THE GANG OF THIEVES - YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

WE DON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN - NO, NO!!!

The recent weeks events leading up to the market meltdown and the subsequent "bailout" mania truly hasn't reduced my faith in our government's leaders to do the right thing. That's only because I had no faith in these idiots abilities to begin with.

Where I am beginning to lose faith is in the ability of the American public to see through these guys and hold them accountable.

We hear so much that this is a failure of greedy CEO's, a failure of the market, too little regulation, too little oversight. It's not that at all. The financial services industry is one of the more heavily regulated industries in the country.

It's a failure of brought on by government manipulation and intervention to achieve social goals that brought the housing market and the credit markets to the edge of a cliff.

So we have to listen to the anti-capitalist drivel from leftist idiots who were party to the problems produced and directed by their ilk, underwritten by Fannie and Freddie, without once hearing them hold up the mirror to themselves and admit that they and their failed policies are part of the problem. AMAZING.

REPRESENTATIVE BARNEY FRANK (D-MA)


I'M NOT SURE IF YOU SHOULD WATCH YOUR WALLET OR WATCH YOUR ASS WHEN THIS GUY IS TALKING - EITHER WAY IT SEEMS YOU'RE GOING TO GET SCREWED, RIGHT?

I would trust my fate to the greediest of greedy Wall Street CEO's before I would trust it to this guy and his merry band of thieves and liars.

THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:
We've heard a lot lately about how McCain is poison because his voting record is the same as Bush 90% of the time. If this tidbit is obtained from the Congressional Quarterly study, as I believe it is, then the only positions it seems that CQ can grade link the President to are positions in which President Bush has a clear and well-defined position on. This leaves only issues that are fairly well established and non-controversial. A small sample to start with and a non-representative sample to make a true evaluation on. It would be like me telling you what type of season Ryan Howard had after only seeing 10 game per season and cherry-picking one statistic.

CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY VOTING STUDY:
http://www.cqpolitics.com/cq-assets/cqmultimedia/flash/votestudy/index.html

The greater question becomes, OK 90%. Is that a high, middle or low number relatively speaking? On the surface we don't know if we just accept the 90% figure at face value. If someone tells me a baseball pitcher throw 90 MPH, on it's surface that's useful information, but does it tell me if the pitcher throws FAST. Faster than me yes, but don't I have to know if we're discussing a professional pitcher, a collegiate pitcher or a high school pitcher, so I could make a determination by comparison to his peers, whither said pitcher was VERY FAST, AVERAGE FAST or BELOW AVERAGE FAST? Of course. If we're talking professional-DUDE IS AVERAGE. Collegiate- DUDE IS ABOVE AVERAGE. HIGH SCHOOL PITCHER- THE GUYS A SUPERSTAR.

The candidates and their campaign manager count on a lazy electorate that accepts what they are told at face value without asking questions or doing the necessary homework to come up with real answers.

THE MCCAIN COMPARISON:
Compared to other Republican Senators it seems like it's a rather low grade. This 90% figure actually ranks McCain 25 out of 49 Republican Senators. That would make him a C student if we were grading him as a rubber-stamping, lap-dog, brown-nosed, clone of Bush. In terms of voting along party lines, McCain votes with his Republican brethren 81% of the time, ranking him 44th of 49 Republican Senators. Maybe a D- if you're grading him as a partisan, but perhaps a solid A, if you were looking for an independent, non-partisan (a maverick?).


If you look at a certain Senator from Illinois you come up with some interesting data as well. You find a Senator who votes with the President 40% of the time which is at the low end of the spectrum (high end as far as opposing President Bush's positions). By comparison we see Pelosi at 20%, Clinton and Ted Kennedy at 49%, Biden at 52% and Harry Reid at 53%. In terms of party unity, Obama agrees with his party 96% of the time, same as Clinton. Pelosi is at 98%. Ted Kennedy at 97%. Biden and Reid at 93%.

