Worst People in the World

This is really awful.

Some idiots hacked into an epilepsy foundation web site and threw a bunch of flashing messages up there that apparently can cause people who are afflicted to go into seizures.

Snow Job from the Plain Dealer

So I played this 'game' this morning at the Cleveland Plain Dealer site and it struck me as being really, really bad. It's opening day here in Cleveland at our recently renamed ballpark and this game is a play on the snowstorm that killed opening day last year.

"But," I thought, "maybe I have not had enough coffee yet."

Thankfully, I was able to shed the memory of the lost 45 seconds of my life from my brain.

Well, the snowjob has made it onto Digg. Hopefully others register their hate of this pathetic attempt at an online game. How stupid!

This comment was the best...

by reflex768 18 hours ago

The awfulness of that game literally makes me angry.

Obama Mania

I heard an interesting snippet mentioned by Tony Blankley on Left, Right and Center last week and thought I'd post it up.

Speaks to the perceptions of Obama-mania sweeping the nation.

The Power of Cook County, Illinois
In the race for the most popular votes in the Democratic Party's presidential primary contests, Sen. Barack Obama's lead over Sen. Hillary Clinton is about 711,000 votes -- not including Florida or Michigan -- according to Real Clear Politics.

Of Sen. Obama's 711,000 popular-vote lead, 650,000 -- or more than 90% of the total margin -- comes from Sen. Obama's home state of Illinois, with 429,000 of that lead coming from his home base of Cook County.

That margin in Cook County represents almost 60% of Obama's total lead nationwide. Interestingly, Sen. Obama's 429,000-vote margin in Cook County alone is larger than the winning margin of either candidate in any state.

Chicago Dems still know how to support their candidates better than anyone else in the country...

We Play Both Kinds of Music...Country AND Western

While the discussion was cordial, informative and entertaining, check out this fair and balanced panel on ABC's This Week, this week.

Panel moderator: George Stephanopoulos- Former Clinton staffer
Panel members: George Will - Lone wolf conservative
Donna Brazille - Former Clinton staffer
Paul Krugman - Well-known pinko

Nice.

Mincing Words with the Clintons

If nothing else, the Clintons are wizards at mincing words.

Having been put on the defensive after relating a story about events that simply didn't take place...ever...Hillary had to come out and find a way to argue that Barack's relationship with the truth was just as flimsy as hers.

To prove the point, she's saying that Obama's campaign literature describing himself as a "University of Chicago Law Professor" was in the same ballpark as her claims of landing under sniper fire.

Lynn Sweet of the Sun-Times breaks it all down and here is the statement put out by the U of C this week in response to the ruckus.

Statement Regarding Barack Obama

The Law School has received many media requests about Barack Obama, especially about his status as "Senior Lecturer."

From 1992 until his election to the U.S. Senate in 2004, Barack Obama served as a professor in the Law School. He was a Lecturer from 1992 to 1996. He was a Senior Lecturer from 1996 to 2004, during which time he taught three courses per year. Senior Lecturers are considered to be members of the Law School faculty and are regarded as professors, although not full-time or tenure-track. The title of Senior Lecturer is distinct from the title of Lecturer, which signifies adjunct status. Like Obama, each of the Law School's Senior Lecturers have high-demand careers in politics or public service, which prevent full-time teaching. Several times during his 12 years as a professor in the Law School, Obama was invited to join the faculty in a full-time tenure-track position, but he declined.

Obama's Bowling Game

Yes, we have had far too long between elections when Barack's Bowling Game becomes the pool report for the evening.

A Day for Thanks

More on Racial Imagry

The LeBron item below was still on my mind when I went out and grabbed this morning's paper from the stoop.

The Arts section in the Times this morning has a pretty cool feature on post-racial art.

Check it out online for the slideshow.

Nayland Blake’s “Coat’’ (2001)

The Problem With Self-Righteousness

It's damned near impossible to live a public life with the air of self-righteousness that people on the left and right do.

Sooner or later someone's going to realize that, now and then, right-wingers get horny and left-wingers want a little bling.

Hillary Clinton, who has been behaving as if the practice of sub prime lending was invented over at the CATO Institute, has a pretty direct line to the crisis.

Her new campaign head, Maggie Williams, was a director of one of these 'predatory' firms in New York until December when they went belly up.

Of course, the campaign said that she was not really involved in very much of anything for the $45K in compensation she got. I guess they were paying her just to look pretty.

LeBron's Image

This is one of the very few sports-related postings you'll find here.

LeBron James is on the current cover of Vogue magazine with someone named Gisele Bundchen.

I guess she's famous for being good-looking...or she should be.

Anyway, the imagery struck more than one person as being both unoriginal and just a bit distasteful.

I feel inclined to play the Obama speech underneath here, but am too lazy.

You get where I'm going. Don't you, bro?

