Hahahahahahah

Good Question.

It's finally happened to me.

John Kerry has given me hope:
Kerry’s four-point “bounce” is the smallest in the history of the NEWSWEEK poll.

Update: Reuters spins the weak four point bounce as 'solid' and the article is complete with a photo of a guy in the very common 'Republicans for Kerry' t-shirt. That's right, Kerry's solidly leading in the polls and Republicans are coming over to his side in droves, lured by the hope of the presidential candidate and his grinning sidekick. Sometimes, you gotta love the liberal media.

Dawn's Birthday Season can now officially come to a close

Last night was the end of the birthday 'season' of the esteemed Dawn Summers. Some thoughts:

1. Bloggers outnumbered civilians by a lot. Peter, Ari, Jessica, Lisa, Scott, Oschisms, Ivan, and Asphnxma helped celebrate. I also hear Yaron was there but left by the time I got there.

2. Dawn Summers was DRUNK but will never admit it. Dawn has led a very sheltered life. She did not try alcohol until she was 21, not because her mother cared if she did, mind you, but because it was illegal. Since then, she has gone out of her way to prove that she can drink and drink and not get tipsy. Her knowledge of what being drunk is comes mostly, it seems, from after school specials where people get completely out of control, are unable to speak or think at all and are a hazard to themselves and others. She kept saying 'ask me anything' to prove that she was sober. Except that it came out 'asthk meh anythung' followed by prolonged giggles.

3. My present to Dawn is to take her shopping and buy her a new outfit. After seeing what she was wearing last night (think, mother of 3 on her big night out), it should happen sooner rather than later.

4. Dawn's friends have gotten progressively better. All through high school she was friends with the dorkiest (and not in a cute way) group of people ever to walk the earth. The one she was closest with had a full beard (at 16) and wore two different color shoes every day. He was cited some years later, during college, for stalking a young lady. The other winner she spent a lot of time with despised himself and used that as an excuse to be nasty to others. He too (coincidence!!) was cited for stalking in college. Twice, actually. The rest of her crew were a collection of D&D playing misfits who didn't like themselves or each other. Her friends now are funny and confident and even Asphnxma, who was mean to me in Dawn's comment section yesterday, was nice and friendly.

5. I toasted to Dawn that she should be happy that she is 29 but looks 12. May you always keep your youthful appearance, Dawn, and that wild laugh too (but seriously, the outfits have got to go).

Quote of the Day

'It may well be true that, as a number of pundits have claimed, Kerry gave the best goddamned speech of his career last night. But that's a little like saying Yoko Ono's latest CD is her best-ever'

-Nick Gillespie.

Read the whole thing.

Via Instapundit.

I can't take it anymore

Can someone walk me through how to install MT Blacklist, please?

Tonight

Is anyone who reads this page going to the birthday celebration of Dawn Summers tonight? You do know she invited the whole world, right?

Sundays, 10pm HBO

Has anyone seen that show 'Entourage'? I swear it's secretly about my Brooklyn friends even though the characters hail from Queens.

Question.

If I kill Peter because he's been playing unbearable Cambodian music all day, do you think I'll get convicted?

What, now?

Ken Wheaton writes that John Kerry was anti-war before he went to Vietnam. That's a little bizarre, no?

What liberal media?

Ron Reagan defends stem cell research

Some in GOP wince over Ron Reagan's planned speech

So, Ron Reagan hurled one final spit in his father's eye and spoke at the DNC convention. Forget for a second that, as Ross Mackenzie writes in Townhall.com, Ron 'is not a well-known ethicist or medical researcher. He will be there just to stick it to the GOP and Bush'. Ron taking center stage on this issue gives the impression that the entire Reagan clan in behind it. Funny then that I only learned of Michael Reagan's firm opposition to Stem Cell Research from one line in the last issue of National Review. A google news search for "Michael Reagan"+"Stem Cell Research" produces 51 hits. The same search substituting the name Michael for Ron, produces 1170 hits.

UPDATE: So, Ron Reagan is just deeply concerned about stem cell research, huh?

Best Email

I have a friend who isn't very into politics but always wants to know about different issues and the various candidates positions on them. He was shook up by Michael Moore's movie and he always asks me if I really don't think Bush went to war for oil. But today, I got an email from him with the subject 'election' and the words 'I think Edwards sold me....on Bush!' inside. Interesting. And here I thought Edwards was the only real draw towards Kerry. I have at least one friend who hyperventilates at the sight of young-looking John while she semi-despised the older-looking John before.

On a similar note from yesterday

Last night I sat on my balcony and played Hold 'Em with my brother Ronnie (named after Reagan), his friend James (named after Carter, no I'm not kidding), and occasional Spot On commenters Frank White (who gave me a lovely poker chip set), MDone, Majestor Ludi and Pheeleepok. And while I love my girls, it's equally nice to spend some time with my boys.

I was thinking about setting up a Hold 'Em night for NYC bloggers. Who's in?

So Cute

I love Slice NY, the website about pizza in NYC, and they've got a new site devoted to teaching GOP convention tourists all about NY pizza. It includes history and ettiquette and would be useful to any tourist visiting our fair city.

Via Gothamist.

STOP THE PRESSES

How did I miss this?

NY Times Public Editor admits that the Times is a liberal newspaper.

Via BOTW.

Why do liberals love abortion?

Being pro-choice is one thing, this is quite another. Just one of the lovely things you can get at the Planned Parenthood store.

Via Sevnstrng.

UPDATE: Dawn Eden has more on the shirt and its gaining popularity.

Not treating them like our pets.

I keep hearing people say that Bush is going to do very poorly among American Muslims in November because of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I'm sorry, this makes no sense to me. Bush treats Muslims like they are capable of self rule, that they're not unready for Democracy, that they are entitled to certain rights by G-d. American Muslims disliking Bush would be like Russian immigrants hating Ronald Reagan for being too hard on the Soviets in the 80's. I don't get it.

If you're lucky....

.....you'll someday get to sit, drink wine and play hold 'em with Jessica, Ari and Lisa. You'll wake up a little hungover and a lot fulfilled. I had missed my girls.

Without giving away any Six Feet Under plot lines....

.....am I the only one who has lost all respect for everyone in the Fisher household, save maybe Claire, this season? Nate for the constant whine, whine, whine, David for whine, whine and being dumb as rocks (if you saw the episode two weeks ago, you'll know why), Ruth for being waaaaaaaay too trusting. I used to like the characters but I'm finding the family members extremely annoying this season. Even Brenda has gotten so blah. A baby? Seriously? Just a few seasons ago she was getting felt up by strangers while she shopped and now she's thinking about kids? This isn't going to end well.

I hate (in no particular order)

Sony- My Vaio was not charging so I sent it in to Sony. They have no idea where my computer is and no idea of when it will be fixed.

Nextel- I paid my bill on July 10th. My payment cleared on July 11th. Yet, they disconnected my phone while I was waiting for a call from Sony. Now, they want to charge me a $30 reconnection fee. I'd like to see them try.

