Can you believe Fox is actually invoking Nixon's treatment of Hunter S Thompson as a reporter? Have they watched "Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas"? That reporter they're invoking?

And, apparently they never read Hunter S Thompson's article in The Atlantic when Nixon died:



God Bless Hunter S Thompson. Nixon's hatred did have a way of making his enemies seem honorable, even to Fox News.

Today 1,859 guitar pickers in Luckenbach, Tx all played "Back to the Basics of Love" (Luckenbach, Texas by Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson) to set the record for the most people playing guitar at the same time. The old record was 1,802 and was set in Germany.

Here's a few pictures we took before and during the event:









The whole thing was put on by an organization called Voices Of A Grateful Nation and the purpose was to raise money and awareness for Iraq/Afghanistan vets returning home with head injuries.

And there were no outward signs of anything partisan in any way anywhere. Of course not, it's Luckenbach! We were all there just to drink some beer, pick, set the record and have fun. I've never seen more guitars in one place in my life!

like watching a train wreck happen. It's a kind of morbid curiosity to watch them over at FR. You know it's only going to get wierder and wierder. So you can't help but wonder just how far they will go. There is such a mob mentality, almost a lynch mob mentality. They talk openly of a shooting civil war. It's like strolling through an insane asylum and watching people be insane but wondering how is it that they are so insane.

Now, Orly Taiz or whatever the hell her name is, is trying to peddle a fake Kenyan birth certificate as really belonging to the president. They are convincing themselves that this BC is authentic and are now waiting for the SCOTUS to rule on something Taiz filed. The irony of their out of hand rejection of the real Hawaiian BC and blind acceptance of the obvious fake is absolutely jaw dropping in an OMG! kind of way.

I won't link to anything over there. But there must be 20 threads going on the topic. And anyone that points out any of the absurdity on the matter is flamed to the point of being fried alive.

To me it's like, just how fucked up can they get? The party out of the white house with very few exceptions, picks up seats in congress in the off year elections. But they are pinning down every Republican congresscritter to get some kind of committment one way or the other. Either the critter hates this country because the congressperson thinks there's nothing to the birther issue thereby appearing somewhat rational to the rest of the world and may win the general election, or the congressperson is a true patriot and thinks Obama was born in Kenya and to everyone else appears irrational. More and more are taking a sidestep position saying the issues needs to be studied. At this rate, the Democrats will pick up even more seats.

Damn it's friggin' hot. It's going to take a kick-ass hurricane to break this pattern.

We're in San Antonio and the temp is at Stinson Field, TX which is closer to me than the official NWS station for SA, SA International Airport. SA International Airport is reporting 102.

------------------------

on edit...

The above was the 5 p.m. temp. Stinson is still reporting 105 at 6 pm.

he was entirely too calm about how he decided to turn himself in, set up his wife, (tried to) set up friends and relatives until they stopped it. He's entirely too methodical about what he's doing. I don't think he'll spend a single day in jail as he'll commit suicide at some point shortly before he's to report to prison. A lot may depend on how much time he gets. If it's the 150 years they're talking about, this man of leisure that's accustomed to the very fine life has no intention of spending the rest of his life in jail.

Think I'll add this to my journal just to be able to go back and say "told ya so!"

After evening mass, we had our granddaughter baptized last night and had previously (before the events of this incident) asked our pastor to do the baptism. Again, I really do like the guy. He's a kind and gentle man. But it was the first time we had seen each other since our little confrontation. I was a bit apprehensive as I wasn't sure what he would be like. But he was his usual warm and gentle self. He performed the baptism and everyone was happy.

Afterwards, as we were leaving I said with a smile, "Father, I still want to continue our discussion." He responded with, "Please pray for me." I said I will and for him to please pray for me and for us. He smiled and said he would, but I still want to talk. He said OK.

I thought that was an interesting response to my expression of wanting to continue our discussion of abortion as an all or none issue in the Catholic Church versus all the other good liberal and progressive causes that the Church should be more outspoken about. He said, "Pray for me." Was he saying to pray for him that he is correct in his thinking about abortion? Was he saying he had been thinking about the other issues I talked to him about and wants prayer to help him see what is right? I don't know, but I'll find.

As we were leaving my wife said about me, "He loves to debate!" Father said, "I do too!" Everyone had a hearty laugh and we went to dinner.