Hillary Cartoon Two-fer

Both from Daryl Cagle's cool editorial cartoon site that I seem to check on Saturdays.

Mike Lester, Rome News-Tribune, Rome, GA

Daryl Cagle, MSNBC.com

Women and Water Are in Short Supply. There's Not Enough Dope for Us All to Get High.

I'm terribly conflicted about Jimmy Buffett.

While there's nothing all that complex or totally-unique about his music, I find myself drawn to it.

As an avowed Deadhead, I shouldn't be bothered by people who choose to live it up at a show, but I generally find Parrotheads to be a bunch of incorrigible, amateur drunks who should be on permanent lockdown.

Well, on the way home last night, I had a really excellent bootleg of his from the June 3, 1978 show at the LA Universal Amphitheatre on my so-cool iPod Touch and decided to cut a short slide show of Manana for you.

Enjoy!

What Ever Happened to John Hughes?

While I don't often ask myself this question in those quiet moments, I did find this LA Times article from this week a nice step back in time.

Hughes made some of the most popular movies around when I was growing up, including Weird Science, 16 Candles, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Breakfast Club.

I guess he's kind of a recluse now.

Addendum...some people had the "Don't let the door hit you on the ass on your way out, John!" feeling when he rode off to Chicago's north shore.

Hill Headed to Albany?

This is admittedly a rumour probably being spread, as The Economist notes, by those who want to get her the hell out of the Presidential race, but...

Some folks are starting to chatter about the possibility of Hillary running for governor of the Empire State.

While its origins might not be pure, the notion is not without merit, in my opinion.

Assuming she does not get the nod for President, Hill could have a bit of a hard time when she heads back to The Hill. This race has spawned a lot of the divisiveness that she and her hubby are masters at spreading. Furthermore, if she bloodies Barack enough during this fight, she may be the best thing that has ever happened to John McCain...not a good way to make friends in the D-Triple-C.

Just ask Joe Lieberman.

I doubt it'll go anywhere, but I thought it was kind of an interesting pastime idea in this long stretch between actual elections.

Cool Today, Hot Tamale

I've no clue how I got in the mood for this, but here's The King performing Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain.

I'm going to go have a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich for breakfast.

Thankyouverymuch.

The Evolution of the Internets

That series of tubes really has come a long way in the last 10 years.

Here's a really nifty article on the evolution of some major sites over the last 10 years or so.

If you're geeky like me, you might also like The Archive's Wayback Machine...a neat way to look back at your favorite sites over time.

Whoh! I even show up there...albeit sans images!

Wow. This is Cool.

Came across a totally cool shadow puppet movie by this guy, Raymond Crowe.

He's Australian.

Cool Hillary Picture on WashPo

From The Trail, their political blog.

The Great Freddie Mercury

I had some trouble sleeping, so got up to do some work and came across a really nice slideshow to the tune of Queen's Freddie Mercury's The Great Pretender.

(Is a double-possessive correct, albeit clumsy, English?)

Anyway, this was a nice picture compilation set to really cool song by a lost treasure...

The Beatles Perform Octopus's Garden

I haven't posted any music in a few days, so wanted to catch back up.

On the way home this evening, I listened to Abbey Road all the way through.

Damn. Does it get any better? As far as studio albums, I think not. Note for note, that may very well be the best piece of music ever put to vinyl.

Enjoy some Ringo...

I'm Going to Hades For This One

I can resist anything but temptation.

A Quickie With the Potential First Daughter

In this slowish period for the GOP, the WashPo has a fluff piece on John McCain's bloggy daughter, Meghan.

Anonymous Commenting Disabled

This got a bit hard because of some specuation on who anonymous is (or if there are more than one of them...)

Mike Gravel...Moving on to "Greener" Pastures

Nincompoop Mike Gravel has concluded that he probably won't have enough declared delegates in Denver to steal the Democratic nod.

Never one to make a stupid decision, he's shifted over to the other natural choice, the Libertarian Party.

He's starting to work on getting their nomination, according to the New York Times.

This guy cracks me up. He's kind of the white Al Sharpton this year. Sure, there are some things that come out of his mouth (like, "Hello. My name is Mike Gravel." that you can't argue with), but others that you have to wonder if he has sense enough to come in out of the rain.

The Latest On The Lady Who's Always Going to be First in Our Hearts

The New York Times had two winners today on the Hillary campaign.

First, David Brooks points out something that has annoyed the living heck out of me since Bubba was in office. As part of a larger opinion piece on how Hillary is ruining her party's chances in November for the sake of her own vanity, he mentions this asinine habit she has.

Think of the thousands of staged events, the tens of thousands of times she has pretended to be delighted to see someone she doesn’t know, the hundreds of thousands times she has recited empty clichés and exhortatory banalities, the millions of photos she has posed for in which she is supposed to appear empathetic or tough, the billions of politically opportune half-truths that have bounced around her head.