Birch Bayh comes in at 57% with the President and 81% voting with the party, making him the prototypical "McCain Democrat". No wonder he's not on the ticket.

So when we hear Obama brush off the charge that he's a liberal because he's voting against Bush's policies, that's not the case. It's more because he's in lock-step with the Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi ultra-liberal wing of the party.


DNC CHAIRMAN - HOWARD DEAN


SENATE MAJORITY LEADER - HARRY REID



SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE - NANCY PELOSI

I'm not sure who scares me more.
---------------------------

=================
So we are where we are. On the brink of financial Armageddon we're told, by the people who drove us to this point, for the most part. And they come to us, the American people and say, "Don't worry folks, we have the answer this time."

And it seems like when I see things like the earmark to a special interest group like Acorn--for 20% of the funds from profits from the nationalization of the toxic debt--if any profit materializes from such purchases and sales--why do I feel like the Lucy-Charlie Brown animation shown above is an apt analogy to the situation. We the people are Charlie Brown and our fearless leaders are Lucy.

This is a "hair of the dog that bit you" solution. Never mind they are using taxpayer funds to favor a special interest group that whose mantra, whose raison d'etre, is what got us into this mess in the first place i.e: the gross proliferation of mortgages to low-income people who couldn't afford to pay them using lower standards to approve them (liar loans, no doc, no money down, etc.) and new investment vehicles to hide the resulting damage which were promoted and sanctified by Fannie and Freddie. And we had no less an authority than the patron saint of easy credit, Alan Greenspan, continually bless the process. So everybody felt good about it, very few people saw the warning signs and kicked a fuss about it. And when they did, as McCain and Bush did years ago, they were dismissed as being unconcerned about low-income families or worse, painted as being racially motivated (by Barney Frank).
===============================
The real heroes recently have been Ron Paul, shown here questioning Bernanke, and the House Republicans, who were willing to stand in front of this moving freight train and say NO!! HELL, NO!!

The sad part is those guys will be targeted when they go up for re-election for daring to have the guts to stand up for the taxpayers and against the special interest.



A LONE VOICE OF SANITY AMONG THE MADNESS - RON PAUL

It seems to be the height of political hypocrisy to have these Dems, who have spent the better part of the last few years venting their spleens railing against Bush now working side by side with his administrations crash-test dummy Hank Paulson in this endeavor. That alone should tell you there's something wrong with this process. I understand the phrase "Politics makes strange bedfellows", but this is clearly beyond the pale.


“Removing governmental power to manipulate money removes the temptation for government to spend, print and cheat. Sound money ensures that our government’s spending priorities would be brought into sharp focus and reduced to only what we can afford.

The Federal Reserve has lately been auctioning off large amounts of treasury bills as a way to finance the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and our crushing entitlement burden. The resulting devaluation of the dollar is quickly eroding our image as a good trading partner in the world. As a consequence, there is more talk of economic isolation and war.

The vicious cycle of spending, fighting and inflating is not what Americans want. Sound money curbs the government’s ability to engage in these shenanigans and reduces the wars we fight to only truly defensive ones, for which Americans are more than willing to stand and fight.” Congressman Ron Paul, August 30, 2008

“No generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence” Thomas Jefferson to James Madison, 1789

We're really straying far off-course from these wise words from one of our nations founders.

A return to the discipline of the gold standard would provide some needed stability, but don't hold you breath waiting for that. MONEY IS POWER and a fiat currency means power to those who control it. Why would politicians ever want to give up the
power of the printing press?

The gold standard would control the massive debt we have accumulated and mitigate inflation. Growth of GDP might be slowed due to less speculation, but that seems like a reasonable trade-off nowadays, doesn't it? If these guys really cared about people who gather around their kitchen table trying to figure out how to pay their bills and plan for college, this would be the best step forward in that attaining that goals. Next on the list would be a complete overhaul of the income-tax system, which would require the same government officials to give up another lever of the power they have over people's lives. Which, of course, they totally mismanage.

