At Last!

I'm over the moon that Minnesota at last has two senators and that one of them is Al Franken!!! Harvard educated and very smart, he will be a valuable asset to the United States Senate.

Congratulations, Senator.

If We Ignore Him, Will He Go Away?

For those of you who can't believe anyone actually listens to an egocentric gas-bag like the loud mouth from Florida - this is for you. Bob Cesca of The Huffington Post penned it so much more articulately than I ever could.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/bob-cesca/the-dittohead-party-how-t_b_171979.html

Message to the World

My DH received this today from a former college roommate. I think it is perfect. Sorry I do not know the original source.

Dear World:

We, the United States of America, your top quality supplier of the ideals of liberty and democracy, would like to apologize for our 2001-2008 interruption in service.

The technical fault that led to this eight-year service outage has been located, and the software responsible was replaced November 4. Early tests of the newly installed program indicate that we are now operating correctly, and we expect it to be fully functional on January 20. We apologize for any inconvenience caused by the outage.

We look forward to resuming full service and hope to improve in years to come.

We thank you for your patience and understanding,

Sincerely,

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

An Awesome Day!

From the primary..............

To the nomination.........

To the crowds in Denver..........

To Inauguration Day.............

What an awesome campaign this has been. I'm overcome with emotions - optimism, elation, pride. More thoughts on this day and the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States - Barack Obama - to come.

Almost Over

Ladies and gentlemen - our long national nightmare of the last eight years will be over in less than 12 hours. I cannot wait!!!

Comics are in some ways sad that they will no longer have this kind of material:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxkpm7bH7j4

Brace for Impact

Brace for Impact. Those were the words of the USAirways pilot last Thursday just before his plane went down. Capt. Sullenberger knew exactly what he was doing when he ditched in the Hudson River, saving 155 lives. I think there is a huge metaphor here. Brace for Impact.


Change is coming. Hope is coming. Barack Obama is coming. Although he's been handed a platter overflowing with problems, I feel he and his very bright and capable cabinet are up to the task of solving them. Brace for impact.

It's been a long, a long time coming

but I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.

The words of the legendary musician Sam Cooke.

Let Freedom Ring!

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

Today, as we anticipate the inauguration of Barack Obama, we stop to honor Dr. Martin Luther King. When searching for images of him, I ran across a wonderful photo essay from Time combining photographs of Dr. King along with his powerful words. To view them, click here:
http://www.time.com/time/photoessays/mlk/

What would Dr. King would be thinking if he were alive today? I can only imagine. It seems impossible that blatant discrimination against Blacks occurred so recently in our history. Today it's more subtle but still exists in my view. This nation took a giant leap towards being a better nation and restoring our reputation in the world by electing Barack Obama.

But it's more than that. Yes, many voted for the man because he's Black and some undoubtedly would not vote for him for the very same reason. I choose to believe most people voted for him because he was the very best candidate. Is it possible we're finally becoming color blind? Yes we are!

Seeing the images and reading Dr. King's words brought home the awesomeness of what is going to occur tomorrow, when we inaugurate our first African American President. Below is a bit of MLK's eloquence. (Please note some of the quotes are cut off on the right. My apologies. Blogger would not let me change them in any way. ) ( To view everything in its proper light, click on the site linked above.

ON BLACKS IN AMERICA (From Birmingham jail, 1963): "Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched across the pages of history the majestic words of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands."

ON THE DREAM OF FREEDOM (1963): "So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed . . . that all men are created equal. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today. And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true."

ON FREEDOM (1963): "So let freedom ring. From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, let freedom ring. But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. And when this happens, when we let it ring, we will speed that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last, free at last/Thank God Almighty, we're free at last."

ON HIS OWN FUTURE (April 3, 1968): "We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. I won't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. "

Second Favorite Quote of the Day

"As the Current Occupant (of the White House) imagines his legacy emerging golden and shining in a hundred years after all of us are deceased, you and I go on."

By Garrison Keillor Jan 7, 2009

The cheerful idiot

Favorite Quote of the Day

"George Bush is like the dinner guest who will not leave."

Ed Rollins, Republican strategist, commenting on George Bush's last news conference yesterday. To read the complete story, go to:

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/01/13/rollins.obama/index.html

Revisionist History

OK - it's been proven that if you say something over and over, people begin to believe it. Thus is the history of the Bush administration. Have you noticed Shrubby making the rounds giving interview after interview? I cannot image why, with all the damage his administration has done to this country. Why would he want to bring any of that up? Oh wait - he's not bringing up the facts, he's playing the revisionist game.

The number one accomplishment of the Bush administration - according to 43? They kept us safe. WHAT???!!!??? Kept us safe? They must be joking in some evil, maniacal way. They were the ones who ignored intelligence which said, "Al Queda determined to strike inside US" and then went after the wrong guy! The incredible intelligence failure resulted in the deaths of over 3,000 people.

If that was not horrific enough, Shrub then totally took his eye off the ball by ignoring Osama Bin Laden and the Saudis responsible for the attack. Instead, he began making a case for war against Iraq - which had nothing to do with 9/11. We invaded a sovereign nation without cause, completely destroyed its infrastructure, killed or maimed thousands of its citizens and executed its leader! That really helped.

Kept us safe??? Bush 43 has put the United States at greater risk now than at any time in its history. Do you feel safer now - now that we've pissed off much of the world and caused the number of terrorists to grow by staggering numbers?

Intelligence experts agree that we are in much more danger from terrorists now than we ever were on 9/11. Why? Just look at our bully attitude - look at W who had to "cowboy up" and push his weight around, through the irresponsible use of our military whose KIA numbers continue to rise.

How many times have we heard Shrub say, "We do not torture." Right. We do not torture so much that we have members of the military in prison for having done so. Isn't it interesting, as in predictable, that only the lower ranking enlisted personnel have to pay for obeying orders from higher ups? What went on at Abu Ghraib was a complete violation of the Geneva Convention and an absolute outrage.

We have kept prisoners locked up for years at Guantanamo, without charge and without access to attorneys. This is the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! We DO NOT behave that way! This administration shredded the constitution and ignored the law of the land by having an attorney general who got around all that 'legal stuff' by simply changing the law, by in essence pronouncing that interrogation methods being used by Shrub and his gang of Soprano thugs (with apologies to The Sopranos) could do anything they damn well pleased, including extraordinary rendition.

I would so like to just move on with the hope and optimism that Barack Obama promises. But to forget about the last eight years would be doing a tremendous disservice to what was once the greatest country in the world. By ignoring the abuses we would be condoning them. We must not forget, we cannot forget what has happened. This administration must be held accountable for its actions!

In my view, George Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld and Condi Rice are war criminals and should be in jail.

For more details on the abuses at Abu Ghraib, click here.
http://www.salon.com/news/abu_ghraib/2006/03/14/introduction/

The Misunderestimated President

Ah those Brits. Gotta love 'em. They've put together a few Bushisms for anyone who may not remember (or chooses to forget) what the last eight years have been like.

One of 43's more priceless quotes: "There's an old saying in Tennessee - I know its in Texas, probably in Tennessee - that says fool me once, shame on... shame on you. Fool me...again, you can't get fooled again."
Nashville Tennessee, Septm. 17, 2002

For the full text, click on http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7809160.stm