The other, a news article, brings to us the new campaign argument being pushed by Hillary backer, Evan Bayh. Superdelegates should back Hillary because she holds a slight lead when you count not popular votes and not delegate votes, but Electoral College votes by state.

They, he argues, are the important thing after all, right?

Problem is...does anyone remember the utterly shallow popular vote cheerleading old blondie was doing in 2000?

"I believe strongly that in a democracy, we should respect the will of the people and to me, that means it’s time to do away with the Electoral College and move to the popular election of our president.”

Don't Look at this Picture If You Don't Want to Go to Hell

If Youtube Did Nothing Else, Ever, It Would Still Be Worth it for This Video

God bless America.

If only Hanoi Jane was with her on this trip...or they were singing some Peter, Paul and Mary on stage.

At First, It Sounded Hot...But It's Not

Easter services at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago (just across the street from Loyola's beautiful Water Tower Campus) were interrupted yesterday by Iraq War protesters belonging to Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War.

Pity...because the concept had some really good possibilities.

A New View on Barack

Mildly amusing...

Something Pretty After Some Mean Posts Today

I guess it doesn't hurt that the woman up front is strikingly beautiful, but this is such a pretty cover by these three unknown people of CS&N's Wasted on the Way.

Enjoy.

Hillary the Christ Figure

“Mr. Richardson’s endorsement came right around the anniversary of the day when Judas sold out for 30 pieces of silver, so I think the timing is appropriate, if ironic.”

Noted Clintonista, James Carville, on the Richardson endorsement

Editorial Cartoon of the Day

Mike Lane, Baltimore, Maryland

The Wetback Vote

This morning brings more behavior typical of the Clintonistas in this Presidential campaign.

After yesterday's Bill Richardson endorsement of Obama, Mark Penn is dismissing it, saying that Richardson's window of influence had passed.

Reading between the lines, he's saying that Richardson had a temporary ability to influence the race when Hispanics and western folks were voting.

Make no mistake about it; I'm no great fan of Bill Richardson.

But the Clintons were still courting his superdelegate vote and support as recently as 8 days ago and Bubba himself trekked out to New Mexico to watch the Superbowl with Richardson this winter.

Someone is, indeed, showing their Primary Colors.

More Hard Hitting Journalism from the Cleveland Plain Dealer

In light of the Spitzer story, the Cleveland Plain Dealer took a week or so to come up with a piece on how much it costs to get a piece in Northeast Ohio.

Here's some of the shocking information that only their gifted investigators could dig up:

• Getting a callgirl can cost a few thousand bucks for a night.
• Some of them operate out near Hopkins Airport.
• Many of the girls have 'regular' financial situations, using the money to help raise their kids and pay their mortgages.
• Many of the girls profess actual affection for their customers, some of whose spouses know about their men's dalliances.

I suspect that this article was only the warmup to future Geraldo-like whoppers that will uncover gambling in Vegas and praying going on in churches.

Bob Schieffer To Stay on FTN A Little Longer

I don't always catch the live broadcast of Face the Nation on Sundays.

It comes on here in Cleveland at the same time as Meet the Press and CBS insists on making it the shortest of the Sunday shows at 1/2 hour, so it usually gets relegated to podcast territory.

But I always enjoy Bob Schieffer. He's one of those guys who comes off as an old school reporter and keeps whatever real political beliefs he has as far away from the table as is reasonable.

I was glad to read this afternoon that there's no definite retirement date yet...he had previously said he was going to ride off into the sunset after the next President gets sworn in.

Incompetence Trumps Malevolence at State

So I'm listening to the talking heads this afternoon, dissecting the passportgate shenanigans at State.

What baffles me is why I have not heard anyone speculate on what seems so obvious to me.

Last night, it got out that someone working in a Republican-controlled State Dept. had looked into the files of a leading Democrat.

That sucks because it reflects broadly-bad security around these files and also opens the door for claims of political monkeyshines.

So what better way to close up the politically-motivated conspiracy theory by broadening the problem and saying, "Heck, we found that all three of the Prez candidates have had their files snooped on! I reckon we got us a bunch of shitheads working down there!"

(This would hardly be a first in the 43-administration.)

Now, in an organization as large as this, it's not the least bit surprising to me that there would be some chance stupidity going on and some random employee would overstep their need-to-know by peeking at files.

It can't have been hard for them to find the other instances of foolishness going on to release them and blunt any conspiracy claims.

I'll have to wait with the rest of you to find out what really happened here, but my money's on the story above and I'll wait for people who get paid for their opinions to catch on.

Silly Season in the Barack Campaign

All the Jeremiah Wright coverage going on is, in my opinion, a bit silly.

As I've opined here before, what the guy was saying was not nearly as "dangerous" as some would have you believe and his observations may not even be that far out of the mainstream.