Dawn Summers- She's just the worst, isn't she.

Delta- My flight last night was delayed for an hour, for no reason that I was able to discern. Then, they boarded us on this tiny plane that you actually had to board by going outside and up the stairs. The flight only served pretzels (good thing that they asked me twice what kind of meal I would like and good thing I said vegetarian). They sat me near the bathroom in one of those seats that couldn't lean back. Sigh.

Blogroll Update

The Daily Blitz- a fellow Russian immigrant living in NYC. Check out Jheka.

What do you care about?

A friend of mine asked me recently who I thought he should vote for. My liberal readers may be happy to know that I don't automatically say 'Bush' (but should be equally horrified to know that I'm asked this question all the time). I asked him what his major issues were and he said he would get back to me with a short list. It got me thinking that the summer before a presidential election might be a good time for me to lay out my own list. Here goes:

1. War on Terror. My choice candidate will understand that the war on terror is just that, a war, and he will act accordingly. This is the mother of all issues for me. If I thought, for one second, that Bush would falter or waiver from the war on terror, that he would ease us back into the September 10th blissful ignorance, he would not have my support.

2. Smaller government/low taxes. I know, I know, Bush is a big spender so how could I still like him? Well, first of all, see #1 above. Everything is a far second to me these days. Nothing will matter, not government spending or entitlement programs, if we're all dead. Additionally, in order for me to vote against Bush because of his spending, I'd have to believe that Kerry would have more fiscal restraint. Now really, how many liberal career politicians have any such restraint? I love Bush's tax cut and I think it needs to be made permanent.

3. Social Security Reform. I do not believe that Social Security will exist by the time I am eligible for it and it angers me to no end that I'm forced to pay into a system that will never benefit me. I would like to be able to use even a fraction of the money and invest it as I choose. Unfortunately, it seems that neither party is all too interested in making necessary changes. Too bad.

4. School Vouchers. Public schools, particularly in urban areas, just don't work. It costs about $12,000 to educate kids in the decrepit public schools of NYC. My private school in Brooklyn, on a hill with grass and a class size of about 15, cost less. Parents shouldn't have to send their kids to failing schools. They should be allowed to take the money that would've been spent on behalf of their child in public school and use it to send their kid to the school of their choice.

5. Gun rights. I know it's odd that a Jewish girl from New York City is as pro-gun as I am. Peter visited me in Georgia and on his last day there we went to Kennesaw, the town famous for its law requiring every Head of Household to own a gun. They have near zero crime. The last murder they had was recently and it was someone being beaten to death. The murder before that was over a decade ago and it involved a knife. The big joke about gun control always involves Washington D.C. As you may know, guns are completely illegal within DC borders. Funny how it manages to be in the top 5 for gun deaths each year then. Making guns illegal insures that law-abiding citizens will not have guns while thugs and criminals certainly will. I worked with someone recently that was pro-life and saw that as his major political issue. He said 'I just don't trust candidates that aren't pro-life'. I feel much the same way about gun rights.

These are my top 5. I have other issues that I care about but really, number one is, by far, my most important. So, readers, I invite you to share your 5 in the comment section (but please, don't be like John Kerry- don't just say 'the economy', actually offer what you believe might be working solutions). I'm sure we're in for some interesting reading.

Why oh why am I the third result.....

.....for this search (warning, racy language)?

Class Act.

What passed for controversy at the Democrats' unified convention was stirred by Kerry's wife. She told a persistent reporter on Sunday to "shove it" when he urged her to expand on her call for more civility in politics.

Ahem, ahem

So, I learn via Clarified that the Washington Post is asking for nominations for your favorite political blogs. Just thought you might be interested, that's all.

I'm home again!

Didya miss me?

In other, happier news

My friend Emily has been voted one of the 50 most beautiful people on Capital Hill (is it me or did they give the men on the list a lot more leeway in terms of beauty than the women).

Her equally beautiful sister Elizabeth designs the coolest pro-Bush t-shirts I've seen.

Everything.

I've taken a few days off, from blogging, email and all things politics. But, tomorrow I go back to NYC and I know things will start moving very quickly again and I might not remember all that I wanted to say about this campaign. So, here goes.

I'm about to present the reasons I think Cain didn't win this election. These opinions should be seen as just my opinion and not the reflection of the campaign's thinking.

1. With a week to go in the election, Johnny Isakson and Mac Collins got desperate. Both slammed Cain with lies and half-truths. Isakson sent out a mailing that noted Cain gave money to 'Sen. Kerrey'. As the Atlanta Journal Constitution wrote at the time 'Isakson has raised $5.5 million, but couldn't afford to insert "Bob" in the line above.' Cain had given money to Bob Kerrey, while head of the National Restaurant Association and living in Kerrey's state of Nebraska. It was over 10 years ago. And, really, if this is the worst you can find on the man, I'd say that makes him pretty damn angelic. More on the flier from the AJC:

**Cain "stood with Hillary Clinton and Ted Kennedy to extend [the] Iraq handover deadline," the flier says. At a May forum in Gwinnett County, Cain said he wouldn't oppose extension of the deadline. "Do it at the right time for the right reason, even if we have to move it," Cain said. Bush did move the handover -- two days forward. Neither Clinton nor Kennedy was in attendance.

**Cain "ran for president against George W. Bush," the flier says. Bush announced the formation of an exploratory committee for president on March 2, 1999. Cain filed his papers 17 days later, and quickly dropped out.

**Cain "endorsed Bush's opponent," the flier says. Well, yes. But Isakson omits the word "Republican." Cain was behind Steve Forbes in the presidential primary.

But, honestly, I don't think that the Isakson flier had that much of an impact. All the calls I fielded in that weekend before the primary were about the Collins radio piece. Everyone wanted to know, was it true Cain had been endorsed by Jesse Jackson's Rainbow PUSH coalition? No, of course it wasn't.

From the AJC on the Collins ad:

The Collins radio spot, aired on an Atlanta Christian station and on WSB, first attacked Isakson on abortion, foreign trade and tort reform. Then, Collins put his sights on two issues sure to underline the fact that Cain is African-American.

"Affirmative action's long outlived its time. ... Any ruling that gives preference to anyone, is wrong. Mr. Cain cannot say that. When it comes to endorsements, Mr. Cain was endorsed by the regional director of the Rainbow/PUSH coalition. I'm proud to say I was not."

Cain does have the support of Joe Beasley, the civil-rights veteran, who is a member of his church.

Said Collins campaign manager Dan Kidder: "No, we're not playing the race card. We think that it's important that voters know an organization that's working against George Bush, and is against Republican principles, is working for Herman Cain."

