Religious indeed...

If I remember correctly, Bush declared the American Way of Life (read: rampant consumerism) to be a "Blessed Way of Life." This was about the time, right after 9/11, that Bush told Americans that the best thing they can do for their country in a time of crisis is to go out and spend money.

Is citing an "unnamed source" anything like quoting a "senior Administration official?"

"- but this idea that we do not want an intellectual elite in charge leaves me wondering just who the hell we do want in charge."

I think half of this country would gleefully vote for Larry the Cable Guy because he's "one of them."

"anti-American fanatics such as Rev. Wright and William Ayers"

By "anti-American" do you really mean, "Had the gall to challenge openly racist and hostile entrenched attitudes in then-mainstream American society?"

Post? You call that a post? The only reason I can think of why your "post" shouldn't have been removoed would have been to leave it up as a testament to what a vapid idiot you are. Your post say exactly nothing and it's hardly worth the blackened pixels on my screen.

"Why this isn't more widely known is beyond me."

- Umm, exactly...

.., but this thread calls for a visit to http://www.fuckthesouth.com/

I would expect these to be good times for the likes of Greyhound.

I live in Chicago. I have family in Michigan, a few hours away by car. It is now significantly cheaper for me to travel to Michigan via Amtrak than it is to drive, so that's what I do. We're gonna be glad we didn't dismantle Amtrak, for all its faults. It's time to buy stock in railroads.

... a visit to:

http://www.dateacougar.com/

That certainly is good news about the drop in violence in Iraq. Never mind that we should never have been there in the first place. In any case, most Americans will be too busy dealing with the ripple effects of $4/gallon (maybe more by November) gasoline to pay much attention to Iraq. We haven't even begun to see the real fallout of skyrocketing fuel prices.

If the violence is down now and stays that way through November, then the Iraq "war" (we haven't declared war on anybody since 1941) stops making headlines on the front pages. ("If it bleeds, it leads!") The news out of Iraq will turn toward policy-relate issues and the news-consuming public will be bored with that.

An end to violence can easily be spun to make two seemingly contradictory cases: 1) Republican - The invasion was a good idea all along (See! The violence stopped! Victory!), or 2) Democratic - Great, the violence is over, so let's get the hell out of there now. I'm not sure if this translates into a net political edge for either side. Add to this the fact that the average American has been largely shielded from the real horrors of the "war" (for most of us are only familiar with the "war" via news footage on TV, if we bother to watch the news at all) and the "war" becomes somewhat peripheral in average Americans' experiences. The "war" is not a direct experience for most the way that it is for military families.

Issues relating to energy costs and subsequent inflation, however, will affect EVERYONE - rich, poor, liberal, conservative. Economic issues will be front and center. Historically, people tend to trust the Democrats more with domestic issues. Without the urgent need for the "war" to run on, the Republicans are short one of their prime selling points.

Then again, an "October Surprise" could shake things up...

Too far to the left? There is no Left is in this country. The Green Party is as close you you’re going to get to any genuinely Leftist politics. If you seriously think Obama is of the same mold as Ralph Nader, you have no idea what you’re talking about.

The Dems finally have a candidate who isn’t of the let’s-be-as-Republican-as-possible-so-we’ll-got-more-Republicans-to-vote-for-us (aka Clinton) mentality and you’re upset? I guess it makes sense, though. Go ahead and vote for McCain. When faced with the choice between a real Republican and a phony Republican, voters will usually choose the real one. For the first time in a long time, the Dems have a viable alternative to the Republican offering.

News flash, Hillary; you came in a close second.

Prediction - Hillary will refuse to concede and she will go so far as to file a lawsuit against the party in an effort to get the Florida and Michigan delegations in full. She will keep this circus going until the convention in hopes that enough superdelegates abandon Obama and choose to support her.

This might be a litte off-topic, but I remember years ago when a team would win a championship (Super Bowl, World Series, etc.) and the cameras would follow a sportscaster into the victors' locker room amid a shower of champagne and general merriment, there would suddenly be a phone call to the locker room and it would be the President offering his congratulations to the winning coach and the team. It seemed like this went on for years no matter who the President was and was sort of a part or the winning celebrations, but I don't recall ever seeing Bush chime in like that (does anybody remember such an instance?). Perhaps this is just not Bush's "style?"

How, exactly, is it that someone who wins his job via an election in which all of the state's registered voters are free to vote for him, against him, or not at all, is a beneficiary of Affirmitive Action?

And, just to put one on-going argument to rest: There are exactly 2 qualifications one needs to be President - 1) must be at least 35 years old, and 2) must be a natural-born American citizen, whatever the hell that means.