While I don't have the data here to show you that each of the three cable news networks are wringing the Wright story to comparably-excessive levels, I hope my dear reader won't have too much trouble accepting my claim.

That's why I found it so funny this afternoon when the chatterboxes over at the Obama campaign decided to single out Fox's coverage of the story and complain about it.

Fox is a convenient target and they certainly have engaged in drumming up a substantively-irrelevant story, but it takes a lot less courage and honesty for a Democrat to only go after them and exonerate CNN and MSNBC.

Spitzer Goes into Therapy

I'm kind of torn on this one...

One part of me finds the idea of former Governor Spitzer going into therapy for a possible sex addiction really hilarious.

Another part of me sympathizes with a guy who might be resorting to whatever he can to get the 4 women who live in his household off his ass. I honestly felt bad for him (and them, of course!) when I found out he had 3 daughters...one of whom was really close in age to 'Kristen.'

That just added a new level of creepiness to the whole thing.

Finally, I might be wrong. Maybe there is such a thing. The generally-accepted definition of an addiction is expansive enough to include something like this, so to the extent that you're a believer in the DSM IV, maybe it's all real.

In celebration of Spitzer's potential moment of clarity, check out this kickass cut of Ben Harper performing Gaye's Sexual Healing at the Hollywood Bowl in 2003. It's really cool.

Nader's Mailers

Got a fundraising note from the Nader campaign this morning.

They are starting to crank up the heat in AZ...guess it works out well when the Senator is on his overseas trip.

Anyway, he's proposing something that probably does strike a chord in most of us...and especially those of you who might have family members serving in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"Draft from the Top" is something Nader/Gonzales like, and I think might make a lick of sense, too.

The terms we've been throwing around in relation to Bear Stearns lately, moral hazard, comes to mind.

Well, I liked the public domain pic old Ralphie chose to use in the email, too.

Hello, Dolly!

Our Dear Leader met another Dear Leader over in India yesterday.

With all the troubles going on in Tibet, it was a wonderful photo op for all involved.

This picture from the Times captured the moment in all its majesty.

More Stupidity from the Cleveland Pain Dealer's Website

As time goes on, I have less and less sympathy for this paper as it goes down the crapper.

At first, I did feel bad for the (current) hometown paper, but now I know that there are plenty of qualified people in town they could hire to run a good website. Hell, I work with some of them!

By the way, that picture is actually of groundskeepers getting ready for opening day at the recently-renamed ballpark here in town.

Obama is a Long-Legged MacDaddy!

I love black preachers.

I need to become one.

They are the best.

This is the Rev. James David Manning, talking about Obama and big breasts from the pulpit.

Monty Python Meets The Evil Doers

More random funniness...

Douchebagsayswhat?

These are funny...and true.

Some Music

I hope to find some energy/time/motivation to post up something on the Obama speech later in the day, but for now, here's some music that picked me up this morning.

It's Brian Wilson, Eddie Vedder, Roger Daltrey and others, at the Bridge School Benefit in 1999, doing Surfin' USA.

Hillary Clinton...Moving in on the GLBT Crowd

Sir Elton John announced yesterday that he'll do a gig at Radio City in support of the Hillary campaign.

While I haven't spent much time digging into this, I will note that he's not the first high profile lifestyle guy to come out and support her. The very notable Perez Hilton is an unabashed fan of the Ice Queen.

Here's Mr. John, performing one of my favorites from back in the day, Burn Down the Mission, from the BBC in 1970.

Teaching a new class today at work...wish me luck!

Now I Know Why They Call it the Clinton News Network!

And You Thought W Had a Way With Words

I remember Steve and Garry playing this soundbite when I was a kid, but I couldn't quite remember the context.

I was able to dig up the reference, but have yet to come across the audio. For some demented reason, I find this to be a really funny slip of the tongue...

  --"This country needs a spear chucker, and I think we've got him
up on this podium." Eugene Dorff, mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin,
 introducing presidential candidate Jesse Jackson.  Dorff said later
 that he intended to say "straight shooter" but slipped.

Gotta Be Cruel to be Kind

I posted here the other day my suspicion that the Clintons were behind the release of the Jeremiah Wright tapes this weekend.

That seemed almost too obvious since all outlets got them around the same time and no one is really talking about the attribution for them.

Well, this morning's talk shows only cemented my belief.

Both Nita Lowey (appearing on MTP) and Chuckie Schumer (on FNS) refused to take the bait when the topic of the tapes came up. Both sat back with uncharacteristic benevolence, suggesting that we move on to the issues that are important to the people.

Now my only question is how I'll get the stain from the partially-digested waffles off of my carpet.

>> This was the 1000th post here, by the way. Wow. I sure seem to have lots to say about lots of stuff.

Land of the Rising Sun

Those crafty Japanese are at it again.

Now, the four major IPs over there are collaborating with copyright holders to track down people using P2P software, allegedly violating copyrights, and taking measured steps to shut them down.