The Collins staffers had basically warned us that they were going to hit Herman on, well, his being black. His staffers were giddy whenever we'd see them about Herman's 'questionable support'. As a very wise 19-year old friend said 'is it just me or do you hear Collins trying to make sure everyone knows Herman Cain is a black man everytime he speaks?' That's exactly what was happening. The office got flooded with calls about the ad. I wonder about all those people that didn't call to see if it was true.

2. Mac Collins was a walking disaster area. This one is, I would say, the conventional wisdom of those close to the race as to why Cain didn't make the runoff. Mac had been hemmoraging staff for months. His campaigning was limited to, pretty much, just his district. And his positions were very similar to Cain's. He pulled too many voters from Cain and not enough from Isakson. He even lost his own Congressional district. He conceded defeat at 8:30pm on election night, with a tiny fraction of precincts counted. Had he campaigned harder, he might have pulled enough Isakson votes to keep him under 50%. Had he dropped out of the race, his voters would've likely gone to Cain. He did neither.

3. Cain ran against two sitting Congressmen. A recent poll had Cain's name ID at 50% with the Republican electorate. So, half the Republican electorate knew who he was and 30% of them voted for him. That's pretty impressive for a first campaign. I wonder what would've happened if the other 50% knew about Cain. I have yet to meet anyone that hasn't voted for him after meeting him.

4. This one hurts my heart the most. Cain had a party for his staff on Friday night. We all gathered and he invited people to speak up and say what they wanted to say about the campaign or anything in general. Every single black person present told the same story of coming to their polling precinct and being greeted with utter incredulousness when they asked for a Republican ballot (they don't register by party in Georgia, you choose which party's ballot you'd like on election day). Feddie at Southern Appeal noted this story:

I’m an African American who lives in a predominantly African-American precinct. I told the pollsters that I wished to vote Republican (supporting Herman Cain)and filled out a blue form. However, I was still given a Democratic ballot. When I informed the pollsters, one commented that I should just go ahead and vote on the Democratic ballot because “That’s what you should be doing, anyway.” The scary part is that SHE WAS SERIOUS. I eventually got the Republican ballot.

I have loved my time in Georgia. I saw a lot of the state and very little of Atlanta, just as I had wanted. The Notorious BIG sang in his tune 'Going Back to Cali' (modified slightly to remove profanity): 'If I got to choose a coast, I got to choose the east, I live out there, so don't go there. But that don't mean I can't rest in the west....' I live in NYC and I do love it, in my own way. But I feel just as at home in Georgia, I feel like I really belong in a 'red state', that while I may live in Manhattan, I'm better suited to small towns where people love G-d, love their country and are good to each other. I saw some really beautiful moments in politics while I was here. I saw opponents sit together before a debate and I saw polite exchanges of ideas. It was pretty mind-boggling. I'm going to try to remember every second of it.

Herman Cain will be back. I saw him this morning when he dropped in on the staff having brunch. He says 'stay tuned' and we all definitely will. If you work or volunteer in politics, I hope you will someday have the opportunity to work for someone that you admire as much as I admire Herman Cain. He is a breath of the freshest air, he is honest, direct, engaging, brilliant, funny and very, very real. He will never forget your name after meeting you. He will never try to pretend to be something he isn't. It takes guts that I can barely understand to do what he did down here in Georgia. He shaped the debate, his opponents ended up using his language and positions as their own. He is a force, if you ever have the opportunity to hear him speak, go do it. You will never forget it. You will not be the same when it's over. I know he will do great things and I will be watching closely.

Cain loses.

That's life, people, that's life.

Like Southern Appeal, I know the things that went wrong but just don't feel like writing about it right now.

Big Day

Today is the Republican primary here in Georgia. If you live in Georgia or know someday who does, vote for Herman Cain and encourage others to do the same. If you're coming to his victory party tonight (and if you live in Georgia, email me- and soon- and I'll send you the details) and it looks like I haven't slept in a month, it's because I haven't slept in a month.

In other news, today is 26 years that I have lived in the USA. I have been thankful every single day and continue to marvel at my luck at ending up here. I don't know if I will have the time to do a full post on this occasion like I like to do each year so I direct you to the post I wrote last year, complete with a photo of me the day I got my citizenship.

Bonus.

'I am 100% pro-Israel'
-Herman Cain on the Michael Medved show.

Quote of the day

'There's plenty of groups in the world that hate Israel and the Jews for irrational reasons. And there's one group in the world, America's fundamentalist Christians, that embraces Israel and the Jews for, you could say, irrational reasons. And yet I'm told that's the group I should be afraid of?'
-Yaron from Daily Lunch

Please Blogger users....

....just because they gave you color, doesn't mean you have to use it.

And pot is illegal.

Drunk Filipino nails wife's mouth shut, kills her.

Be Biased.

The Right Moment has exclusive coverage of supporters rallying for both Bush and Kerry.

'We’re not trying to electrocute them; we’re trying to stop them from coming in and killing us.'

Pro-Palestinian British journalists? I can not believe it.

People fishing?

Is this a new hoax for James Taranto to expose?

Shocker. British white people don't have a lot of black friends.

90% of whites have few or no black friends

I guess the 6 or so black people in Britain (yes, I'm exaggerating, don't email me the stats, please) aren't able to befriend the millions of white people.

A picture of Kerry's black power salute

Courtesy of Brainwash:

You haven't lived until...(a continuing series about life in Georgia)

....you're a Jew in a car at 8:30am in Eastpoint, Georgia and a Catholic gets into an argument with two Baptists over whether or not Catholics are going to hell. Apparently, Catholics are hardly considered Christian by the rest of the Christ-loving contingency. Who knew?

(For the record, there is no debate over whether or not Jews are going to hell. We're toast.)

Party Invite

Dawn Summers has invited the world to her birthday party (even though her birthday was like 3 weeks ago). I guess that means you.

Smearing Cain

I know politics is ugly so I'm not surprised that Herman Cain's two opponents are pulling out all the stops in the weekend before the primary. Johnny Isakson's strategy is to mislead with ridiculous accusations. Mac Collins, who Robert Novak wrote 'continues to run a race more fit for county sheriff than for U.S. Senate', is hoping to point out to all Georgians that Herman is black (Black! Can you believe it!) and hope that sways them. For a great takedown of the attacks of both Isakson and Collins, check out today's political insider in the Atlanta Journal Constitution's Political Diary. The AJC is no fan of Herman, in fact they've endorsed Isakson, so you can count on them being realistic about the smear campaign.

People don't attack those that they don't fear. The example I always use is that during the Republican mayoral primary of 2000 in NYC, Mike Bloomberg did not attack Herman Badillo. The billionaire was not threatened by Badillo's small campaign chest and limited support.

Go Cain.

You to boss: I quit

Boss to you: No.

Another quick blogroll update

Rachel May- a cutie, smart 19-year old I'm working with on the campaign. She may or may not be trying to convert me to Southern Baptism. Go over and say hello.

Random

Anyone else notice that Yahoo email is now called Y Mail? That sounds familiar.

