A Colorado Republican by the name of Cory Gardner has cancelled a fund raising appearance by good ol' Steve King after King's remarks concerning Obama's alleged "favoritism" toward African Americans.
The link is entirely too long to type out so just go to www.qctimes.com and scroll to Iowa news. Then scroll down a bit. Headline reads "GOP Gardner nixed campaign appearance by Rep. King."
Just want to add that a tea party rally, something like "Remember in November" also cancelled King's appearance. So if the teahadists don't even want him, I think that says it all.

Sorry to upset anyone, especially at dinner time, but I have to get this off my chest.
First, a little backstory. In Parkersburg, Ia, a tiny town in NE Iowa of 1900, a much loved football coach was murdered earlier this year and it came on the heels of a devastating tornado last year which flattened the town. Football was one way of rebuilding and getting back to normal. Coach Ed Thomas was, as mentioned, much loved in the town and was instrumental in getting things going again in Parkersburg. Anyway, tonight is the first game they are playing since the murder of Coach Thomas.
A few of us at work were talking about how successful the program has been, and I mentioned that it's amazing that a town of 1900 could put four guys in the NFL, and not only NFLers, but good players as well. So one of the guys involved in the conversation mentioned, "I bet none of them are black either." I replied, "No, there's not a lot of African-Americans up there. But good athletes come in all races." He said, "The n### are born into it. They are bred to be athletic." I said, "Most athletes have some natural talent, but have to work to maintain and nurture it. I imagine that the Parkersburg four worked hard to get to the NFL as well." Then I started getting more wound up and said, "Not all African-Americans are great athletes. And I know damn well that all white guys aren't intellectual either." I said that last statement as I looked him in the eye. Then I decided to walk away and let him think about what I said. I imagine he thinks I'm the dumbass, and I certainly am not a mensa member, but at least I know right from wrong, and that guy is just wrong.
Thank you for letting me vent a little.
Edited- I have to learn to type better.

My cousin, Kelly, had a birthday yesterday. she's 24. That in and of itself is unremarkable, young ladies and gentlemen all over the world are turning 24. But Kelly's story is kind of inspiring, at least to me.
You see, her mother, who is now deceased, slept around and was in and out of jail many times. As a result, Kelly still doesn't know who her biological father is. She was raised by her grandfather who is a tough old guy, but has had several health problems over the years. Anyway, Kelly persevered, got straight A's her senior year in H.S. and went on to college. She got a scholarship for softball and some grants because she literally had no money. She was told by some teachers in H.S. that perhaps she should pursue a career in either education or law as she was very adept in those fields. But after her mother died, Kelly chose nursing. She is a sensitive caring human being and she was close to her mother in spite of everything. So she felt health care was the way to go. She held down a full time job managing a local (delicious) ice cream parlor, and still made the honor roll in her last semester at college. Now she is a full time nurse at a well known local hospital in Illinois. She is a lovely person, both on the outside and more importantly, inside as well. And she is a lesbian. For all the right wingers out there who hate lesbians, I challenge any of them to be raised in a tough environment, overcome it, and succeed in life. Kelly and I went out for a couple of drinks last night and she mentioned that she stumbled across a "cool" new website. I asked her what it was and she replied "Democraticunderground.com I think it's called". I broke into a broad grin and told her that I post crap all the time in there (here). So Kelly, if you are reading this, I love you and how about some free ice cream? I also reiterate, one of the toughest ladies I know. I admire her for it.
On edit- I apologize if anyone is offended or bored to tears with this tripe. But when she told me she reads DU, I just had to pay a (very amateur) tribute to her. Thank you for allowing me to do this.

He is a professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards and he was up there at the Anti-war rally speaking out against the war and the illegal regime that started it. The reason I say he has guts is because the average career of a professional athlete is not a long one and Thomas is putting his basketball career and chance to make huge money on the line in my opinion. The Wizards, like any other pro sports team out there, really doesn't need a reason to cut him, all they need to say is that he just isn't good enough, even if he is. All team owners are wealthy and likely almost all of them are right wingers, if they are political at all. So I say three cheers for Etan Thomas. It's too bad more people in his position don't speak out. I believe it is fear which prevents some athletes from doing so. Fear of losing a potentially lucrative career doing something which they obviously love doing. One more thing, Thomas sounds like an educated, well spoken man. He took his college seriously I guess.