While I've experimented with this stuff the way Barry did a little blow back in the day, I generally don't deal much in commercially-released material. But increased monitoring (and action based on that monitoring) of one's online behavior is something I don't like.

...But I'd be lying if I told you I thought it was anything but inevitable.

Hillary Does a Neat Mailer

The Hillary campaign sent out an interesting email this afternoon that had a nifty little flash-driven photo album from the campaign.

I thought it was kind of cool, so I snagged a little video of it for you.

Very Cool John Lennon Tribute

I came across something cool this afternoon...a nicely-edited All Those Years Ago...George Harrison's tribute to John Lennon.

Enjoy!

Get Your Nuts Here

The older I get, the more I realize that pretty much everyone is out to get you.

Including god.

Well, maybe she's not, but the people who claim to represent her sure seem to like having a firm grip on you.

The latest round of this country's screwball obsession with things religious has to do with consistently tasteless stuff Barack's preacher likes to say when he's getting people riled up.

Contrary to where you might think I'm going, I could care less what the Rev. Jeremiah Wright thinks about anything. He's a harmless sort of fellow who's probably had a net-positive effect on the city of Chicago, despite or because of his little eccentric streak.

I never fail to be amused, though, when one "believer" tells another that a certain preacher is crazy.

So let's get this straight. A bunch of people who believe that they are eating the actual flesh, and drinking the actual blood of some dude from 2000 years ago think that that colored feller in Chicago is off his rocker for comparing the headcount caused by our dropping of the bomb on Japan to that on 9-11.

But the people I really have a problem with, as usual, are the jackals in the Clinton campaign who are almost certainly behind the videos circulating today of the Rev. Bill knew what he was doing when he pushed some racial buttons in South Carolina but, as has been noted here and elsewhere, the Clintons learn from their mistakes. Making the claims themselves turned out to be costly. So this time, the movies are mysteriously showing up in media outlets today without clear attribution. Methinks the Nomination Fairy left them.

Should Pick up Posting This Afternoon or Tomorrow

Have a really busy stretch going at work and just have not felt like getting on my little electronic soapbox here.

I did have a nice little cut of Brent Mydland's Never Trust a Woman set to pix of the Spitzer escapades, but I ended up feeling guilty about it, so decided not to.

These people have whatever legal consequences coming to them that they asked for, and I have little sympathy there. But this girl becoming the butt of all the jokes does kind of make me cringe for some reason.

I felt cruel, so decided to scrap the video.

More later...but for now enjoy something innocent and funny....

(Okay, I can't resist...the lyrics do remind me that one of the reasons for taking a train to DC would be less scrutiny around transporting dope.)

"When I Fight Authority, Authority Always Wins"

That's been my experience, too, John Mellencamp.

Even though he is an avid practitioner of the 'audience talk' that usually annoys me with other performers, I'm willing to forgive Johnny for it.

I'm simpatico with my fellow Hoosier.

Next to the Grateful Dead, he's probably my favorite live act around. I've seen him maybe a half-dozen times or so.

One time, when I lived in the Twin Cities, we saw him over at Northrop Auditorium and the poor guy was sick as a dog and came out and did everything but make armpit noises for us, singing his heart out to give the fans the best he could.

The opening riff in Authority Song is one of the classics of rock, in my opinion, right up there with the way Layla starts.

Music starts at about the 3:30 mark if you want to skip the Bush-bashing in this cut from a few weeks ago in Montreal.

Cool

First Blind Governor

I'm so ashamed that my initial reaction to hearing that NY's Lt. Governor, David Paterson, is blind, was some kind of Stevie Wonder joke.

But after my congenital sarcasm calmed down, I realized that it actually is very cool, and a silver lining to this story, that we may have this nation's first blind governor tomorrow.

I Still Love These

Boy, I could use some extra cash...maybe I should take a chance and help this poor man!

In Honor of the Magnolia State Primary Today

Mississippians head to the polls today, so what better reason do I need for another cheesy tie-in.

This is Sugar Magnolia on 7-10-89, at Giants Stadium (where I saw my last show ;-( ).

The Neville Brothers sat in on parts of this show and it's downright delightful.

Have fun!

Beatle Break Time!

Rough day in the salt mines...energy continues to wane.

I'll sign off with some Hello Goodbye.

Good day.

Oops.

In an effort to remain honest, I won't delete the post below, but this is actually the driver of traffic.

Johnny Dollar's Place bills itself as a little fair and balanced look at Fox News...

Some Media Matters Linkage For Our Humble Little Blog!

I noticed a minor traffic spike today and tracked it back down.

My Chris Matthews item yesterday was linked by the liberal outfit, Media Matters for America.

I'm in distinguished company there, alongside HuffPo, DailyKos and Buck Naked Politics!

Carlson Gets Tucked Over by MSNBC

Boy, what a bumer.