On a totally different (but equally random) note: My ex-boyfriend, who was from Ohio, was always fascinated that I said 'on line' instead of 'in line'. After reading a language book by Bill Bryson, I learned it was just New Yorkers who said 'on line'. Well, I have a new one. Does the rest of the country say 'on accident' instead of 'by accident' or is it just Georgia?

More on Jadakiss PR Move

Yay, I'm finally famous! All I had to do was imply Bush knocked down the towers:

"It caught the ear of white America," he said proudly during a phone interview with The Associated Press. "It's a good thing. No matter what you do, somebody's not going to like it, but for the most part, most people love the song."

More Cain

Woooooooo, thanks Rush!

In other news, I've added Southern Appeal and the new Red State blog to my blogroll.

It's a tough call.

Daily Lunch asks if Kerry's black power clenched fist salute photo is 'more deeply insulting to black people or white people.'

5 Months For Martha

Martha on her way to the penitentiary. But it's Federal, so I don't think it will be too bad. I wonder to which prison she will be assigned. I'm familiar with this one (I only visited, don't get excited), it's pretty good and only 6 hours away from NYC.

Blogroll Update

I always love find rightwing NYC bloggers. The Contrarian Blog is the newest of these on my blogroll.

Why am I never in NYC when the cool stuff happens?

Acting President of the Rockaway Republicans, Thomas Lynch, announced today that a special party for President George W. Bush which will be hosted by his organization at the Belle Harbor Yacht Club, 127-07 Beach Channel Drive in Rockaway, Queens, on the evening of Thursday, July 15th, will feature Sopranos star Tony Sirico as a special guest speaker. Sirico, who plays "Paulie Walnuts" on the hit HBO television series, will discuss his strong support for President Bush and correct previously misleading media coverage that, some feel, has mischaracterized his views.

Other cool events can be found on my other site.

Go Cain Go!

I love, love, love Southern Appeal. They've made my afternoon.

Quote of the Day (or, what liberal media?)

The media, said Evan Thomas, assistant managing editor of Newsweek, in a unusual moment of candour the other day, ‘wants Kerry to win’ and so ‘they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic ...that’s going to be worth maybe 15 points’.'

-Mark Steyn

Book Recommendation

I'm pretty behind on this but I recently picked up Toby Young's memoir 'How To Lose Friends and Alienate People' and it's hilarious. I called Peter last night and read him the chapter about Young's girlfriend visiting him in NYC and the insanity that ensued. The best part of the chapter is their ride on the Cyclone, the most decrepit roller-coaster in the world. I got my copy for $5 at a Barnes&Noble discount table and Amazon has used copies for $.99 so pick one up. It's the best thing I've read in awhile.

UPDATE: I just googled Toby Young and funnily enough, Cathy Seipp (one of my favorite writers lately) wrote about him recently for National Review. It turns out, and I loooooove when this happens, that he is a libertarian. I knew from the first few chapters of his book that he is anti-PC but I thought it was because he was British, not because he was an anti-idiotarian. Her piece also reminded me that he used to write for the New York Press, which is probably how I knew his name at all, which used to be my favorite newspaper (until Russ Smith sold it and it started to suck). The book I've been loving is written by someone I probably wouldn't hate if I met. What a bonus.

Obscure music

Daily Lunch reviews Peter and Mike's new Archives Music Project. I couldn't be sadder that I missed it.

Really.

John Kerry is currently speaking to the Race Baiters Association of America, er, I mean the NAACP, and he just said 'the president needs to speak to all people', an obvious jab at President Bush not speaking to the group. Is that so? In that case, I am issuing a public invitation to Kerry to come speak to the new group I'm forming 'The pro-life contingency of taxcutters' (PLCT). Hell, if my group isn't famous enough, I'm sure the Vietnam Veterans Against Kerry would be happy to have a session with the man. See you there, Senator. I'm sure you'll get a very warm reception.

For the record, it fills me with pride that Bush has refused to speak to the NAACP. They despise him and anyone who dares to think black people are equal to white people and shouldn't be treated as if they are not. They ran ads suggesting he bore responsibility for the dragging of James Byrd in Texas. They aren't worthy of my spit. I thought he was going to give in at the last second and attend and I'm so happy he did not. Couple this with his absolute refusal to entertain the terrorist Arafat at the White House and I couldn't be prouder. Think what you will of Bush, at least he has the courage to stand up for his convictions and do what he thinks is right.

I love my boys too....

.....but last night, fiending some Hold 'Em with awesome conversation on my balcony, I've been missing my girls. :-(

I was a Southerner before I wasn't.

From the Corner:

EDWARDS, AN ODD KINDA SOUTHERNER [Rich Lowry] This is a funny interview that a reporter from the Charlotte Observor had with John Edwards, the candidate who is supposedly going to appeal to Southerners and rural voters:

"Last week, Sen. John Edwards flew to Iowa to lay out his plan to revive rural America. He talked about growing up in tiny Robbins, N.C., where his father was a mill worker. But I wondered: How much of a country boy is Johnny Edwards today? So I turned on my tape recorder in Ottumwa, and asked the ex-trial lawyer, now senator-turned-presidential-candidate, some questions.

Q. Have you done any farming yourself?

A. No I shouldn't say never: When I was a young kid, we'd go sometimes to pull tobacco and stuff. But I've never done any serious farming.

Q. Would you call yourself a NASCAR fan?

A. I would call myself somebody who's interested in NASCAR, yeah.

Q. You don't follow the weekly races?

A. No, but I don't follow anything except politicking.

Q. Do you hunt?

A. I used to hunt a lot. Haven't hunted in years.

Q. Fish?

A. Oh, yeah. Yeah. I haven't fished in years either. Just (whispers) no time.

Q. Do you own a gun?

A. Not today. I have in the past.

I continued the interview in Washington, after "Tar Heel Thursday," Edwards' weekly meeting with constituents who happen to be in Our Nation's Capital.

Q. Are you a country music fan?

A. (Laughs) I have in the past been a country music fan.

Q. You said you had a gun in the past. How long ago was that?

A. When I was growing up. I haven't had a gun in - you mean personally? - in years. I'd have to figure out when.

Q. What kind of gun was it?

A. Get out of here (laughs).

Q. People want to know these things.

A. Yeah, I know. You want to know these things. (Laughter from his staff as Edwards departs to return to the Senate)."

Posted at 02:14 PM

And here I thought the insanity would last.

Study: Americans abandoning low-carb diets

Gotta agree with Wonkette

Perhaps if you're holding a press conference against gay marriage, you shouldn't look like the gayest guy ever.

More appeasement, sillier than usual.

So, the Philippines is pulling its troops out to save one of their people being held hostage in Iraq. I'm not going to get into the comment of how it is that yet another member of our 'nonexistent' coalition is making the news (Protein Wisdom mocks that idea better than I can), or even the obvious error of capitulating to terrorists. I just want to point out that the Philippines is pulling out before getting their guy back and before confirming (other than the word of the terrorists) that he is alive. Does that sound like a bad idea to anyone else?