Why do we not hear either of the candidates talking about issues like this? And wonder now, why were they so quick to dismiss the candidacy of Ron Paul? Because they don't want you considering these options for obvious reasons.

We haven't even discussed looming disasters, again brought to you by government, like the Social Security crisis and the coming inflationary cycle that will result from this massive injection of money to prop up the system.

STAY TUNED FOLKS, JUST DON'T EXPECT THE ANSWERS FROM YOUR FEARLESS LEADERS.

If there is one thing that is painfully obvious from the weeks events, they are truly clueless. And they don't want the light of day to shine on the process. That's why they were upset with McCain coming back to inject himself into the process. Because with him would come more scrutiny from the media.

Nothing could be more demoralizing to the nation's moral than to watch these idiots at work.


Congressman Ron Paul before the Joint Economic Committee, September 24, 2008
“Mr. Chairman, I believe that our economy faces a bleak future, particularly if the latest $700 billion bailout plan ends up passing. We risk committing the same errors that prolonged the misery of the Great Depression, namely keeping prices from falling. Instead of allowing overvalued financial assets to take a hit and trade on the market at a more realistic value, the government seeks to purchase overvalued or worthless assets and hold them in the unrealistic hope that at some point in the next few decades, someone might be willing to purchase them.”

“Do we care about freedom? Do we care about responsibility and accountability? Do we care that average Americans are about to be looted in order to subsidize the fattest of cats on Wall Street and in government? Times like these have a way of telling us what kind of a people we are, and what kind of a country we shall be.”
================================
I remember seeing this essay about the gang of 545 a while back, during some other crisis of leadership we were going through, and it seems more true now than ever before.

We should think long and hard about these people we elect and ask them serious questions about what happened and what they were doing about it and why? And find out if their record supports the answer given.

I think the best thing that could come out of this election and the next couple after, is not necessarily who wins the White House. One of the two major party candidates is going to win. That may be part of the problem, but we can deal with that four years down the road. It would be for candidates for the House and Senate across the nation to feel the sting of defeat--to be thrown out of office--TO BE FIRED!!!!

If any of the "middle-class", an acceptable euphemism for the "little people" these guys say they are so concerned about, performed as miserably in their jobs, that would be the expected and acceptable response from the boss.

AND WE ARE SUPPOSEDLY THE BOSS OF THE GOVERNMENT, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND.

IF THESE FOLKS DO NOT WANT TO SERVE THE PEOPLE, THEY NEED TO FIND A NEW JOB.
--------------------------------
The Truth About the Gang of 545
by Charlie Reese

545 People

“Politicians are the only people in the world who
create problems and then campaign against them.

Have you ever wondered why, if both the Democrats and
the Republicans are against deficits, we have
deficits?

Have you ever wondered why, if all the politicians are
against inflation and high taxes, we have inflation
and high taxes?

You and I don't propose a federal budget. The
president does.

You and I don't have the Constitutional authority to
vote on appropriations. The House of Representatives
does.

You and I don't write the tax code, Congress does.

You and I don't set fiscal policy, Congress does.

You and I don't control monetary policy, The Federal
Reserve Bank does.

One hundred senators, 435 congressmen, one president
and nine Supreme Court justices - 545 human beings out
of the 300 million - are directly, legally, morally
and individually responsible for the domestic problems
that plague this country.

I excluded the members of the Federal Reserve Board
because that problem was created by the Congress.

In 1913, Congress delegated its Constitutional duty to
provide a sound currency to a federally chartered but
private central bank.

I excluded all the special interests and lobbyists for
a sound reason. They have no legal authority.

They have no ability to coerce a senator, a
congressman or a president to do one cotton-picking
thing.

I don't care if they offer a politician $1 million
dollars in cash. The politician has the power to
accept or reject it. No matter what the lobbyist
promises, it is the legislator's responsibility to
determine how he votes.

Those 545 human beings spend much of their energy
convincing you that what they did is not their fault.
They cooperate in this common con regardless of party.

What separates a politician from a normal human being
is an excessive amount of gall.