MSNBC has cancelled Tucker Carlson's evening show. I'm kind of upset because it was a witty, enjoyable show. He was a smart guy and had a knack for asking really smart-assy questions (like if the government decides that it needs to bail us out of irresponsibly-signed mortgages, why not pay off our bar tabs, too?).

BigheadDC is running with a rumour that he's to be replaced by liberal lesbian Rachel Maddow.

Looking to Get Silly? Better Go Back to From Where You Came!

Pardon me for posting this one up again, but I really think it's my favorite version ever of Tom Thumb Blues.

It's from 4-27-85 at the Frost @ Stanford.

Note the "We Want Phil!" chant going on in the beginning until the fat man steps up to the mic and informs the crowd that "We're hanging on to him for a while...He's ours!"

The sound on this one is just so perfect. You really get a feel for this era which is, as my friend Cody notes, my favorite for the boys. Beyond that, and shows at Winterland or The Coliseum notwithstanding, Frost and Greek performances just seemed to have a nice 'show in the park' feel to them for some reason, as far as I'm concerned. More relaxed.

One of the Funniest Culinary Sentences I Have Ever Read

This comes from the Wiki-entry for Hotdish...something that the rest of the country outside of Minnesota just calls "casserole."

You don't get much better than this...

Cream of mushroom soup is so ubiquitous in hotdish that it is often referred to in such recipes as "Lutheran Binder."

A Little Bit of Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys

Performing the classic, A$$hole from El Paso.

Short, but sweet...

I Don't Know if Hillary's Had Enough Dick

...But the inverse is true, according to TheHill.com.

A gem from the end of the article...

Suggestion for Obama:

The next time Hillary uses the recycled red phone ad, counter with one of your own. When the phone rings in the middle of the night, have a woman’s voice, with a flat Midwestern accent, answer it and say, “Hold on” into the receiver. Then she should shout, “Bill! It’s for you!”

Because with Hillary’s complete lack of any meaningful experience in foreign affairs, and her lack of the “testing” that she boldly claims, she’ll be yelling for Bill.

Chris Matthews Says the Darndest Things

MSNBC has a new ad campaign going on, touting their political coverage.

I've been pretty consistent on this page in admitting that they are my network of choice. They have people on there who clearly dig politics and, while realizing that it's a more serious endeavor than a football game, don't hesitate to draw sports parallels when they're appropriate.

That said, their advertising now, while not quite as condescending as CNN's, does draw on the "tune in and watch MSNBC because it's the patriotic thing to do" a little more than is necessary.

Furthermore, they have these cutaway audio clips of Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann in different spots, talking about how great it is to be an American.

Again, no huge problem with this until Matthews starts waxing on about American optimism.

He drives the point home with this zinger, "Even if you're 93 years old, today is going to be a great day."

Now I can sometimes give the guy a pass for saying something moronic in the heat of the moment, but if not scripted, this is at least recorded and played over and over again on the network.

Just what in the hell is Blondie trying to say?

CNN and the Race

I'm sitting here watching Wolfie's Gabfest this morning and have to sit back and chuckle a little bit.

Continuing CNN's obsession with racial politics, he has Jesse Jackson, Jr. and Gregory Meeks on, talking about the state of the Democratic primary.

He's pulling up some of the apparently-inflammatory stuff said this week about how African-Americans will vote in the fall, given different ultimate candidate outcomes.

Predictably, Meeks and Jackson expressed outrage at the divisiveness expressed by folks on the right with whom they don't agree.

The sham here is almost breathtaking. Neither of these two politicians have ever shown the least aversion to mobilizing black voters to join together to advance their agenda. There's nothing wrong with this. It's perfectly American and reasonable to do.

However, the moment that someone else takes a look at the slice of the pie they've created, and sees it from a slightly different point of view, they're being 'divisive.' As if the fence were erected solely by others.

I can only think of it if I put up a big fence in my backyard. From where I sit, it makes my yard look beautiful, comfortable and predictable. But is it absurd for my neighbor, who has to look at the fence from his window, to have a different viewpoint of the walls I've put up?

SNL Last Night

The Crying Game

It's hard for me to write anything about the current Democratic campaign without overtly expressing my glee.

What reasonable story is there that one can tell me that provides for a quick, painless resolution to this process?

I'm drawing a blank.

The one thing that's become clearer as time goes on, however, is that this has become a season where the strategy of choice has become crying for fouls, the way that happens in a close basketball game towards the end...exaggerating perceived fouls by the other side.

In just the last few weeks, we've had whining from either side about:

• An Obama aide referring to their opponent as a "monster."
• Hillary's answer to a question about which God Barry gets down on his knees to.
• An MSNBC anchor referred to their superdelegate strategy of "pimping" out their daughter.
• People using Obama's full name or asking him to categorically explain his position on Louis Farrakhan.