This Sunday was the day they passed out the cards for the Freedom Of Choice Act to be sent to local congresscritters and senators. This is something the Catholic Conference of Bishops came up with and it's something they're supposed to be doing nationally. I have been anticipating this day, and when they didn't do it a few weeks ago when they did it nationally I figured, cool... they're gonna leave well enough alone. But, I breathed too soon.

Our priest has been here for less than a year and is the absolutely most conservative priest I have ever known. For the first time since like 1965, our church now has latin mass every day at 6:30 a.m. But that's no where near where it ends. At the retreat Saturday for kids that will make their confirmation in the spring, he was very upset. When he walked in he expected to find the kids all kneeling, praying and fasting and he made somewhat of a scene about the fact that they weren't. The kids were actually in groups making posters and working on their specific religion assignment along with other meditation and self-awareness stuff. The folks from the local Catholic university that put on the retreat told him what they were doing was perfectly acceptable. He didn't like it and left.

So then yesterday morning it happened. We teach the confirmation CCD class on Sunday mornings. My first sign of trouble was finding the FOCA cards in our basket to be passed out to our kids to fill out and turn back in. I refused to pass them out to our kids. My official reason was that when the church also passes out cards to be signed for the Employee Free Choice Act (union recognition) I'll consider it, but not before then. My secondary reason for not passing them out was because they were not printed by a union printer (no union bug) and I know the Catholic Church supports organized labor so it was obviously an oversight Our religious education director who is an excellent Democrat laughed and said "Good! I don't blame you."

Then we go to mass. This worm of a Republican that I can't stand and who I've had heated words with in the past was making the announcement about the cards as we walked in. Fine, asshole.

Then we get to the priest's homily. He started out blasting Democrats and saying that we should all be ashamed that Obama was elected. And now the most evil legislation, legislation written by Satan himself, was about to be passed. That's when I got up and walked out. A good friend and good Democrat was sitting in the aisle seat towards the back. When I got to him I leaned over and whispered semi-loud that I'm too good a Democrat to sit here and listen to that. He laughed and said "Now calm down...!"

Just as I entered the foyer area at the rear of the church I heard over the speakers in the rear area our priest say, "Obama is very evil!" I said in a loud voice, "I can't believe he just said that!" (My wife was the lector for this mass and was sitting all the way up at the front of the church next to the alter. I was in the very rear. When I told here what I said out loud she said "I thought I heard your voice!" If she heard me all the way at the front, I know half the church heard me.))

People were in shock. We're not used to this crap. Among the things he said were that we should all be doing penance and fasting for "allowing" Obama to get elected. Anyone that supports Obama cannot be a Christian. The entire homily was a complete rant against Obama, Democrats and the FOCA.

So, right as his homily is ending, I go sit back down. Now for the rest of the mass I'm praying that I don't go ballistic because I am going to talk to the priest after Mass. I cannot and will not let it go. I'm praying for wisdom and guidance because I know Jesus was a Democrat and the first true liberal.

Now mass is over. My granddaughter and I leave the pew and as we get to the sacristy in the rear, My wife who lectored during mass is standing in the door kinda blocking it from me with a huge smile. She knows what I'm getting ready to do! I say, "Ummm... "excuse me"... She smiles and says, "Oh... did you want by?" "Yes!" "Honey, don't..." "It's Ok, I'll be cool." Then she tells me again to be calm. I promise I will.

I start out by saying "Father, there are some things you need to understand." I said, "First, President Obama is not evil. As a matter of fact, he is a very good man and a very good Christian. What you did not mention and you are completely overlooking is the fact that just this past week he made it possible for people who are about to lose their homes and be out on the street to stay in their homes. Before that he passed his stimulus bill that will keep millions of people working and able to support and provide for their families. He is already laying the groundwork for everyone to have health care. Health care for children, for the elderly, for everyone." I looked at him sternly and said, "Father, these are life issues too!"