No normal human being would have the gall of a
Speaker, who stood up and criticized the President for
creating deficits.

The president can only propose a budget.

He cannot force the Congress to accept it.

The Constitution, which is the supreme law of the
land, gives sole responsibility to the House of
Representatives for originating and approving
appropriations and taxes.

Who is the speaker of the House?

She is the leader of the majority party.

She and fellow House members, not the president, can
approve any budget they want.

If the president vetoes it, they can pass it over his
veto if they agree to

It seems inconceivable to me that a nation of 300
million cannot replace 545 people who stand convicted
-- by present facts - of incompetence and
irresponsibility.

I can't think of a single domestic problem that is not
traceable directly to those 545 people.

When you fully grasp the plain truth that 545 people
exercise the power of the federal government, then it
must follow that what exists is what they want to
exist.

If the tax code is unfair, it's because they want it
unfair.

If the budget is in the red, it's because they want it
in the red.

If the Marines are in IRAQ, it's because they want
them in IRAQ

If they do not receive social security but are on an
elite retirement plan not available to the people,
it's because they want it that way.

There are no insoluble government problems.

Do not let these 545 people shift the blame to
bureaucrats, whom they hire and whose jobs they can
abolish; to lobbyists, whose gifts and advice they can
reject; to regulators, to whom they give the power to
regulate and from whom they can take this power.

Above all, do not let them con you into the belief
that there exists disembodied mystical forces like
'the economy,' 'inflation' or 'politics' that prevent
them from doing what they take an oath to do.

Those 545 people, and they alone, are responsible.

They, and they alone, have the power.

They, and they alone, should be held accountable by
the people who are their bosses - provided the voters
have the gumption to manage their own employees.

We should vote all of them out of office and clean up
their mess!”

IT'S OFFICIAL: THE BOSS MAKES IT TO THE SUPER BOWL

http://blogs.tampabay.com/80s/2008/09/the-boss-finall.html

Great news that this has been finalized. Combined with the Rays clinching the Eastern Division, a really good week for the Tampa Bay area.

My suggested set-list for The Boss:
Born to Run
Land of Hope and Dreams
American Land
Badlands
Jungleland

LILLY PICKS UP WHERE ZAMBRANO LEFT OFF

Ted Lilly follows Carlos Zambrano's no-hitter with six near-perfect innings to start the game, before giving up a hit (or two?) in the seventh, this afternoon in Milwaukee. Lance Berkman walked in the second, and was promptly picked off by Lilly. Reggie Abercrombie led off the seventh with a ??-able error scored on Aramis Ramirez. Mark Loretta followed with a clean single to right-center to end the no-hit bid.

This would be the only hit the Astros would get in this two game set in Milwaukee, as Carlos Marmol, Jeff Samarzia and Bobby Howry would combine to shut the 'stros down the rest of the way, preserving the one-hitter.

If Lilly had been able to finish the deal, it would have been the first time no-hitters have been twirled by pitchers from the same team in back-to-back games.

The Giants Gaylord Perry and the Cardinals Ray Washburn combined to pitch back to back no-no's in the same series, but for separate teams.

These two games were laden with controversy as the Reggie Abercrombie hit that was scored an error brought back memories of the questionable scoring call that went against C.C. Sabathia in Pittsburgh and cost him a chance at a no-hitter. Today, Lilly was given a questionable second life, which Loretta would later turn into a moot point. But it seems like rarely does a game go by that a scoring decision isn't dripping with home-cooking. Something needs to be done about that situation. It's turning into a bit of a joke. There was a blind fan in Section 103 screaming at the press-box that it was a hit, that's how bad the scoring was.

The old school maxim that the first hit has to be a clean one was stretched to the absolute limit today.

The second questionable item was the propriety of moving the game from Houston to Milwaukee in the first place. The Astros were are competing directly with the Brewers for the wild-card spot, so in fairness to the Astros, you would think the game could have been played somewhere other than the Cubs backyard.