All of these things, mind you, are legitimately distasteful. But they are hardly new to the world of political campaigns. In fact, when you think back to, say, the Willie Horton ad, they're really softball.

But now, it seems, the political world has again become feminized...paradoxically given the establishment candidate.

Cleveland Stupid Dealer

This might get boring at some point, but the old Plain Dealer is at it again making good use of their space on the main page of the paper.

Mass for the Shut Ins

I just woke up from a nap and found that the snow now reaches above my fence in the front yard.

Oh brother, this is going to be a fun one to shovel out of. I may have to watch Mass for the Shut Ins!

In the meantime, let's hang out with some more Mahalia Jackson with her singing Old Time Religion.

Heeeeeere's Hillary!

From Time Mag.'s Cool Photo Blog.

Larry David on Hillary Clinton and the Red Phone

On the Red Phone

Posted March 6, 2008 | 09:00 PM (EST)

---

Here's an idea for an Obama ad: a montage of Clinton's Sybillish personalities that have surfaced during the campaign with a solemn voiceover at the end saying, "Does anyone want this nut answering the phone?"

How is it that she became the one who's perceived as more equipped to answer that 3 a.m. call than the unflappable Obama? He, with the ice in his veins, who doesn't panic when he's losing or get too giddy when he's winning, who's as comfortable in his own skin as she's uncomfortable in hers. There have been times in this campaign when she seemed so unhinged that I worried she'd actually kill herself if she lost. Every day, she reminds me more and more of Adele H., who also had an obsession that drove her insane.

A few weeks ago, I started to feel sorry for her. Oh Christ, let her win already...Who cares...It's not worth it. There's not that much difference between them. She can have it. Anything to avoid watching her descend into madness. So I switched. I started rooting for her. It wasn't that hard. Compromise comes easy to me. I was on board.

And then I saw the ad.

I watched, transfixed, as she took the 3 a.m. call...and I was afraid...very afraid. Suddenly, I realized the last thing this country needs is that woman anywhere near a phone. I don't care if it's 3 a.m. or 10 p.m. or any other time. I don't want her talking to Putin, I don't want her talking to Kim Jong Il, I don't want her talking to my nephew. She needs a long rest. She needs to put on a sarong and some sun block and get away from things for a while, a nice beach somewhere -- somewhere far away, where there are...no phones.

The Story of the Day in Cleveland

There is not a single tire track past my crib since I went to bed last night....so I think I shall go back there. It's much warmer.

Probably more posting later as we're snowed in here.

Enjoy a little Cold Rain and Snow from the Dead's Fall 1980 run at Radio City.

Someplace I'd Rather Be Tomorrow

Going through a ridiculously-bad time at work these days, so I guess I can say that I'd rather be in Philadelphia.

Chris Matthews was talking about this meeting coming up tomorrow and it just reeks of old-time politics.

It just sounds like it would be the most interesting thing to be at!

I Have Probably Posted This Before, But It Deserves a Replay

But here's a little remix of one of the best scenes from the most recent Curb.

I Brings the Ruckus...

Obama Fatigue

Yuval Levin has a good article in National Review today.

It's about...you guessed it...Obama fatigue.

Specifically, he points to the vulnerabilities one creates when they're surrounded by the messiah talk. Just as "moral majority" Republicans getting caught in a sex sting are more interesting than lefties in the same situation, Obama's mortality becomes more interesting than that of others.

There's also a section that goes back to something we've discussed here...intraparty variation on Obama appreciation.

Sorry that I don't have too much to write on it now, but it is an interesting, quick read.

Excellent Song

I don't usually hear this tune much outside of Chicago, but I always thought it was very pretty.

Aliotta, Haynes and Jeremiah, trippin' on by on LSD...

I Wish My Company Was Cool Enough to Use This Kind of System Maintenence Message to Users

But, we are not...bummer.

I Have to Give Oprah Some Credit

While I was unaware of this in advance (darn, my RSS feed from Oprah.com must be broken!), Oprah had some big event the other night that encouraged lemmings to come to her website.

Well, I guess traffic was so overwhelming that her servers crashed.

But kudos to the woman who puts the O in narcissism.

Rather than playing the card that political campaigns will take in considering overflow rooms at events a virtue (rather than poor planning on their part) or meteorologists who tell us that storms "came late" or "decided to miss us" (rather than bad prediction on their part), Harpo Productions put out a press release apologizing and taking full responsibility for the error.

We will resume complaining about her at the nearest opportunity, but for now she gets the responsible PR smiley face for the day.

Hillary's Cunning Stunt

Well, as the dust settles, Tuesday wasn't a mathematically-huge victory for Our Gal Hil.

And, as Senors Bilas and Cody have noted, the Dan-Effect ;-) may not be being talked about quite enough, given that Ohio is an open primary. While we have to wait a few weeks and much can change between now and then, Pennsylvania is closed.

