation the envy of the world. When candidates lose in other countries, they still fight----sometimes literally. Not here.

I will no longer be bashing George W. Bush. I am willing to allow history to be the judge.

I wish for healing, and my hope is that even though Barack Obama has large majorities in both the House and Senate, that he will govern in a bi-partisan fashion. Most good legislation is crafted with input from BOTH sides--and I fully expect the GOP and Obama to work together for the benefit of our nation.

I know that's asking a lot, but after Tuesday night, I truly do believe anything is possible