By the way, in case your scoring at home, Sundays game drew 23,441 and this afternoons matinee managed to pack in 15,158 otherwise unoccupied Cubs fans. The two-game average of 19,300 is right about the Rays regularly-scheduled game average.

Considering these were unscheduled games, moved into a division rivals stadium, with a fan base that has it's own local flooding problems due to the weekend hurricanes, that's fan support the Cubs can be proud of.

Maybe that's why the Commish moved the games here. Another chance to ring the register. HAHAHAHA.

BENGIE MOLINA IS STUPID

It seems as if the arrival of rookie Pablo Sandoval (pictured above) has rankled veteran Giants catcher Bengie Molina. Molina feels like the Giants are allowing Pablo Sandoval to become Barry Zito's personal catcher. The fact that Zito has been pitching better in the four starts in which Sandoval was the catcher seems to be lost on Molina.

"It is a personal catcher whether they say that or not," Molina told the San Francisco Chronicle. "I'm not happy at all...If they don't consider me a No. 1 catcher, or I can't catch the No.1 guy on the staff, let me know. I ain't stupid. I don't think I've ever been stupid."

OK, Bengie. Since the Giants appear to not have the nads to spell it out for you, then I will.

BENGIE. YOU ARE STUPID.

I mean, let's speak honestly here. What Giant games have you been watching the last couple of years? Have you been hit in the head with too many foul balls? Barry Zito is not the Giants "No. 1 guy on the staff" and hasn't been since the arrival of Tim Lincecum. Unless you measure the No. 1 guy on the basis of salary alone and totally ignore performance.

And if you do that, Bengie, I would submit that as evidence that you are stupid. Very much so.

Further, let me school you on some more of the proverbial handwriting that's on the wall there, champ. You might not be the No.1 catcher for very long. So don't worry so much about who the No.1 pitcher is around Team Gigantes. The winds of change are blowing all around the Giants depth chart. A shitty won-loss record will do that.

Sandoval gives the Giants pretty much everything a Bengie Molina does except experience. And there's only one way for him to get that.

You are 5-11, 225 he's 5-11, 245. The stat lines are similar.

Molina .287 AVG-13 HR-86 RBI-.747 OPS-7% K RATE-3.5% BB RATE
Sandoval .330 AVG-3 HR-15 RBI-.836 OPS-9% K RATE-4% BB RATE

Pretty similar across the board. You do have those Gold Gloves and I respect that, but really how many extra wins per season is that worth? Plus, have you seen the price of gold lately?

Sandoval is also a switch-hitter and that may help bring in a few more fans. We do seem to have more switch-hitters than almost every team in the league, so he'll fit in just nicely with the rest of the lineup. Not that there's anything wrong with you not being a switch-hitter and all.

From a pure economics standpoint, if player Sandoval can give the team the same stats as player Molina, and Sandoval makes nearly $6 million dollars less than Molina, well you understand the business side of the game, right Bengie? It's nothing personal.

Plus we have this guy you've probably been hearing a lot about, guy named Posey. First round draft-pick, All-American boy type, plays your position. cant miss prospect.

Aw, now wait a minute. Is that what this is about, Bengie? Is someone jealous?

Come on Bengie--Jealous and Stupid--that's no way to go through life. There's just no future in it.

Oh well. It's been nice knowing you, Bengie. Really it has.

But hey, just a couple more words to the wise:

1) NO LONG-TERM LEASES. SHORT-TERM MAY BE A BETTER WAY TO GO IN THESE UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC TIMES.

2) DON'T IDENTIFY THE WORST STARTING PITCHER ON THE STAFF AS THE #1 GUY. IT STRAINS YOUR CREDIBILITY AS A CATCHER.

3) DON'T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU IN THE ASS ON THE WAY OUT.

CALLING (OUT?) ALL RAYS FANS

OK, let's hear it. What's the excuse of the day for a fan base that is refusing to recognize this team as the feel-good story the rest of baseball nation feels it is?

