Phyllis Schlafly, no doubt one of Judie Brown's right-wing heros, wrote a book in the 60s called "A Choice, Not an Echo" encouraging support of Barry Goldwater for the presidency. So, I suppose all right-wing goofballs must now declare Phyllis off limits----joining with us feminists, liberals and lefties who declared Schlafly off limits years and years ago.

Oh, by the way, I remember that when we visited the St. Louis Krispy Kreme store they always gave us a free donut with our order. Nothing as yummy as a just-baked donut to promote good will and lots of ongoing positive marketing.

My daughter gave me one version of the Obama watch for my birthday last September. I wore it every day up to the election--and intend to wear it tomorrow for the inauguration. This one has Obama waving and can be purchased here: https://electionwatches.3dcartstores.com/Barack-Obama_c_11.html

Frankly, I'd love to be in D.C. to see all of that memorabilia for sale. What fun!

Forgot to mention that I did a LOT of shopping at Cafe Press for Christmas gifts. Buttons, hats, mouse pads, a shirt for my husband (whose PROUD LIBERAL one is wearing out). Lately he's been alternating between wearing the cap he got a year ago which says "The end is near - 1/20/2009" and his new one which says "Mission Accomplished - November 4, 2008."

I thought it was awful....the only low point of the ceremony, in fact.

What I saw with Warren's invocation is a totally boring presentation with too much emphasis on the ethnic heritage of President Obama. This guy is the pastor of a megachurch? He must put the congregation to sleep every time preaches!

I think I even saw Obama wince once during it. He must have been thinking Drop the ethnicity comments, and say something that provides me with ammunition to defend inviting you to do this!

1. From the start, Blago was despised by both Democrats and Republicans alike--from the tip of Illinois to the metropolitan area that makes up Chicago.

2. He created an atmosphere where long-time employees feared for their jobs if they were working downstate because his inexperienced and politically naive department heads (following his lead) thought everyone who worked during the previous administration was there because of political connections (even though most were in their jobs because they were career employees who had also served under both republican and democrat administrations).

3. He cancelled contracts of long-time, legitimate firms and organizations -- using the same excuse as above -- and gave them to friends of his and his supporters. Many failed to perform and, consequently, lost those contracts--which, obviously, resulted in the work not being performed efficiently....or at all.

4. He moved operations of state government from central IL to Chicago disrupting the economy of those downstate communities and costing the state lots of money because downstate staff had to travel unnecessarily to Chicago to perform their jobs.

5. He didn't go to the office much even though it was in Chicago, prefering to "work" at home and was sometimes spotted jogging mid-afternoon instead of working. In other words, he didn't PERFORM!

6. He misused state police by creating a personal security detail (or gofers, as some believe).

7. He misused state planes, flying back and forth from Chicago to Springfield and back -- sometimes on a daily basis -- when the legislature was in session.

8. He often ducked those legislative sessions, and often called unnecessary "special sessions" that suited his schedule and screwy ideas.

9. He alienated all of the other constitutional officers in Illinois.

10. He withheld payments of money to nonprofits, which affected their program delivery. It also resulted in the fact that they weren't able to pay their bills which, unfortunately, caused some of their suppliers to lose money, layoff employees in tough economic times, and go out of business.

11. He drove a major wedge between lawmakers (republican and democrat alike) and the governor's office. Likewise, he alienated the media throughout the state.

12. He entertained delusions of becoming President, which made those who knew about him almost roll in the aisles with laughter (especially since the citizenry was also dealing with the Bush presidency as an example of who NOT to elect!)

13. He even, toward the end, alienated his own politically-powerful father-in-law.

14. He wound up under investigation for pay-to-play schemes that didn't involve the selling of Obama's Senate seat.

15. He practically ruined the reputation/career of an up-and-coming Congressperson by involving him in the Senate seat scandal. He made the country think that now-junior Senator Roland Burris was a nutcase when, in fact, he is a respected member of the IL political scene

16. He is now on record as the most foul-mouthed politician in the country (although there are some who likely are worse but haven't been caught on tape!) causing embarassment to all Illinois citizens.

17. Etc.

18. Etc.

19. Etc.

20. Etc., etc., etc......

State government in Illinois is a mess, thanks to Rod Blagojevich. How he got elected to a second term amazes me except that politics in Illinois is a strange animal and like Obama did in his run for the U.S. Senate, opponents were weak, had their own crises, and/or divided the vote to the extent that he got the job again.

When the Rezko issue came up in the Obama campaign, I was shocked. It was BLAGO who carried the baggage involving Rezko, not Obama.

All of these points -- and more -- provide enough reason under the Illinois Constitution to remove the man from office.

The list definitely should have included Frank Rich and Keith Olbermann. I question why Chris Matthews was on it except, perhaps, because he annoys liberals as well as conservatives. And why in the heck did the writers feel it was necessary to include information that Rachel Maddow is a lesbian?