YES! YES! YES!

From Drudge (please, please, please let this be true)
FLASH: Former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka will announce this morning at 9:30am he intends to run for senate in Illinois, says well-placed source...

I'm legally separated from Arlen Specter

From Savannah Now:

Republican Party a Democratic home-wrecker

The Chatham County Democratic Committee is so upset at U.S. Sen. Zell Miller for his affair with the Republican Party that they divorced the Democratic lawmaker.

Committee members issued a decree of divorce at their Monday meeting accusing the "formerly-Democratic" Miller of breaking the bonds with the local group with his actions. They site:

Miller's endorsement of President Bush

"Dereliction of duties" to Georgia by appearing on right-wing talk radio

Voting with the Republicans

(Plans to) give a speech at the Republican Convention

Committee members also urged the media to stop referring to Miller as a Democrat.

A spokesman for the Democratic Senator, who is not seeking another term, could not be reached for comment. For the full text of the divorce statement, visit www.chathamdems.com.

There was no word on who gets the children.

In NYC tonight?

Then there's only one place to be.

WOW.

How is this not front page news in ever major newspaper across the land?

Some of Reuters's Palestinian stringers are honest and courageous. But, according to several ex-Reuters staffers, they feel the intimidating presence of Wafa Amr, Reuters's "Senior Palestinian Correspondent." Amr--who is a cousin of former Palestinian minister Nabil Amr, and whose father is said to be close to Arafat--had this title specially created for her (there is no "Senior Israeli Correspondent," or the equivalent in any other Arab country) so that her close ties to the Palestinian Authority could be exploited.

As one former Reuters journalist put it: "She occupies this position in spite of lacking a basic command of English grammar. The information passed through her is controlled, orchestrated. Reuters would never allow Israeli government propaganda to be fed into its reports in this way. Indeed, stories exposing Israeli misdeeds are a favorite of Reuters. Amr has never had an exposé on Arafat, or his Al-Aqsa Brigades terror group."

But things may well be improving. Lately, with a new Jerusalem bureau chief, Reuters has taken some steps to ensure greater balance. For example, it no longer claims Hamas's goal is merely "to set up an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza" (which it is not), but instead writes that Hamas is "sworn to Israel's destruction" (which it is).

Reuters no longer carries the highly misleading "death tolls" at the end of each story that lumped together Palestinian civilians, gunmen, and suicide bombers. (Agence France-Presse continues to do this.) And, apparently, there are plans to relocate Wafa Amr by next year.

Couple this with CNN's admission after the start of the Iraq war that the information they passed on was fed to them by Saddam and you have to wonder why media even bothers having a press presence in the region. Can't they just get the despots to issue press releases and then just print those?

Via BOTW.

Class Act

From the Boston Herald:

Sen. John F. Kerry upset some families of 9/11 victims yesterday when he arrived - late - to a private memorial dedication in a sirened motorcade and glad-handed as though he were on the campaign trail. The senator, in Boston for the day, hopped in his motorcade at the Four Seasons, drove around the Boston Public Garden and arrived at the memorial with his sizable entourage in tow.

Crime du jour: faking hate crimes

Remember the teacher who faked her own hate crime in California? Now it turns out that the woman who claimed to be mistaken for a Jew and then attacked in France also made up her story. WHY?!?! Did your parents ignore you? Is that why you hunger for the attention of strangers? Seek therapy.

Additions to blogroll

Bond Girl

All Things Jen(nifer)

A_SDF

Indepundit

Check them out, they're all fabulous.

P.S to the lefties

If we don't discuss the issue of cancelling elections in advance, who do you think is going to make the call on election day whether or not they should go on?

Elections

A commenter asked me what I thought of postponing the elections in the case of terrorist attack. I'm not sure.

On one hand, it's easy to say that elections must go on no matter what. But, I was there, in NYC, on 9/11. It was election day, the mayoral primary. I had been working on one of the races. There was no way that election should have gone on that day so how can we so quickly condemn the idea for November? Dean Esmay, with whom I usually agree, called it a 'horrifically horrid idea'. Other bloggers don't want to postpone the elections because they fear it will make the loony left even loonier. Shot in the Dark writes 'every genius of the "Bush Lied" set is jumping on this like the last bag of Fritos at a Phish concert. ' He's right, of course, the left is already going nuts about this proposal in a 'I knew it! Bush is going to crown himself king for life just like Michael Moore told me he would!' fit of insanity. Right Moment writes that it depends on the scale of the attack, and I do agree with that, but would 3000 people and two towers count or would it need to be a nuke? These are exactly the kind of details we need to discuss. The Moderate Voice links to a large selection of responses, among them Captain Ed who writes 'The first Tuesday after the first Monday in November is Election Day, and that's when Americans vote for President. We understand the risks. We are at war to protect this very right, so let's show the world that nothing keeps us from exercising the freedom for which we've fought for over 200 years."'

I wonder if any New Yorkers feel the same way. I know that the rest of the country gets 9/11, maybe more than my Manhattan neighbors but I don't think it's possible to really understand the chaos of that day and the way that elections, and everything else, were rendered meaningless. My gut reaction is that elections must go on, no matter what. But, experience has shown me a different side of the debate and I don't know what to conclude. I guess my point is that we shouldn't have knee-jerk reactions to this kind of suggestion, it is grounded in a want to preserve our democracy, not destroy it.

My philosophy trumps your graveyards.

I don't need to tell regular readers that I'm not much of a social conservative. It comes from not being interested in the activities of others. Not hurting me? Not hurting others? Carry on. That's not to say that I'm 'socially liberal' because, well, social liberals are usually idiots. I guess if I had to label myself I would call myself a social libertarian. I don't care what you do as long as I'm not paying for it. Social liberals are usually not only pro-choice but also in favor of the government paying for the abortions. It's not enough for them to teach kids about condoms, we have to distribute the condoms in schools. Etc. Etc.

The one issue in which I really disagree with the socially liberal is the teaching of abstience to prevent AIDS, especially in Africa. I've written on this before, it is a special pet peeve of mine. It's is an example of what happens when the philosophy of liberalism becomes more important than not dying.

In Uganda, the spread of AIDS has been drastically reduced. It is a model for other countries, or would be if liberals didn't despise the fact that the results Uganda is getting come from teaching abstinence, fidelity and condom use as a last resort. Liberals go nuts over the abstinence teaching. It makes zero sense to me. Here is a sample of the insanity:

U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Lee, the only member of Congress to attend the week-long meeting, accused the Bush administration of using ideology, not science, to dictate policy.

She said the U.S. AIDS initiative requires that one-third of prevention funding go to "abstinence until marriage" programs.

"In an age where five million people are newly infected each year and women and girls too often do not have the choice to abstain, an abstinence until marriage program is not only irresponsible, it's really inhumane," Lee said.

