Why I haven’t written a lot lately

You may have noticed I haven’t written much lately.

I have a very good reason why.  Here he is.

Gabriel Ernest

Born Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Time: 3:42 am
Weight: 8 lbs, 12.2 oz
Length: 21 ½ inches
Hair: Light brown
Eyes: That baby blue that won’t stay blue but will eventually turn brown

So I probably won’t be writing very often in the coming weeks.  Hope you don’t mind.

Frankly Speaking with Al Franken

I’d like you to watch an example of a civilized discussion about health care reform between a Senator and his constituents.

Ladies & Gentleman, Senator Al Franken.

See?  We can talk about this like adults.

Senator Al Franken.

Worth the wait.

The Twilight of Glenn Beck

Ever get a song stuck in your head and you just can’t shake it?

This song has been in my head for DAYS.  Enjoy!

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy 1932-2009

Edward M. Kennedy

The Lion of the Senate sleeps tonight.  U.S. Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy died in the night.  Unfortunately, pragmatism in the U.S. Congress has probably passed with him.

Farewell, good sir.  I fear we shall not look upon your like again.

“For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die.”

- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy  8/12/1980

Happy Birthday Hawaii! (and Get A Clue, 8% of North Carolina)

Today is the 50th Anniversary of Hawaii joining the United States of America.

That’s right.  50 years for the 50^th state.  5 decades of honeymoons, tourist luaus, spam & poi, Don Ho’s Tiny Bubbles, Jack Lord’s hair, Tom Selleck’s moustache, Greg Brady’s cursed tiki idol and many other mainland cliches.

When you're this beautiful, you don't need all those extra letters in your alphabet

Aloha!  Mahalo! And any other Hawaiian word that may be appropriate I’ve heard in passing.

In honor of Hawaii not being it’s own Republic, but 2% of ours…

how’s about somebody tell 8% of the people of North Carolina.

Undoctored photo...except for my editorial scribble

Yup.  You read that right.

Now I know a few people in NC.   I’ve been to several places there on a few occasions.  It’s quite beautiful.  But if I may address the 8% who aren’t sure, or worse are positive, that Hawaii isn’t part of the United States for a moment.

How’s about you guys take some of that federal stimulus money and spend it on education?  I’m sure that knowing Dale Earnhardt’s birthday and how many points Michael Jordan scored in his freshman year at UNC are very important things. Maybe, just maybe, you should understand why there are 50 stars on the American flag before you tackle big political issues.

Just sayin’.

David Bachner

I met David Bachner once.

It was only a couple of weeks ago.  It was only for a few minutes.  We talked about baseball, Jupiter Florida, Roger Dean Stadium, Seton Hall University & Matt Morris.

It was a quick talk.  It was a good chat.  One I didn’t think anything of, and might never have again, until I saw this:

Plainsboro baseball star David Bachner found dead at home

I met David Bachner once.  Now I’ll never forget him.

Goodbye, David.  Glad I met you.

Happy Anniversary Aug. 6th PDB!

Today is the eighth anniversary of President George W. Bush ignoring warnings of an attack on America by Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda.

"All right. You've covered your ass, now." G.W. Bush

Lest we forget…

Birthers Of A Nation

Birther   \bərth-ər\  noun

A mindless automaton whackjob conspiracy theorist racist so filled with fear of a black man in charge of the country that he or she believes, despite vast amounts of evidence to the contrary, that Barack Obama is ineligible for the Presidency of the United States because of a vast conspiracy to hide his actual birthplace outside the United States of America.

Coward   \kou-erd\  noun

An elected official who refuses to go on the record denouncing the fallacy that is the “birther” movement and therefore, through their complacency, perpetuates the myth as reality to the nutjobs that are looking for validation in any form they can take.

*****

Keep in mind, for the “Birther Theory” to be true the conspiracy has to include falsified records from, at least, the White House, the State of Hawaii, Hawaii’s Department of Health, The Honolulu Advertiser and The Honolulu Star-Bulletin reaching back to 1961.  My own debunking theory states that if this were actually true, why would batshit crazy Alan Keyes not have used it during his 2004 campaign against Obama for the Illinois Senate seat?  Why wait until Obama’s elected President and Keyes is just a lone wingnut in the wilderness?  Do you think Keyes would have waited for the second opportunity of losing an election to Obama before bringing it up?  He’s crazy, but he ain’t that crazy.

 Mike Stark of firedoglake.com has a great film of himself chasing Birther  supporters on Capitol Hill.  Watch as he tries, in vain, to get actual members of Congress to go on record denouncing the Birther movement.   My favorite part was when the one Congressman started to literally run away to the overdubbed theme from “Chariots Of Fire”.  Hope you enjoy!