He said (get this!), "Well. Hitler had a fine plan too. People lived well and everything was going well too. But he killed millions of people just like abortion." I said, "Yes, they were doing very well, that is until they started getting bombed." I said, "But you know what? I can make the argument that Bush was as evil and maybe even more evil than Hitler because of what he did in Iraq, not to mention other things he did. But Father, let me tell you something. There is now a rule in debate called Godwin's Law. Godwin's Law states that the first person in a debate to invoke Hitler or Nazi Germany loses the debate. So let's leave Hitler out of this." I told him that he needs to understand that the Church should be looking at ways to remove the root cause of abortion: desperation. I said women have an abortion when they are desperate. I said that no one wakes up one morning and says, "Gee, I think I'll go have an abortion today." I said that's ridiculous and it just does not happen. I told him I've known several women over the years that have had abortions and not one of them was happy about it and not one of them didn't have some regret. I told him that the way to fix abortion is to remove the desperation that leads to an abortion. I said that's what Obama's stimulus plan does. That's what Obama's mortgage plan does and that's what his health care plan does and that those ARE LIFE ISSUES TOO! I said, "I can guarantee you this: After the next 8 year, and I hope Obama will be there for 8 years, check the abortion rate now, and check it again in 8 years. You will find the abortion rate will have declined significantly because people will have hope. They'll be secure and they can take care of themselves and their families."

He tells me then that the FOCA was written by Satan himself. The conversation gets to a climax when he stops and says, "I don't care about the poor or the homeless or anything else like that. I only care about abortion and murdering babies!" I was floored. I said, "Father, I know you don't really mean that because you need to care." He didn't answer.

'Bout that time someone walked up to him and started talking to him. I said, "Father, I want to continue this conversation later. I don't think we're finished here." And I left. I don't know how many people outside the open door heard our conversation. My wife said later that people were in the parking lot in groups and everyone was royally pissed. She had several people say they had had it, and this was the last straw for them and that they would no longer attend our church.

The fact is, I really kind of like this priest. He's happy and friendly in a goofy and disarming way. I know he is a good person. He's intelligent and he is also very devout. I had heard almost from the day he got here that he was opinionated. No shit.

So we'll see where this goes. My wife intends to write a letter complaining to the chancery office. I thought to call them and complain too, but I feel I'd be going behind his back and over his head after we talked about this face to face. I'm not like that. I'd rather talk with him. If we reach an impasse then I'll consider what to do next. But this crap will not continue.

---------------

Please refrain from anti-Catholic remarks. And I am also well aware of the futility of arguing with fundies that are this nuts about it but I do it anyway. Maybe it's a character defect in me or something.

Source: Politico via Talking Points Memo

Remember that story Bobby Jindal told in his big speech Tuesday night -- about how during Katrina, he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with a local sheriff who was battling government red tape to try to rescue stranded victims?

Turns out it wasn't actually, you know, true.

In the last few days, first Daily Kos, and then TPMmuckraker, raised serious questions about the story, based in part on the fact that no news reports we could find place Jindal in the affected area at the specific time at issue.
,
,
,
But now, a Jindal spokeswoman has admitted to Politico that in reality, Jindal overheard Lee talking about the episode to someone else by phone "days later." The spokeswoman said she thought Lee, who died in 2007, was being interviewed about the incident at the time.


Read more: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/...

---

Hmmm.... another Republican lying. Jindal makes a great GOP presidential candidate since he's obviously committed to uphold the time honored GOP tradition of lying even when he doesn't have to lie

of electing someone who has the potential to do everything we have wanted not just the last 8 years, but maybe the last 40, or more. And Obama was the far-left's candidate. They think that they elected Obama and they can make him lose in 2012. They don't have a clue that this was a year that was so bad for Republicans that EVEN OBAMA could win. Make no mistake about that.

But some here can't stand the prosperity. The whining and complaining and bitching and moaning started LESS THAN 48 HOURS after the election was called for Obama. Even though I expected it, even I was surprised at how fast Obama's absolutely biggest supporters turned on him so fast. My head literally spun.

Maybe they think they don't deserve to win. Maybe they think they really can't and shouldn't win because they're not worthy or something. Who the hell knows? And it is those that were the most vicious of the Obamabots from the primaries that were so very fast to turn on Obama and stab him in the back before he even has taken the oath of office.

In my area we have had a running battle between those of us that were in organized labor and allied with the AA caucus, against the so-called progressives. No one whined and complained and bitched and moaned more than these progressives. But they could never ever deliver a damn thing when it got right down to it. We regularly kicked butt and out voted the so-called progressives every year without exception, including this year. No one takes them seriously in mainstream politics because they can't stand prosperity and have always got to bitch and moan and whine and complain about something. Sometimes we'd let them have someone elected to their beloved Resolutions Committee. They still whined and complained and bitched and moaned. It's highly annoying and every bit as counter productive.

and the least of it is Cheney and Gonzalez. Juan Angel "Johnny" Guerra, the DA in Willacy County is a nut. He was investigated last year for theft by a public servant. His office computers were seized and he was arrested. He supposedly had a vendetta against a bail bond company. He allegedly tried to extort $10,000 from the bail bond company, resold a seized car and falsely claimed $800 in expenses. He went to Mexico after that arrest. He seems to have a habit of that.(Link to Feb. 2007 article).