"Abstaining from sex is oftentimes not a choice, and therefore their only hope in preventing HIV infection is the use of condoms," she added.

These women, to whom abstinence from sex is not an option, I assume they are pressured into sex or raped, right? So, when they're having sex against their will, do they get the choice of condom or no condom? I'm going guess that they don't. Clearly, the abstinence preaching is not aimed at women who have no choice.

If teaching abstinence is helping curb the spread of AIDS, why do liberals hate it so much? It's not realistic they say. But it's working in Uganda, I say, it's not only realistic, it's a reality. What's the problem? Is it just because it sounds conservative and anything that's conservative is immediately bad? Planned Parenthood calls it 'naked pandering to an extremist constituency' and that the US government promotes abstinence 'in an effort to keep the support of religious conservatives'. But retards, it's working, why doesn't that matter to you? 'Official figures suggest six percent of Uganda's 26.5 million people are now infected, down from 30 percent in the 1980s.' Is it that awful to agree with religious conservatives, just this once, if you're saving people's lives while doing it? How can this be a debate? And when will liberals grow up?

PR at its finest

I was listening to the song 'Good Girl' by Jadakiss a few weeks ago while driving. My brother, who was in the car with me, said 'it's funny, Jadakiss is a good rapper but really doesn't get much attention. He doesn't have any big rap feuds like Jay Z and Nas or 50 Cent and Ja Rule. He doesn't have a lot of controversy.'

I guess his Public Relations people must've felt the same way because wowee all of the sudden, there is controversy, there is press, there is attention. All he had to do is accuse Bush of knocking down the World Trade Center. Go him.

The kind of threats I like to hear.

Iraq Leader Threatens Death to Militants

Gotta love politics

Why, my opponent has the same initials as Hillary Clinton, that's got to mean something!

Flip-Flop in 30 seconds or less

I was against Edwards's inexperience before I was for it.
Experience doesn't matter:

"Don't get suckered into the how many years you've been in one job or this job" debate, Kerry said. "You've got people in [Washington] who have been in one job [for] 30 years of what you call experience, and they have done nothing, they don't stand for anything and they don't know how to fight."

The measure of a leader, he said, is a "person's character, a person's values, a person's abilities and political skills and ability to work with other people and bring people to a cause." Kerry called this the "character of toughness."

Unless it's my experience:

"I challenged my level of experience against his, as I will challenge my level of experience against George Bush's and Dick Cheney's," Kerry said. "That was a fair challenge . . . in the context of the primaries. But that doesn't mean [Edwards] isn't qualified against George Bush."

Kerry added, "Does [Edwards] have as much experience as me? No. But I am running for president; he's running for vice president."

Unreal

Remember the turkey debate from last Thanksgiving? No? Then clearly you don't work for the liberal media. When Bush was in Iraq for Thanksgiving last year, he picked up a decorative, but very real, bird and posed for a photo. Since then, morons 'round the world have called the bird a fake and used it as 'proof' of the duplicity of this White House: why even the food is fake! Tim Blair notes that the NY Times has actually, and sit down for this one, issued a correction stating that the bird is, indeed, real. Well. I know I'll sleep better tonight.

It's official.

I really do know everyone.

A few days ago, Ken Wheaton ran into a high school friend of mine (from the school I only attended for one year and was unlucky enough to meet Ms. Summers).

Last night, sometimes commenter Tobster, whom I met at college in Boston, calls me and tells me he met a Russian friend of mine at work. The guy, Vlad, is someone I've known since childhood, our parents knew each other in Russia and we grew up down the street from each other.

Today, I ran into someone I knew in Young Harris, Georgia (hometown of Zell Miller), population 596. It was someone I had met at CPAC back in January.

Bizarre.

Could 50 Cent survive 9 shots....

.....from this?

Denial

'I did not put my arms around that man, Mr. Moore'- Tom Daschle

Newsflash

Richard Riordan is not racist, just stupid.

NY senators: World Court wrong about West Bank barrier

What's that saying? Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.

New York-AP -- New York's two senators were quick to denounce the International Court of Justice opinion that Israel's West Bank barrier is illegal.

The good news, said Charles Schumer at a news conference across the street from the United Nations, is that the court's opinion is only advisory.

Schumer complained that Israel is being held to a different standard when it comes to protecting itself against terrorism.

Hillary Clinton called the barrier "a legitimate response" to Israel's need to protect itself. She said it's drastically reduced suicide bombings in Israel.

Arab countries say they'll ask the U-N General Assembly to pass a resolution demanding the fence be taken down.

That conservative media

The Linda Vester show on Fox News is right now discussing whether or not Dick Cheney is grumpy.

Brave, brave woman

Unless you live in NYC, or somewhere like it, I'm not sure you'll get just how brave Ari really is. She rocks, rocks, rocks (and I thought that even before she was voting for Bush).

Good Deeds

C from A Picture Of Me sends along a link to information on how you can help with the crisis in Sudan.

Yet another conservative punk article

How shocking. Punks are voting Republican. The Guardian has discovered it, after every other media outlet covered this story months ago. Nice going.

Via the gorgeous Peter.

Question for political buffs in NYC

I was thinking, Michael Benjamin raised over $500,000 to run against Chuck Schumer before the Republican party railroaded him and installed their own candidate, Howard Mills (for the record, I've got nothing against Mills, he's a sacrificial lamb just like Benjamin would've been). Can Benjamin now take this money and, say, run for City Council next year with the biggest budget of any other candidate? Will Benjamin now be a candidate to be reckoned with in another race? Or, what?

Those dumb Israelis

How could they not know that their wall was illegal under 'international law'? I mean, Section 4, line 18 clearly states 'Jews should not fight against being murdered and should smile and obey in the face of terrorism.'

Brutal

Fox's new anti-CNN ads are so mean. Apparently CNN anchor Jack Cafferty, or whatever his name is, was in Las Vegas when Kerry announced Edwards as his running mate. Fox's ad uses a play on words twice and says something like 'Jack Cafferty was in Vegas when the Edwards announcement broke. Betting on getting your news from CNN? You don't know Jack.' Ouch.

Enough with the touching, you're making me uncomfortable

I'm all for stopping commie Obama.....

.....but drafting Mike Ditka?

I would never, ever, ever.....

....want to get on James Lileks's bad side.

Where's the bounce?

AP Poll: Bush Gains Slight Lead Over Kerry

Now, that's just mean

I just got a phantom hit from Instapundit.

Little old men....

....can just about get away with anything.

Mystery of Edward's ugly wife solved

Apparently, she used to look pretty good.

Misty water colored memories

My top two FAQs are:

1. Seriously, a youngish, Jewish Republican in New York City?
2. Seriously, Dawn Summers?

In honor of Dawn's 29th birthday (or the 4th anniversary of her 25th birthday, depending on how she's feeling), I thought I would share how I came to be stuck with the wacko liberal we all know and love. It will be 14 long years of knowing her come September.