The Rays were the worst drawing team in the major leagues going into late August, even though the team on the field had:
1) One of the best home records in the major leagues
2) One of the best overall records in the major leagues
3) One of the more economical ticket packages in the major leagues

So what is it?

Could it be parking? Well, no. Current ownership took care of that this year by allowing free parking at the stadium. Free parking, who gets that?

High concession prices got you down? New ownership took care of that by allowing patrons to bring in small coolers.

Team not competitive? No, they've been at or near first place the entire year.

I mean this is a fan base that did, at one time, support the (S)Hit Show of Jose Canseco, Fred McGriff, Greg Vaughan and Vinnie Castilla (or was it cash-stealer?).
And they supported those guys at higher levels than the current group of Rays.

New ownership even excised the Devil from the team's name for God's sake. No pun intended. Oh shoot, too late, I'm going to hell now.

The point is, Vince Naimoli is not around anymore. The recent comments from team President Matt Silverman indicate the apathy of the area fans may be reaching a tipping point soon.

Silverman said:
"To me, it's about how disheartening it is for everybody in the organization-the players, coaches and front office-to not see the excitement funnel its way into Tropicana Field."

"The TV ratings are high, and that's a great sign, but it hasn't translated to the number of people at Tropicana Field. It really takes the wind out of our sails" Silverman continued "We've poured our hearts and souls into making this a great draw and a great fan experience. To come home after a great road trip and have the smallest crowds in major league baseball was discouraging."

"We're proud of what we have done to turn the organization around. We've done everything we could do to make it a compelling experience at Tropicana Field."


Don't worry Matt, first I think at some point, if not already, MLB will agree with you and support whatever efforts you take to locate a newer, more responsive market than the moribund, comatose one you are currently stuck with. Secondly, I think should your team make the playoffs and draw the White Sox in the first round, as I expect to happen, you can count on the place being filled with White Sox fans who will not be able to get (enough) home tickets to the two games here in Chicago.

That would be a civic black-eye on a national stage for the locals.

Why do I get the feeling that an interview that tried to get the real story behind the lack of attendance in this market, with the typical Rays fan, would go something like this?

Q: Good golly, man. What is it going to take to get this area galvanized behind this team? They are in first place and almost guaranteed to make the playoffs this year for the first time in franchise history.

A: Well, they'll probably choke and not make the playoffs anyway, so why get all excited and then be let down?

Q: How about if the team makes the playoffs, will you get behind them then?

A: Well, they'll probably jack the prices up for playoffs tickets so that the average family of four can't afford to go to a game. And then they'll still probably lose, even though they'll likely have a better record then their first round opponent.

Q: How about the Championship Series or the World Series, would you go then?

A: Well, no 'cause the World Series tickets will be even expensiver.

Q: Expensiver is not a real word, champ. Would you go if the team gave you free tickets, picked you up for the game, drove you home after the game, provided you and your family with free food and booze during the game and allowed you to throw out the first ball and sing the national anthem?

A: I don't know, maybe but that sounds like an awful lot of work, that throwing and singing part. I don't think so.

Q: Would you go to games after the team packs up and leaves the area for Portland or San Antonio leaving your community the tab for an abysmal barn of a stadium that has no other real utility now that the tractor-pull industry has gone under?

A: Oh yeah, me and 40,000 of St. Pete's finest would surely be in line then. Of course.

I thought so.
----------------------
UPDATE:
A quick and dirty analysis.

In order to be fair, I did take a look at the amount of fan support (stated by total attendance reported by ESPN) and compared it to the areas total population base (reported by the Census Bureau July, 2007) defined by the cities population and the MSA figures. I looked at the franchises closest to the Tampa-St. Pete-Clearwater area in terms of both population and position in the standings for this year.

So, although San Diego, Baltimore and Seattle might be close cousins to the Rays from a fan base standpoint, they are not comparable from a competitive standpoint this season.

