I only wish Obama had the "most liberal voting record" in the Senate.

I wouldn't have to hold my nose when I vote for him next month, for one thing.

When will American's wake the fu*k up and stop vilifying all things that represent their best interests?

We are living in an "ideocracy".

Wait a minute! I thought John Kerry (and John Edwards) were the pinkiest pinkos ever? Oh, wait, that was last cycle!

Isn't it amazing how Bernie Sanders and Ted Kennedy come out less liberal than whoever the current Democratic Presidential Candidate is?

I'll leave you with a bit of vintage Bill Maher:

Now, I bring all this up because this weekend in Washington is the "Values Voters Convention." Three days of peace, love and hypocrisy. Where the Republican frontrunners will spend the week kissing the asses of 2,000 social conservatives who despise liberals, homosexuals, Muslims, Mexicans and Nobel Prize winners. And who believe the sound of a condom wrapper being opened makes angels die.

It's kind of like a "Star Trek" convention, only the virgins are angry--and they think outer space is just a theory. So, Ann Coulter, if you've got any more "f@ggot" jokes, this is the room for you.

But - but, here's something I learned while indulging one of my traditional values, reading. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the states with the most conservative Christians have the highest rates of divorce, the highest teen pregnancy rates and the highest obesity levels. Yes, they're fat, knocked up and not talking to each other--but, at least they put homosexuality back where it belongs: in the airport men's room.

Now, I know what you "values voters" are saying right now: "Why would we listen to you, Bill Maher? You're a bachelor from heathen California. What do you know about family values?" Well, I know enough not to get married and live in Kansas.

And I know that if you can look at the war in Iraq, the melting environments and the descent of America into "idiocracy," and still think our biggest problems are boobies during the Super Bowl and the "war on Christmas," then you don't have values, you have issues.

If you had "values," you'd draw the line at torture. But a startling number of people who call themselves Christians don't. And I'm pretty sure if you asked, "What would Jesus veto," it wouldn't be health care for sick kids.

Why, it's almost like "values voters" don't really believe Jesus was right about anything. [in mock attack ad voice] "Jesus Christ: wrong on gays, wrong on taxes, wrong on torture, and wrong for America."

But since Neocon arrogance, incompetence, ignorance and fiscal Bull**** have landed us in this mess, I'm ready to take all kinds of chances on an actual liberal when it comes to getting us OUT of it, again. And I'm sick of hearing "liberal" expressed with a disdainful sneer. I could rant for pages about Neocons, at this point.

Time for the great political pendulum to swing the other way, again.

Given the bankruptcy of the conservative political ideology, "liberal" seems to be a political position to embrace. Also, at least Obama voted often enough to receive a rating. John McCain has no rating since he missed so many votes and he is ranked with Tim Johnson who had a brain hemorrhage and Craig Thomas who died.

Is it my imagination or does Obama appear to have a darker skin in the Republican ads than he does in real life? Are the repubs darkening him in order to make him appear somehow scarier? Would this not qualify as a racism?

This ranking always seems to go to whoever happens to be the most visibile/powerful Democratic member of the Senate, regardless of their voting record. This is especially true when, as in 2008 and 2004, the Democratic nominee for president is a Senator.

So the rating itself is political rhetoric, not political analysis, and should be dismissed as such.

The bigger point,though, is how "liberal" would you have to be to get the title of "most liberal member" of the Senate? I suggest you could still be more conservative than the average American and still be the most liberal member of the Senate.

Consider the following statements based on opinion surveys collected at PollingReport.com . . .

The average American:

* is pro choice

* opposes building more nuclear power plants

* believes the government needs to act on the issue of global warming, regardless of whether other countries do or not

* believes the government needs to do more to protect the environment.

* is for greater gun control, including registering all guns purchased

* is for universal healthcare coverage

* supports univeral healthcare coverage even if it means paying higher taxes

* believes the federal government is responsible for making sure every American is covered by health insurance

* is pro immigration

* supports illegal immigrants having a pathway to citizenship

* opposes a constitutional ammendment to ban same-sex marriage

* favors either same sex marriage or civil unions for same sex couples

* believes gays and lesbians should be able to serve openly in the military

* believes it's the government's responsibility to make sure the elderly have a livable income

* opposes privatizing Social Security

* favors stem cell research

* favors increased spending on public schools

* is willing to pay higher taxes to increase educational funding

* favors a total elimination of nuclear weapons (including those held by the U.S.)

* supports the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

* supports the U.S. signing treaties that would ban land mines as well as nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons

Are there some conservative views in there? Sure. The average American is for the dealth penalty and wants to build a border fence. Most Americans support some form of school voucher system.

But the overall conclusion is unmistakable: the average American is not only "liberal" according to the MSM's general definition of the term, but, if elected to the Senate, would be more liberal than just about any current member of that body.

The political spectrum as it exists within government and as portrayed in the MSM is distorted. What is considered significantly left of center in the halls of power is in fact utterly mainstream when looking at the populace as a whole.