Poor math aside, Hillary's trying to pick up on this momentum by raising some much-needed dollars. I got this email from the campaign last night.

Michigan and Florida Crybabies

So my premise going forward here is that the drama in this race is great. Any one of the three remaining major candidates would make fine Presidents, in my opinion. So while I may have had a little fun in voting yesterday, it was not the same as voting for a professional wrestler for Governor.

That said, I'm enjoying the hell out seeing the Democrats jockey for position. And it's not only the candidates, or course, who are raising a ruckus.

The Florida and Michigan Democratic parties must have just been bluffing last year when they decided to buck the system and move their primaries out of sync with what the Politburo wanted, so they knowingly disenfranchised their states' respective voters.

Now, both are crying bloody murder that they can't play a meaningful role in this, the best pre-election political race of my lifetime.

Looks like everyone's interested in finding some way of revising history a little bit.

Much as I'd like to throw down a little Gambler action, I will have time for that later, so let's take it back a few years to this cut of Janis singing Cry Baby in Toronto, 1970.

On to Wyoming!

Not the Most Original Thought I've Ever Had

....but this song came to mind as I contemplated the build-up to Denver.

When Hillary Got Her Groove Back

Good golly, I like the drama, but now it kills me.

I woke up to the news that they're still counting down in Texas. It's sort of one of those "Oh my goodness, what did I do last night" moments even though looking around the house on this snow-covered morn', the only sign of mischief is my "I Voted!" button.

But as I turned in last night, I had the clock radio on and was listening to this speech and this is a Hillary I really have never heard before. It led to a fitful night of sleep as I had dreams of her doing this again and again.

I have to give the woman credit. She learns from her mistakes and gives up bad plans of action fast. The stale jokes during the debate don't work. The "shame on you, Barack Obama" routine is equally bad.

I know that she claimed to have found her voice in New Hampshire, but I think she got it in Ohio. While no one is approaching Obama in the speech department, this speech last night was a dramatic turnaround and her celebratory mood was well-deserved. The campaign did something right in Texas.

For the life of me, I don't know what the hell it was...but they must have done something right.

Where's the Alka-Seltzer?

Clever Headline on The Page

Carousing for information and came across this, which made me giggle...

Shame on You, Musings Author!

Well, I did it. I went across the street to my polling place and voted for Hillary Clinton on what is a very icy night here in Cleveland. Now that I think of it, the weather outside brought some kind of poetry to the moment.

The reader can decide if it was too cynical of me, but I've been able to rationalize it to an acceptable level here. If I were entering into a process that I believed to be completely pure, without primary actors who sometimes think long-run, not short run, and who never, ever showboat for the sake of other sorts of PR victories, I couldn't have done it.

Would Hillary be ashamed of me for doing this?

Some Election Day Music

I've posted a cut of the Grateful Dead's US Blues before, but here's another version of it that I really dig.

(Bummer side note...I just checked out my posting from this summer and, for some reason, the 1978 Spring Tour US Blues has been removed. Dang.)

It's from the first show of the wonderful run they did at Winterland in 1974, providing the footage for The Grateful Dead Movie.

This is from 10-16-74.

Enjoy, vote and vote again...which is actually legal in Texas!

That's What I'm Talkin' About

I'll wrap up the day with another hit of Elmore James...It Hurts Me Too.

How beautiful...

There's a Coupla Honkeys Out There Dressed Like Hasidic Diamond Merchants

You can never go wrong with the Good Old Blues Brothers Boys Band...all the way from Joliet.

In Defense of Gaming My Primary Vote

The Obamakins came and left a flyer hanging to my door during the day today.

Luckily, the polling place is right across the street.

Unfortunately, that does not give me a long journey on which to make my decision tomorrow.

For all my complaining about late-inning undecideds, that's what I find myself as on this election-eve in Ohio.

No candidate completely satisfies me. Barry is probably the most attractive, I have the most information about McCain to trust him in the long run...and then there's Hillary.

I'd love to vote for her just for the theater of it all.

I think she's going to pick up Ohio, anyway, and I'd just really love to see the floor fight this summer if this thing keeps going.

Mike Murphy was on MTP yesterday and said almost as much. Paraphrasing, he said that if things keep going this way, when the Dems are in Denver duking it out, he'll be back at GOP headquarters getting drunk and high-fiving everyone.

While I can do without the former, the latter will definitely be fun!

And before my high-minded reader gets angry at me for apparently gaming the system, I'll offer that there are very few of these people who elect who don't do any short-term gaming when they place votes once in office. They may sacrifice one or two items now for a bigger win later on.

If Barry loses Ohio, but still comes out the winner, he'll be stronger for it. And if Hillary, the one who I really don't want to see in office, ends up the party nominee, she's much more beatable in November.

The only worry I have left is whether I can actually bring myself to vote for Hillary.

I've done some pretty shameful things in my life, but that would be a new low even for me...