Despite how it may seem, especially to people who know me personally, I was a painfully shy preteen. I hated speaking and would talk super fast to get all the words out and away from me. I was extremely sulky and self concious.

My parent's friend's kid had not gotten into a private high school in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn so my parents, of course, made me apply. They promised me a guitar if I got in. I got in. The guitar was not worth it.

It was my first week of high school. I hated it violently. I didn't talk to anyone in my classes, except when one girl asked me why I never wear any clothes from the Gap (I asked my father that weekend why we never went to the Gap. He said 'what did we forget there?'). I was on the school bus on about day 4 and there was this rowdy black girl with 5000 teeth that she flashed every time she smiled or laughed (which was all the damn time). I was totally fooled by the smile and went out on a limb and decided to talk to her. It went like this:

Me: Can I borrow your walkman?
Her (rolling her eyes in a way only she can): If I had a walkman, wouldn't I be listening to it?
Me: Oh.

I didn't talk to her, or really anyone, for awhile after that. Then, on some whim I still don't understand, I joined the Model U.N. team at my school. Dawn was also on the team (and in every other club and team at the school. Her stated goal was to have as many photos in the yearbook as possible.) We were going to participate in a Model U.N happening at Yale University in New Haven. Somewhere on that trip, Dawn and I discovered that we both watched 'Days Of Our Lives'. A friendship based on a shared love of a Soap Opera was beginning. She told me she had enough money to eat only candy bars the whole time we were away. I remember feeling really bad for her and worrying about her. Also on that trip, sophmore in high school Dawn said 'I'm going to go to Yale for college'. She did.

We started spending hours on the phone together. Even when I left the evil school after a year, our phone calls continued. I would read her the entirety of 'Soap Opera Digest'. We had the same sarcastic sense of humor. We would laugh not only at other's misfortunes but also at our own. We weren't sappy girls writing BFF all over our notebooks. We were a lot realer.

Dawn was a year above me in school and I cried when she went away to college. I was making her a tape to take with her and just started bawling. My mom thought someone had died.

We've taken breaks from our friendship over the years but always seem to come back, lured by the hilarious marathon phone calls that we can have with no one else.

When my grandmother died earlier this year, instead of asking me how I was doing in a faux sad voice like a lot of other people did, Dawn said 'oh, you're going to be really sad, aren't you?' When my other grandmother died about a month ago (it's been a bad year), Dawn sent me gorgeous flowers with a note that read 'I'm sorry you don't have anymore grandmas'. We enjoy sticking annoying songs in each other's heads and waking each other up. It's not a typical friendship, in fact we deny that we're friends at all. Everyone knows how mismatched our politics are, but I can't say it's ever affected our friendship (except maybe for a little while right after the 2000 election where our emails bordered on real meanness instead of the kind we usually share). Even aside from politics, we have very little in common. It doesn't seem to matter though, we laugh at the same dumb stuff and have a level of comfort with each other that makes it one of the best friendships I have (and I have the best friends ever as it is). So, happy birthday Dawn (btw, your present is all the links in this piece, enjoy), I look forward to another 14 years as a member of the boring team (as my mother calls us when she catches us on the phone). Go on over to Clarified and wish our Dawn a happy birthday.

How Shocking

French Flock to Anti-Bush 'Fahrenheit'

Sheep.

The phantom hit

Do you ever get a hit on your blog and so, of course, you visit the site to see what they've linked to and you can't find yourself linked anywhere? How does this happen? It just happened to me with Jane Galt.

The deep question of life

Why is it that it's always celebrities like Alanis or Macy Gray that choose to take off all their clothes and not anyone you'd actually want to see?

Weird

Three Bodies Found at Sam Donaldson’s Ranch.

A volunteer in my office just said 'I bet they're all Republicans.'

I love Protest Warrior

And for reasons other than the fact that they're cuties.

Ted Rall makes me want to vomit. On him.

Via an email from Kevin Patrick.

Dumb as a doornail

Britney Spears is refusing to get a pre-nuptial agreement from her fiance, whom she has been with for three whole months. She also bought her own 5 carat $40,000 engagement ring and has him on her payroll. Actually, I take it back. Doornails are much smarter.

Via All Things Jen.

On a side note, $40,000 for a 5 carat diamond is nothing. A poor quality ring with very bad color and mediocre clarity runs for $57,623 on Blue Nile. C'mon Britney, you can do better than that for uh, yourself.

Book Review

My review of John Podhoretz's 'Bush Country' is now up on the Townhall.com website.

Go ahead and call me racist.

I went to the Townhall.com Meetup yesterday in Atlanta. It was in an office, which I thought was kind of odd. In NYC, meetups are basically excuses to drink with likeminded people. In Georgia, they actually have themes and bring in speakers. The theme in Woodstock, GA was the Fair Tax and Herman Cain spoke to the group. The theme at the one in Atlanta was illegal immigration and we watched a presentation by a guy named D.A. King.

A former marine, and founder of a group called 'The American Resistance', King said that it was the first such presentation he has ever given and if so, he is a very quick learner. His presentation was really incredible. I'm greatly opposed to illegal immigration, and not just because I had to immigrate the legal way with my parents waiting years for permission to come here. With the world being what it is, and the threat to us being as big as it is, it makes me uncomfortable that our borders are so open and that millions of people enter every year and blend into the crowds. It's too easy to say that 'it's just Mexicans coming here to work hard by taking jobs Americans don't want'. There exists a real possibility that Al Qaeda members can walk unnoticed into our country. Yes, they could come here legally and wreak havoc but then at least we have some idea of where they are and what they are doing. King's presentation was also chilling because it documented how easy it is to get an American driver's license and all the privileges that come with it. In a few states, a Matricula Consular card which is issued by the Mexican government to its citizens living abroad, is all you need. To prove how easy it is to get one, King got one for himself (scroll down to the bottom). Check out his site, it's pretty mindboggling. I know we've had the debate here before but I just don't understand how anyone can be for us not enforcing our immigration laws and allowing our country to accept these lawbreaking people with open arms. King will be featured on a CNN special in October and I hope he does a tour. He is a must-see.

Six?!?!

Could crazy old Dawn Summers have been right about the significance of the 'six'? I posted about it here and here.

Classic

Marijuana Advocates Forget to File for Ballot

LAS VEGAS (AP) - An initiative to legalize pot in Nevada might go up in smoke after organizers forgot to file 6,000 petition signatures by a June 15 deadline.

Clark County (search) Registrar Larry Lomax said Billy Rogers, president of the political consulting firm seeking to qualify the petition, is pleading for him to accept the 6,000 names.

"Unfortunately, the state law says they have to turn it all in by June 15," Lomax said.

Via The Corner.

$$$

I know I have a lot of history buffs for readers so maybe you can answer me this: is the Kerry/Edwards ticket the richest in history (as noted by Charles Johnson)?

