Sure... they don't have a bullet proof majority. And sure... shutting the government down at this moment would be an extremely high stakes gamble, what with the heated election and the attempted financial coup that are going on. Sure... Sure... there are more important things right now.

BUT.. as a lifelong Democratic Party supporter and someone who will vote against Republicans the rest of my life even if they manage to run Jesus Christ himself as a candidate (against Satan), I am damn sick and tired of having the issues that I can deeply about nibbled away around the fringes.

I realize that many of my issues are rather far to the left and that the environment ALWAYS gets trumped by commercial interests that drive both parties agendas, but just how much more do we have to "compromise" away? Everyone knows this is a phony issue that won't do anything to bring energy independence or increase the supply of oil. It WILL enrich a few already obscenely wealthy corporations and their top management. And maybe few roughnecks can come back from whatever hellhole they're drilling in the middle east for obscene salaries to work off Santa Barbara. But... this will... it WILL inevitably lead to a massive oil spill on some beautiful coastline somewhere. It ALWAYS does.

Damn.... Damn them all... (but damn the Republicans much more)

In fact it won't even happen. There simply aren't enough of us willing to risk much of anything to rise up in rebellion. There hasn't been since at least the end of the civil war. It's difficult enough to get people to organize for a strike for instance, let alone to defend their country against an evil cabal that half the people who voted last time still support.

They won't need an army to control a flock of sheep.

But... I guess we'll know soon enough, eh?

meet me on the battlefield.

I'm beginning to hear rumors that there's something going on with McCain's health. The contrast in his appearance from last summer to now is becoming hard to deny. I'm not trying to dance on his grave or anything, but after all, he's had several bouts of pretty serious cancer - a cancer with a rather bleak history of recurring... and he IS getting up there in age.

I think that a bad diagnosis would send his campaign into a tizzy as they attempted to think of a strategy to deal with it. Secrecy and concealment are the default position of the folks who are running his campaign.

I honestly hope I'm wrong, but there has to be SOME explanation for this increasingly unexplainable and erratic behavior.

Leaving aside the actual depth or urgency of this "crisis" I think what is really going on here is an actual time peek at just how both of these men would actually behave as president. McCain is coming across disorganized, confused, frantic and worst of all untrustworthy. The contrast with Obama is striking.

And I am also getting concerned about McCain's physical health. His appearance is getting worse and it's difficult to simply explain away. We all need some answers about that, unless you're among the rapidly shrinking pool of people who still believe that Miss Bullwinkle is actually competent to be president.

Once McCain decided that his only hope was to lie his campaign was essentially over. His perceived, but arguably undeserved reputation for "straight talk" couldn't withstand the daily drip, drip, drip of blog age fact checking. Once the meme of his clearly blatant fudging of the truth took hold, and the cartoonists starting mocking him with it, he didn't have a chance.

But then... he shouldn't - and maybe didn't - have a chance to begin with, so maybe dishonesty was the only card he had. It sure worked for W.

Rupert forgets the big tabloid hubbub unleashed over the photos of Obama in swim trunks and concurrent speculative hysteria about his "package".....

There are a certain number of people who will always be obsessed with such things. At least they all have a political party to belong to and a candidate to support in Palin.

To guys of a certain age... I'm 58... the character of Cool Hand Luke resonated at some visceral level. I was already a pretty obstinate, authority resisting kid, but something about the way that Newman carried off that character's timelessly courageous resistance really spoke to me. It showed me in stark cinematic terms that sometimes you simply have to resist even when resistance is futile.

I'll have to rent that film again and see how it plays 40 plus years later.

Thank you Paul, for a wonderful example of a fully well lived life.... rest in peace.

What balderdash.

For one thing, just what is so scary about Sarah Palin, that she'll make the rest of the world fear us so? It's to laugh. And gramps ain't much better. Oh.. you forgot to mention that he was a POW... isn't that supposed to be brought up in every post from you trolls?

Honestly... fear! fear! fear! What the hell?!?!?!?

And if you honestly believe that you're going to be forced to your knees to worship Allah by a few hundred third world malcontents in robes, hiding in caves on the Afgan/Packistan border how the hell do you even manage to get out of bed in the morning. Study a little history... obtain some historical perspective... and most of all... get a damn grip on reality!