City............Attendance.......Population......MSA Population
Tampa...........1,565,194........583,279...........2,723,949
St. Louis.......3,238,016........350,759...........2,803,707
Milwaukee.......2,825,909........602,191...........1,544,398
Minnesota.......2,069,791........654,643...........3,208,212

Clearly the Twins are the most comparable with a similarity to the Tampa Bay dynamic (Tampa-St.Pete and Minneapolis-St. Paul). They have about 12% higher city population (combined) and about an 18% higher MSA or regional population base to draw from. However, they are outdrawing the Rays by about 33%. The Twins also play in very similar facilities to the Rays (domed-stadium) although they do have new digs on the way.

Milwaukee is almost double the attendance based on a similar local population and a considerably smaller regional number to draw from. The Brewers and their fans are still in the honeymoon phase with their new stadium.

St. Louis may be the crown jewel in MLB in terms of rabid. loyal fan base. Easily double the total attendance while drawing from a smaller local fan base and a comparable regional base. The Cardinals do have a new stadium and a long and proud baseball history.

The Rays first year attendance in 1998 was about 2.5 million fans. The next year produced a 30% drop-off in fans, an extraordinarily short honeymoon period for an area that was supposedly starved for a major-league franchise.

I just don't feel it is too unreasonable to expect a Rays attendance number somewhere between the Twinkies and the Brewers on a regular basis (provided the team is contending) and occasionally approaching the Cardinals number in the extraordinary years.

And if this year does not meet the definition of an extraordinary year in Rays fans minds, I just ask the question: "What year will?"

The big problem for the Rays community of fans however is--not that I am asking the question--but that MLB executives and the new Rays ownership group might be privately asking themselves similar questions.

References:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_metropolitan_areas

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/attendance

CHANGE OF HEART FOR SARAH BARACUDA

I'm not sure why anyone who gives this woman a fair hearing and is being honest with themselves does not come away entirely impressed with her. The pro-choice crowd shows it's true colors when they choose to attack someone who makes a choice other that that which they espouse. Pro-life is a perfectly legal, moral and ethical position. It is attacked simply because it is different from the pro-choice viewpoint. You almost cannot get any more un-American then that. It's a political oxymoron for the pro-choice crowd to be attacking a person's choice.

Anyway, here is a little ditty to honor the brightest, freshest face to hit politics in quite some time. Any resemblance to a similar song by Heart is purely coincidental.
----------------
Sarah Barracuda

McCain has a new friend
I thought he was dead….…today
You simply took our hearts away
Handles a gun
Chooses pro-life
And change – Sarah never fails

You bring real change to your community
I bet you’ll do the same in D.C
You’ll have them down, down, down, down on their knees
Now won’t you? Sarah Baracuda?

Back in the day, good old boys reined
Selling their integrity
You took the reigns, and showed them the way
To tell right from wrong, You sent them all home
And then came, better days

Now if the rad jet don’t do the trick
You better put it on e-bay real quick
You’re gonna change, change, change, change, change DC politics
Ahhhhhhhh, Sarah Baracuda

Grease us, grease you, the good old boys said
Make no waves and you get ahead
You…I think you changed the game on them too
Pit-bulls snarl and small town charm
With a hockey mom’s grit
Looks like a winner – no time for silly fools

Now if the rad jet don’t do the trick
You better put it on e-bay real quick
You’re gonna change, change, change, change DC politics
Ahhhhhhhh, Sarah Baracuda

I <3 (HEART) SARAH PALIN
--------------------------
So, if the Democratic primaries did not illustrate vividly enough that they are the party that sees color and gender and uses it as a wedge to cloud their decision making, then the reaction to Sarah Palin has clinched the deal. I'm disgusted with myself that I even gave a moments thought to considering Obama as a candidate. From the moment of Hillary Clinton's speech to the DNC, my opinion is they chose the wrong candidate. She should have demonstrated that sort of passion and excitement long ago.

It seems like choice means their choice. Only Democrats can offer a woman candidate suitable to the American political palate. Or an African-America candidate for that matter.