First, I should start by saying that I am a devout heterosexual. I really really like women. In fact, there are some who would say I like the ladies a bit too much. But that's another story for another time.
Anyway, I also have to admit that for many many years I just couldn't deal with the thought of gays being around me and wondered what was wrong with them. I also openly discriminated against them, told crude jokes and all types of other things that hillbilly types do.
But as I grew older and wiser and actually started to know some gay people, I started to realize that homosexuals are just like the rest of us, except they happen to love people of the same gender. Not as friends or siblings, but as married people love each other. And I thought that there is nothing wrong with that. The first openly homosexual guy I knew was the brother of a girl I used to date. She often sneered at him, as she was feeding her four children (none of them mine lol). I occasionally joined her, but after a while, I realized that he was just another guy. He had a hot rod, a '69 Mustang fastback, he watched football and understood the game more than most of my straight friends, he was a whiz kid at euchre, and he ate chili, etc. just like me and my straight friends. Eventually, me and his sister broke up and went our separate ways. I also lost track of her brother.
But I was starting to question why I had a "thing" about gays. And I came up with several reasons, chief among them being ignorance and fear. Fear of something different. I started to speak up. I asked why should gays be treated any differently than anyone else when it comes to jobs, housing, military service, and life in general. And I couldn't come up with any satisfactory answer. And about two years ago, a gay couple moved into a house down the street from me. They invited several of the neighborhood people over for a barbecue. The food was delicious, the beer was cold, the music left a little something to be desired, but we can't have everything, and there were only six people attending. Most said they had "other committments", but at least two residents just flat out said that "We don't want them in our neighborhood". The gay couple, Paul and Derek are still there and the two residents are either gone or soon to be gone. One guy said he wasn't going to expose his kids to "those" people, while feeding his grandchild that his 16 year old daughter gave birth to. I don't talk to the other people as they are rock ribbed righties and are not worth wasting my time on.
Paul and Derek invited me to a euchre tournament at a local gay bar and I accepted. After all, free food is free food. Not one guy tried to hit on me. Not one. Quite frankly, I wasn't sure whether I should be flattered or insulted. Anyway, I really had fun and plan to go back again. Not because I am gay, but because I am human. I like cheap beer and I like good conversation. The bar gives me both. So I guess in the last thirty years, I have come nearly full circle in my understanding of the "gay lifestyle". It seems to be people who go to work every day, who want to make car payments and house payments, and people who simply want to live their lives among all of us, just as we who are straight want. And to all the gay haters out there, whose business is it that two guys or two women are in love with each other and share the same bed? It ain't yours and it ain't mine. Just as it is nobody's business who I am sleeping with or you are sleeping with.
In closing, I want to apologize for ever hating gays. I know it was years ago and I have changed, but it was wrong to begin with and I think I am a better man for now accepting gays as "regular" people. Gays are as regular as anyone else. And besides, define regular.

All of us. Factory workers, executives, teachers, all of us. We who "dare" to question the people who are in power. We who march. We who say what we truly believe even if it means ridicule and scorn. We who do not blindly follow. We who don't blindly worship a piece of cloth just because we are told it is a must.
A true patriot believes in the inherent goodness of the country they are dwelling in. A true patriot wants things to be good for all of the citizens. By good, a patriot means health care for all, education for all, better pay for even the most menial of jobs, in short, everyone gets a chance at the now lost American Dream. So stand up on this Independence Day Holiday. Show your patriotism. Call for the removal of the criminals in office. Call for health care for all of our citizens. Demand accountability from the big oil and big pharma corporations, as well as others. Demand a withdrawal of our relatives and friends from the illegal occupation in Iraq.
Peace to you all, and have a happy Independence Day. Eat, drink, and be merry. And keep up the good fight.

