Hello, America? This is your wakeup call

Admittedly, I am a political junkie but I think the country is asleep.

Case in point--my lovely wife.

God bless her, she has put up with me since October 1976 when we met on a blind date at DePauw University, I was a sophomore, she was a freshman. She is a high-level computer systems manager with a HUGE corporation, a CPA and a master's graduate of Northwestern's Kellogg School of Business,

Last night we are watching mankind's greatest invention to date (TIVO!!) and the Daily Show. Jon Stewart intros the Robert Novak meltdown. I tell the Mrs. that she has to watch Robert Novak implode. She says...

Who's Robert Novak?

I say, "He's the Sun-Times columnist that outed Valerie Plame."

Who's Valerie Plame?

When I mention Karl Rove I get a nod of familiarity but GEEEZ--this is a highly intelligent, well-educated woman who lives with a political junkie and it is not getting through????

Hello???

Hail to the Orange, Hail to the Blue

I would like to commend the NCAA for taking action against the biggest problem facing college athletics--Indian mascots. I admit it--I am an unabashed supporter of Chief Illiniwek. I know, I know, not very PC but--after all, the state name means "Land of the Illini."

He isn't a sideline mascot ramming the Golden Gopher into the goalposts--he doesn't "cheer" and only appears for the halftime ritual. No big-nosed caricature like Chief Wahoo and he's not Chief Nok-a-Homa. He wears a costume donated by a Sioux chief. I was at that game, we played Pitt (they had a quarterback named Marino, I wonder how he turned out).

I come from Danish ancestry. Should I be offended when someone wearing horns trumpets at a Vikings game? Is Sparty at Michigan State offensive to Peloponnesian Greeks? The Penn Quakers? And don't get me started on that place in South Bend.

Irrational? Perhaps. Illogical? Almost definitely, but I will always love the Chief!

Hail to the Orange, Hail to the Blue

Hail Alma Mater

Ever so true (so true...)

We love no other

So let our motto be

Victory Illinois, Varsity!

The camera adds ten pounds....of makeup?

How many cameras were on her then?

Katherine Harris (Wicked Witch-Fl) is whining on Sean Hannity's nutfest that newspapers exaggerated her pounds of makeup by colorizing photos to make her look bad. Funny, she looked just as creepy on live TV! I bet every TV camera crew and every photographer and every newspaper in the country was in on this evil liberal media conspiracy!

"I'm Melting............."

Ads

In the ever-changing world of blog ads, I see some Lake Erie Islands/Miller Ferry stuff popping up. A great cheap vacation area (centering around Sandusky/Port Clinton/Put-in-Bay Ohio), HIGHLY recommended!

And the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a MUST daytrip!

Takes one to know one...

So...President Chimpy defends Rafael Palmeiro for lying and substance abuse...hmmmm.....

Iraq and a hard Place

14 Marines die in Iraq. How many more? And for what?

The so-called "constitution," which will disenfranchise women and marginalize Sunnis, will do little to further stability. We keep hitting a hornet's nest with a stick and wonder why we're getting stung?

I just thought he was cool.....

We drove past him every day on vacation, but the thing he is holding is gone now, just a poor handless giant.....

The president's physical

I heard on the drive back that President Chimpy had his annual physical. His doctor pronounced him in good health and "fit for duty."

He may well be in good physical shape, but it is hard to imagine a man less "fit for duty" if that duty involves leading this country.

Tanned, rested and ready....

Ah, a wonderful week! I'm a big fan of the Sandusky/Lake Erie islands/Marblehead Peninsula area of Ohio, lots to do, relatively close by and not too expensive. The roller coasters at Cedar Point were incredible, loved the islands and I could have spent another whole day at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

It was also interesting being completely divorced from the news. The cottage had no TV or phone, so a week went by and I missed everything!

A HUGE thanks to my team members and I hope they keep contributing!

Barf for Bush

Hundreds of Boy Scouts fall ill while waiting to hear the Preznit speak.

Res ipsa loquitur.

Exposing CIA operatives vs. Exposing the Johnson

(First, thanks to Pete for offering the chance to guest-blog this week. I shall do my level best.)

Republicans are funny people. Not "funny" as in "Chris Rock is funny" but "funny" as in "there's something funny going on here." It's been established by the Republican party that a president getting a hummer from an intern in the Oval Office is a far greater crime than intentionally outing a covert CIA operative for political payback.

Funny. Hysterical, even.

The Democrats in the Senate sent a letter today to the majority leader, "Dr." Bill Frist, demanding a Congressional investigation into the Plame affair. I'm sure it's already been filed under "as if."