As for the District Judge Migdalia Lopez who was also indicted along with Cheney and Gonzalez, she scolded him in February 2007 for failing to appear in court and be in his office resulting in the dismissal of four criminal cases. He claimed he couldn't prepare the cases because his computers had been confiscated. Guerra and Lopez do not get along.

Also indicted with Cheney and Gonzalez was District Clerk Gilbert Lozano who said of Guerra in 2007, "I believe he is obsessed with power. He claims he is the top law enforcement officer in the county, and that he runs the county," said District Clerk Gilbert Lozano, who Guerra tried to call as a grand jury witness. "I believe his days are numbered. The word I hear is that people are fed up." These two do not get along. Guerra does not get along with a lot of people.

Ultimately, the charges against Guerra were dismissed last month, in October. But not before Guerra lost in the Democratic Primary for a try for a 4th straight term. The charges were dismissed after a 13th Court of Appeals ruling that Gus Garza, the special prosecutor who headed the investigation that led to the indictments - was improperly appointed to serve as special prosecutor in the case against Guerra. Guerra had previously defeated Gus Garza for DA and they have been political enemies ever since.

Of course, then in April of 2007:--RAYMONDVILLE -- Los Fresnos Justice of the Peace Gus Garza turned himself in to authorities more than a week after Willacy County District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra filed a second-degree felony charge against him. Garza, who has served as a special prosecutor in Willacy County, warned that the charge against him could lead to more charges against Guerra. Garza turned himself into a sheriff's deputies on a charge of obstruction or retaliation, Sheriff Larry Spence said. The charge stems from Garza's alleged disruption of a grand jury as it met with Guerra on Feb. 11, Spence said. Garza was released on a $1,000 ...

And there is much more in the undercurrents of South Texas politics, but you get the picture. Everyone else indicted along with Cheney and Gonzalez have had run-ins with Guerra at some point. What one needs to understand is that politics in the Texas Rio Grande Valley (far south Texas, commonly referred to as "The Valley") is as vindictive and backstabbing as you will find anywhere, with the possible and likely exception of Laredo. Even the Valley thinks Laredo is bad, but that's for another post. And that's not even getting into the ongoing quarterly or so federal indictments of sheriffs, deputy sheriffs and border patrol agents for their roles in drug smuggling with the Mexican drug cartels. That's not even getting into the regular and usual ongoing federal corruption investigations.

The throwing in of Cheney and Gonzalez was probably for flair, if not substance. It was more about one last fling at retaliation against Guerra's enemies Valley style. But if the Valley is united on one thing, it is the dislike of Republicans and that's likely why Cheney and Gonzalez were thrown into the mix.

This post was inspired by this post by Autorank.

Huh? Where the hell did anybody get that absolutely crazy idea that if Obama wins he's going to be the next president?

I posted this the other day about a verbatim quote from John Cornyn:



The OP got two commments and disappeared into the GD: P hole. You're not going to find that quote anywhere. I wrote it down as I was driving down the highway. But Cornyn told us exactly what they are going to do. You see, Cornyn's not real bright anyway so I'm not surprised to hear him talk about something he's not supposed to be talking about.

But people here better get ready for one fucking thing: They are going to try to steal it. Goddammit, they committed felonies in Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 in the process of achieving and sustaining their right wing coup d'etat. What the hell makes people think they are just gonna role over and say, "Gee, we lost the election... oh well! Congratulations, Obama! We wish you well!" WTF makes people think even if Obama is inaugurated it ain't over. People really do not have a clue about the kind people we're dealing with here. These people are vicious on a level that 99% of DU'ers have never even thought about.

This thing is far from over and people better get ready.

People better not be sitting around here crying, "Wah! They stole my election!" People better be ready to fucking do something extremely serious about it.

"I'm sure there will be litigation that the margin of victory was made up of people that were not qualified." This was in response to a question about ACORN and the other mythical ways the GOP is claiming that there is voter fraud going on. Cornyn was being interviewed on WOAI radio in San Antonio. This was Thursday morning last week.