Good ol' Clyde Clifford and "The Mighty 1090 KAAY". Quite possibly the finest "underground" radio program of all time. This was during the freewheeling '70's, at least as far as radio was concerned. I miss those days. Many's the night I sat up and listened to the show in my parents kitchen or my room while the parents were telling me to go to sleep.Incidentally, Clyde Clifford is still going. www.beakerstreet.com . We need more radio like that over the airwaves. Never mind me, just reminiscing again. Sigh...I really miss radio.

but when the president of this land starts insulting the citizens of his own country, that's where the line gets drawn. That motherfucking bush insulted the citizens of America today just as Rumsfeld did yesterday, just as Cheney does almost daily. It is time for every motherfuckin' one of these people to go! People have insulted me before, and that's all right, I've been ripped by better people than that, but when the alleged "leader of the free world" starts questioning my patriotism and that of my fellow citizens just because we dare to question his handling of an illegal war among many many other things, then I get really angry. I love this country more than they ever will. I believe in equal rights for all people, I believe in education for all people, I believe in helping those who may have trouble helping themselves, I believe in National health care, like every free country in the whole damn world has, and I believe in the rights guaranteed to all of us in the U.S. Constitution. These people don't. Thank you for letting me rant. I feel better now. But we still need to get bush/cheney/rummy out and the sooner the better.

Now I am not knocking all the people out there who think that each and every thing that happens is a conspiracy. In fact, the more I look at voter fraud in 2000 and 2004, the more likely it seems that it really happened. And I also believe that while bush and co. did not commit 9/11, they certainly had the information to try and prevent it. But it does seem that a few (not all) people in here think that everything must be a conspiracy, without any concrete evidence. The arrest of terrorists in Canada last week, the death of AlZarqawi, the beheading of Berg last year, deaths of various progressives, New Orleans wall explosions, and on and on.
Lets face it people, the majority of conspiracy theories are based on less than verifiable evidence and should not be taken all that seriously. An example. The terrorist plot uncovered in Canada last week. Some say (sounds like faux news) that it was all a ploy to make the new conservative government up there look good in the U.S administration's eyes. I say bull****. The RCMP investigated this plot for quite a while and moved when they thought it was necessary; that is when they had solid evidence. That is the way most police investigations go. Another one; JFK Jr. was killed by someone in power. Or maybe he was not a real good pilot. I don't know, neither do you.
Just remember how implausible some of the stuff against Clinton seemed in the '90's and stop and think before you accuse anyone of some sort of conspiracy stuff. As already stated, I do think that there is something to Election fraud in the last two Presidential elections, in fact 2000 seems irrefutable, but some of the other stuff is just speculation and circumstantial stuff, or entirely made up from a fertile imagination. Proof, we need absolute irrefutable proof. If we have it, then it will be easy to bring the bush gang down.

Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Clapton, Duane Allman,etc. are rightfully ranked as some of the greats of all time. But there have been many others who have, and are, carrying on the craft. These are a few of mine. Please note that I am into Blues and good old Rock and Roll, so my choices will reflect that. And these are in no particular order. Just a few of my faves, in reality.
Frank Marino. Listen to him. Mahogany Rush.
Sonny Landreth. He should be famous soon.
Tommy Bolin. He would have been recognized as one of the greats if he wouldn't have "Post Toastee'd" like a lot of his friends did. RIP Tommy.
Billy Gibbons. Underrated big time. No less than Joe Satriani has admitted to being influenced by Gibbons.
Eric Gales. Hendrix influenced and from a Blues rockin' family. Can rap as well. More importantly, is one helluva guitar player.

Well there are a few of mine. Feel free to add some of your own. Or rip on mine if you choose. As I said, I am into the American art form known as "Da Blues", as well as Good old Rock and Roll. And I love it.

On Lou Dobbs show, the poll question was, and still is, "Are you surprised to find that paying Americans decent wages actually improves rather than hurts the economy?" Now I am not an economist, but it should be obvious to anyone with half a friggin' brain that if people make more money at work, they will spend more outside of work. I saw that poll and quite frankly, could not believe it. What kind of stupid question is that? www.cnn.com/CNN/Programs/lou.dobbs.tonight... Just ridiculous I tell you.

Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! I am very proud of the Junior Senator from our great state.

machines. I'm torn, I really think that there are more important things for the legilature to worry about, such as education and taxing retiree's pensions. But do we really want Iowa to be known for being a gambling mecca? And those machines are all over the place. Taverns, convenience stores, even at a well known grocery chain based in Iowa. In my opinion, if they are in adult establishments, where minors can't get to them, what's the harm? Please note that I rarely gamble myself simply because I don't have the money. I figure that I can walk across the bridge and throw my money into the river and have the same effect. But I am also not opposed to gambling. If that's what a person wants to do, then let 'em do it, as long as there is no addiction involved.