Bloggers are in

The Republican National Convention has decided to credential bloggers to attend. I hope that includes lowly-coupla-hundred-hits-a-day bloggers like me.

Meeting Up

There is a Townhall.com Meetup happening all across the country tonight. I usually go to the one in Manhattan (which will be at V Bar, 225 Sullivan St. between Bleecker & W. 3rd) but will be attending the one in Atlanta tonight (which will be at Randy Hough's Office, 5901-C Peachtree Dunwoody Rd). Visit the Meetup.com site to find one near you and keep an eye out for other upcoming meetups like the Bush2004 and Republican ones. Also, July 15 is the National Party For The President Day so find and attend one of those near you (or host one of your own).

Visit my other site to find events for NYC Republicans.

Robert Fisk isn't anti-war...

...he's just on the other side.

Numbers

Poll: Over 40% of Canadian Teens Think America is 'Evil'...

Informal Spot On Poll: Over 40% of American Teens haven't thought about Canada at all, ever.

NYC on July 13

My wonderful boyfriend and his excellent friend will be doing a night of obscure music at Rififi (AKA Cinema Classics -- 332 E. 11 St, NYC) on Tuesday, July 13th, promptly at 9pm. They're starting with Beach Boys' Smile. I, very unfortunately, can't be there but you all should go. It should be a great time and I expect to see plenty of blog entries on how it went.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

Happy 58th birthday to you. I hope you have a fabulous year.

More on Kerry's 'conservative values'

Fox News just reported that Kerry said that 'life begins at conception'. For those not entrenched in the abortion debate, people who are pro-life believe that life begins at conception while people who are pro-choice believe that life begins at delivery. I understand the pro-choice position from people who don't believe that life begins at conception but if you do, as Kerry said he does, then being pro-choice is basically legalizing murder. Well done, John. Or, is there 'nuance' to believing it's a life yet being ok with killing it?

Another Republican will not be Kerry's VP

Perdue asks Kerry to Withdraw his Name from VP Consideration

Guns don't kill people....

Headline: Kennesaw police investigate beating death

Why is this interesting? Because Kennesaw is a town in Georgia that requires that every household has a gun. It is against the law to be gun-free. I've seen a lot of bumper stickers with guns on them that say 'it's the law in Kennesaw'. And yet, here is a death by beating. Will the gun grabbers move to ban 'blunt objects'?

Ah feel your pain

My party doesn't identify itself in my hometown either.

Faith

Allahpundit (who lives in NY!!! Couldya believe it!?!? I clearly still can't) has confirmed the existence of a G-d.

4th of July

You haven't lived until you've marched in a small town Independence Day parade. It was really touching and spectacular.

On a sour note, a Democrat group was handing out water at the end of the route and one of the people marching with us in a Herman Cain t-shirt took a bottle. The Democrat said 'this water is for Democrats only'. Our guy thought they were kidding but they said 'no really, put it down'. Had I not been wearing my own red Herman Cain t-shirt, they would have gotten some choice words from me.

It's a small world after all

In a city of 8 million people, you'd think this would never happen.

Eh?

Marlon Brando was bisexual?!?!? The Godfather liked men too?!?!?

Hahahahahahaha

Asked how he was planning to connect with a rural constituency, John Kerry replied: because I represent their conservative values.

Yes. Really.

As reported on Fox News just now.

Update on this: here.

They 'don't fight fair', they're 'dirty, dirty'

Nader accuses Democrats of 'dirty tricks'

Quote of the Day

Last weekend two security guards at Iran’s UN mission were ordered out of the country. They’d been observed photographing and videoing what the Iranian press attaché called ‘popular tourist attractions in New York City’. This turned out to mean the tunnels and bridges leading into Manhattan. I don’t know about you, but the first time I visited New York I couldn’t wait to get a photograph of the mouth of the Holland Tunnel. And then one about a couple hundred yards in, with a nice close-up of the duct work. Who needs Central Park in May or the Rockefeller Center skating rink?

This story comes round every few months now. November 2003: Iranian men discovered photographing ‘tourist attractions’. June 2002: same thing. Maybe commuter-tunnel photography is to Persian culture as trainspotting is to English culture.

But suppose it’s not. One day a pair of security guards from the Iranian mission will be heading for the Lincoln Tunnel, and they won’t be carrying just their Kodak Instamatics.

The war on terror’s a bit of a joke on the Left these days. In Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore says Bush is deliberately keeping the population in a state of fear, and he gets some of his biggest laughs with clips of solemn announcers announcing upgraded terrorism alerts.

I suppose it is pretty funny. Until it happens. And then Moore and the Democrats will switch to arguing that Bush knew it was going to happen all along and didn’t do anything about it.

Observation.

I know I have only been in the south for, oh, about 6 days now, and I acknowledge that I don't know anything yet (so don't start with me, Von Bek) but I've attended a ton of candidate events in that time and I have an insight that I'd like to share.

I had been wondering lately how 'outsourcing' became such a big issue. I've read many articles for and against outsourcing and I could never understand how something that affects such a small percentage of the population can be such a major talking point. Well, now I think I know.

Yesterday, I went to a candidate forum in which a candidate for State Senate layed out his platform: pro-life, pro-gun, against gay marriage, for bringing back prayer in schools. Oh, and he's a Democrat. So, what differentiates him from his Republican opponent? He is wildly enthusiastic about stopping the dreaded outsourcing. It's used as a tool to scare people about foreigners taking away their jobs. And they say Republicans 'race bait' in the south. It's the only thing that Democrats down here have, everything else is a 'me too' with the Republicans. I predict the parties here are eventually going to come down to the trade divide alone, one for free trade, the other for protectionism. I can't say that I know which one will win.

Blogroll Update

The Galvin Opinion

Unconventional Wisdom

A Twenty Something Life

I'm also moving the wonderful Allahpundit to the NY bloggers area. Who knew Allah resided in NY?! If I have you in the wrong geographical section, please let me know because I mostly do it by guessing.

Annoying Team

Man Tries to Get Rid of Million Pennies

I know someone just as irritating.

Search of the Day

John Kerry is a lying freak

Welcome. :-)

I love Democracy

Gib's got a feel-good post.

Grassroots action from a distance

I know some readers of this blog made phone calls for Pat Toomey during his race against Arlen Specter. If you're interested in doing the same for Herman Cain, send an e-mail to CainCalls at hotmail.com (change the at to a @) and they will send you a list of phone calls to make as well as a script. I would personally appreciate any help you can offer and you should also know that the momentum here is amazing, like nothing I've ever seen on a campaign, and your calls could lend some serious help.

If you live in Georgia and would like to volunteer, email leila at cainforussenate.org (change the at to a @).

There are 19 days left before the primary, every little bit can help.

UPDATE: I have two gmail invites left so if they're still a draw, I offer them to the first two people who contact Cain Calls and mention this site.

Just wondering

How did Saddam get a suit? Did someone take him shopping? Did they run back to one of his palaces and pick one out for him?