Who said Congress moves slow?

A Brief Editorial On Editing

Dear msnbc.com,

If you are going to make a slide show presentation showcasing “famous workers” still going well after the age of 65, maybe you could be a little more careful about whose picture gets matched with the chosen byline.

I am referring, of course, to the picture of Hugh Heffner…

No, really. Do you guys proofread these?

Perhaps you could rephrase that one.  Just a thought,

Scotty

Alaskan Getaway

Well as of this past Sunday, July 26^th, Alaska doesn’t have Governor Sarah Palin to kick around anymore.

All yours! I'm off to make my fortune at your expense!!!!

Of course, we still will.   As has become the norm, she gave quite a rambling, incoherent self-indulgent speech as her farewell address.  You can read the transcript here (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/akmuckraker/sarah-palins-farewell-add_b_245215.html) but be warned.  It’s reaallllllllllllly long and your head may hurt after.  One clip that keeps being shown is of the following Palintology gem:

“Democracy depends on you, and that is why, that’s why our troops are willing to die for you. So, how ’bout in honor of the American soldier, ya quite makin’ things up. And don’t underestimate the wisdom of the people, and one other thing for the media, our new governor has a very nice family too, so leave his kids alone.”

First, thanks for going almost all the way through your first four paragraphs without making the argument that “If you’re against me, you’re against the troops. “  I’m sure that was difficult for you to hold out that long.

Second, what exactly did the media make up about you?  Not knowing the Bush Doctrine?  Not knowing Supreme Court cases that you personally disagreed with?  Not having foreign policy experience?

Because if all of this was fiction made up by the terrible lib’ral elite media, you shoulda filed some lawsuits by now, don’t cha know…

As for now Governor Sean Parnell’s  family, so long as he doesn’t drag his kids out as campaign props  for his run for the White House then sure, we’ll leave them alone.  Otherwise, if they’re brought out into the spotlight, be prepared to deal with the glare.

And, b’also, You betcha…Sarah Palin, “Author”

Soon enough, the world will be blessed with a book from Sarah Palin.   She’s been signed by HarperCollins to “write” her memoirs.  By “write” I mean dictate in her rambling prose to an actual author who’ll fix it up for publishing.

Please note the dead fish symbol over her shoulder. Prophetic?

Ever wonder what her speeches would look like if a real editor ever got hold of them?  Worry no more! Vanity Fare has taken care of that for you.  Check it out here.  Hope you like lots and lots of red ink.

There’s also the phenomenon discovered by Hart Seely of slate.com.  Perhaps America ’s most infamous Ex is really a tortured, misunderstood artist.  Seems her disjointed speeches and press conferences are actually poetry.  Seriously.  Here’s an example:

“You Can’t Blink”

You can’t blink.
You have to be wired
In a way of being
So committed to the mission,

The mission that we’re on,
Reform of this country,
And victory in the war,
You can’t blink.

So I didn’t blink.

Sarah Palin, Poet Laureate?

Not enough proof for ya?  What if I showed you William Shatner delivering her material beat poet style?

Proof enough for you now?

Putting the “twit” in Twitter…

Finally, if you still need more of a Palin fix, you could always follow (well try to) her Twitter account.

Actual tweets from an actual twit

Now I’m not on Twitter myself. (Image borrowed from an obvious Rob Corddry fan)   Facebook is addictive enough for me.  I’m speaking as an outsider, but if you need 5 or 6 “tweets” to express your thought, I don’t think you’re exactly getting the whole “Twitter” thing.  But, then again, it’s so mavericky!  I guess only dead fish use 140 characters or less.

Personally, I don’t understand the attraction to Twitter.  Maybe I’m getting old, but what the hell do I care if Ashton is “stuck in traffic”, if Shaq is “cravin’ a BLT” or if Lindsey “4got undies again…oops!LOL”.  Why can’t average people go without that useless information?  Are their own lives so devoid of human contact?  (he says ironically as he hopes someone, anyone, is reading his blog.)

It’s been said by at least one overweight drug-addicted talkshow host that everyone harps on Ex-Palin because we’re afraid of her.  Wrong.  It’s the same as following any other so called reality TV show.  Like a bad traffic accident, you don’t want to watch, but you can’t look away.  If there’s anyone to be afraid of, it’s the people who cheer for her crap.

Bye for now, Sarah.  Can’t wait to see you bring the crazy in the private sector!