But the Dems are having a little "fun" with the situation in their own way. When you're the minority party, you have to do what you can to make your point. My favorite part of this web page is the last two points.

Minimum number of hearings held by Senate Republicans to investigate accusations against President Clinton involving the "Whitewater" case: 20

Total hearings held by Senate Republicans to investigate the leak of the covert identity of Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife: 0

I know it's a lot to hope for, but wouldn't it be great if the populace woke up to staggering corruption and partisanry of the GOP and voted them back into the minority in '06? I have a picture in my mind of Shrub, Rove, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Libby, and McClellan being frog marched out of the White House and into a US Marshal's van.

Now THAT would be "funny."

Back in a week!

Off for a week of R&R to the tropical sands of...northern Ohio! (click on title header of the post to see our cute little destination). My able teammates will carry on in my stead!

Lying under oath?

''I, George Walker Bush, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.''

The Hippie, Round 2

This award goes to the hypocrite of the week.

The nominees:

RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, with this Tilt-a-Whirl of spin:

"Two stories have come out this week, both of which have the effect of exonerating and vindicating Mr. Rove, not implicating him. And what's so amazing and what's so outrageous, in my judgment, is, despite the fact that this investigation is ongoing, despite the fact that Mr. Rove and other people at the White House are cooperating fully with Pat Fitzgerald, Democrat partisans on the Hill have engaged in a smear campaign where they have attacked Karl Rove on the basis of information which actually vindicates and exonerates him, not implicates him."

Please, that doesn't even pass the giggle test.


Victoria Toensing, described in the Washington Post as "a lawyer and longtime Republican (wow, two strikes right there!) who helped write the Intelligence Identities Protection Act of 1982." She amazingly says, in regard to President Chimpy's comments below,

"Of course you are going to be concerned if a law was broken, but what is it that somebody did wrong if they didn't break the law?"

WHAT??? This from the party that wants to control who we sleep with, what we watch, what kids wear, who we marry and what we listen to says its OK if its not a crime? Pornography? Drunkenness? Profanity? Flag burning? Racism? Atheism? Lying? Adultery? Abortion, perhaps? I suppose since it's legal, it's OK? Amazing.

President Chimpy, who despite already receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award, has to be nominated for changing his tune from firing anyone INVOLVED to anyone who committed a crime (i.e., charged, indicted, tried and convicted). Pathetic.

Upon reflection, it is a dead heat. A Hippy goes to both Ken and Vicky, and we have to add another sticker to Chimpy's trophy....

The coverup is always worse than the crime....

Raise your hand if you think Mr. Fitzgerald has some perjury and obstruction charges ready to go?

If I was the president....

Well, for one thing, I wouldn't be a lying, amoral cretin who deceived the country into war, but that is another story for another time.

I would, however, be quite nervous right about now. Patrick Fitzgerald, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, is FEARLESS. He is getting VERY close to Hizzoner Da Mare's office here in Chicago on a variety of scandals. If he isn't afraid of Daley, the machine and the mob, he certainly won't be cowed by greedy oilmen. Karl Rove may well be just some low-hanging fruit....stay tuned!

Who are these people????

20 percent of respondents to the recent WSJ-NBC poll described President Chimpy as "smart" and "intelligent."

Two questions...

1) who are these people and 2) how can I get them to play poker with me?

You say tomato, I say tomahto, let's call the whole thing..PRISON!

Detainees.

It doesn't sound bad, does it? Detained. "Excuse me sir, it will be just a minute, please have a seat." A trifle, a minor inconvenience. You tell your friends when you're late, "sorry, I was detained." A slight delay, a little problem, something came up---THAT is "detained."

"Excuse me, sir, I'm going to transport you to a military camp thousands of miles from home with no formal charges for an unspecified period of time without notice to your family and play `hide the cattle prod' with you."

THAT is PRISON.

But yet read any U.S. news source and you won't find "prisoner" mentioned. Prisoners--bad. Detainees? Why, it almost sounds pleasant ...(and let's not forget the orange-glazed chicken, yummy!).

Why doesn't our "free" and "liberal" press have the nerve to even use the right words?

More on that later.

Peace.

The Employee Discount

All the car makers are extending this "employee discount" to everyone, in the sales pitches. Sorry, but doesn't this just screw the employees? So assume I work for GM for 37 years and my neighbor gets the same deal as I do??? Thanks for the "discount," boss!

Insults? Outrage?

CNN reports that Republicans are angry about Hillary Clinton "insulting" the president. Let's see:

Democratic insult: "I sometimes feel that Alfred E. Neuman is in charge in Washington"

Republican insult: "Clinton better watch out if he comes down here. He'd better have a bodyguard."

Which remark should cause outrage?