The pattern here, as in New Mexico as in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West (By God) Virginia, Colorado points to the likelihood that the GOP intends to file suit in each of these states that they will lose alleging that the margin of victory was made up of voters that were not qualified. The case will make it's way through the conservative RW courts. If (Big IF) they can stand the heat, they will steal the election from Obama and give it to McCain.

The RW SCOTUS made the great right wing coup d'etat a reality in 2000. They will not give up power just because of an election. Apparently they will resort back to the courts to keep from turning power over to the Democrats.

We cannot let what happened in 2000 happen again. I doubt this is news to the Obama campaign as they seem to have their ears pretty solidly afixed to the ground and they appear ready for anything. But the rest of us should get ready. If after the election, the Obama campaign says we need to hit the streets in protest then we all need to be there. Only the people rising up will prevent the theft of this election.

In an interview with Connecticut reporters, Sen. Joe Lieberman expressed concerns about Sarah Palin’s readiness to assume the presidency if John McCain were unable to:

(W)hen asked by The Advocate if Palin is ready to be president from day one, Lieberman said “thank God she’s not going to have to be president from day one. McCain’s going to be alive and well.”

Former Bush pollster Matt Dowd has previously said that McCain wanted to pick Lieberman as his running mate, but the GOP base would not allow him to. Instead, Dowd argued, McCain “put the country at risk” by selecting Palin.

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/10/24/lieb-p... /

Link to full article: http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/ci_1080683...

WASHINGTON — They're almost an endangered species, the dwindling number of people who say the country is heading in the right direction. But they're out there.

The way they see it, the U.S. has come through tough times before and will do it again.

Fewer than one in seven, or 15 percent, say the country is on the right path, according to the latest Associated Press-Yahoo News poll of adults. In these economically tough times, they tend to be older, less educated, conservative and supporters of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chroni...

--------------------------------------

You just have to wonder what color is the sky in their world.

Are GOP voter purges skewing the poll numbers? I read the BuzzFlash interview with Greg Palast posted by struggle4progress, and it occurred to me that all the major polls sample registered voters and likely voters. And, there is a distinction between the two.

Then it occurred to me that the pollster really has no way of knowing if someone is or is not a registered voter and therefore a likely voter. A person being polled self-identifies that they are or are not registered. This has massive implications for Obama's the current poll numbers. In a battleground state like Colorado, where this morning's Washington Post has Obama with a 9 point lead. The Colorado poll was of 1,088 likely voters. And according to Palast, 19.4% of all registered voters in Colorado have been purged.

The WAPO article doesn't state the methodology and maybe it's posted somewhere, but I don't know where and I still haven't had enough coffee. So let's make some assumptions. Let's assume the poll was weighted 35% Democrat, 30% Republican and 35% other. Polls seem to be structured approximately pretty much like that.

Data from the Quinnipiac University on this poll shows that candidate support breaks down as:

	Democrats	Republican	Other
Obana	93%		6%		51%
McCain	4%		89%		40%
DK/DC	3%		5%		9%

Obama/McCain. From these numbers we get:

Obama	354	20	194	568
McCain	15	290	152	458
DK/DC	11	16	34	62
	381	326	381	1088

Now, 19.4% of all voters in CO have been purged from the rolls. Let's assume that 80% of the purged voters were Democrats, 5% were Republican and 10% were Independent or other (sounds reasonable to me). That means that the actual number of sampled Democrats in the Colorado poll after the purge would be:

		Democrats	Republican	Other	Total
Aft Purge	212		316		360	887
Sample %	24%		36%		41%	100%
Difference	169		11		21	201
% Diff		44%		3%		6%	18%

Now we have a poll where Democrats were under sampled. However, the same numbers of voters would turn out to vote because they didn't know they were purged. Assuming no one knows they were purged or else they would not have told the pollster that they were registered, 44% of Democrats would not be allowed to vote.

Using the same preference percentages as above, the new breakdown would be:

	Democrats	Republican	Other	Total	Percentage
Obama	197		19		183	400	45.0%
McCain	8		281		144	433	48.8%
Other	6		16		32	55	6.1%
						887	

We would then see that McCain squeaked by in a 48.8% - 45.0% victory in Colorado. Even if you reduce the percent of the 19.4% purged to 60% Democrat, 5% Republican and 35% Indy, the results are a 47.2% - 47% McCain win. They will call him the Comeback Kid, just as he did in the primaries. Something smells real bad here.

Check my numbers, I think they're correct. Maybe my methodology is off. I've had plenty of coffee now so I think they're correct.