Nobody knows for sure who was further down McCain's veep list, but another rising star in the Republican party who would have made an outstanding pick as well, is Representative J.C. Watts (R-OK):

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J.C. WATTS NOTES FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Watts captured national attention in 1996 with a speech before the Republican national convention, when he said, "You see character does count. For too long we have gotten by in a society that says the only thing right is to get by and the only thing wrong is to get caught. Character is doing what's right when nobody is looking."

Continuing to be a rising star for the national Republican Party, Watts was selected in 1997 to deliver the Republican response to President Bill Clinton's State of the Union Address. In an interview with the Washington Post, Watts chastised some black Democrats and civil rights leaders as "race-hustling poverty pimps", whose careers he said depend on keeping blacks dependent on the government.

In 1998, Watts was chosen by the Republican House Leadership to be the chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fourth highest position of leadership in the House of Representatives (behind the Speaker, the Majority Leader, and the Majority Whip).

Watts has been critical of the Republican party's 2008 presidential candidates because they "don't show up" for black voters:
“Republicans want to say we reach out. But what we do instead is 60 days before an election, we'll spend some money on black radio and TV or buy an ad in Ebony and Jet, and that's our outreach. People read through that.”

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It's becoming apparent that this is not your father's or grandfather's Republican Party anymore.

GO MCCAIN-PALIN 2008!!!

9.11.2001 - NEVER FORGET

“Our enemies have made the mistake that America’s enemies always make. They saw liberty and thought they saw weakness. And now, they see defeat.”
- George W. Bush, President of the United States


"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
- Former President of the United States Ronald Reagan



"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin:


"Currently the road most Americans seem to want to take is the road to government control in the belief than government can give them more security without diminishing their liberty. Of course, that is not true. If Americans turn to government to secure their freedom at the expense of the constitution they will lose it. The Constitution and the first ten amendments -- the Bill of Rights -- make it plain that the Founding Fathers had no faith that government could be trusted to guard the rights of individuals. It is well to remember that under the Constitution government does not give us our rights; they are our birthright. It is government's job to protect those rights. Unfortunately government too often moves instead to limit them."
- Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal editorialist:

LOOK OUT AMERICA, HERE COMES SARAH PALIN, WOW!!!!

NOW THIS IS CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN!!!!

What a godsend this woman is. I cannot believe that people don't see that this hockey-mom is just what we need at the highest levels of government. ONE OF US.

Not someone who is packaged and sold to us as ONE OF US.

But a walking, talking, living, breathing examples of just the kind of people we keep hearing that politicians should be most concerned about. US!!!

A politician who doesn't just talk the talk, she walks the walk.

Whether it's about bringing about change, ethics, fighting corruption and bureaucracy in government, about being a pro-life advocate. This woman gets it.

Hopefully, people will give her a chance to demonstrate her abilities and positions and her vision, because we do need someone like this--not only a heartbeat away from the presidency--but IN THE PRESIDENCY.

SARAH PALIN,YOU GO GIRL!!! Republicans have had the fire burning in their hearts for another Ronald Reagan to lead them and now they just may have found her. They questioned his qualifications to lead once too. HAHAHAHA.

This woman doesn't just talk about change and improving the lives of those she governs, SHE DOES SOMETHING ABOUT IT. SHE GETS RESULTS. Ask the members of the community activists constituency what SPECIFICALLY he did to improve their lives on the South Side of Chicago. NOTHING. Their lot is the virtually the same as when he arrived and later left them for bot higher ground and higher office.

Ask the political watchdogs whether the agent for change who champions ethics in government, what he did about CORRUPTION in the Chicago city government. It would be hard not to find any corruption, ask any Chicagoan. But it is hard to fight it or expose it or change the culture, especially if you feel you may need those people to get along, or to get ahead. WHAT SORT OF CHANGE WAS MADE IN THE CHICAGO POLITICAL LANDSCAPE? NONE. HOW ABOUT AT THE STATE LEVEL, WHERE THERE SEEMS TO BE A REVOLVING DOOR FRO THE GOVERNORS MANSION TO THE STATE PENITENTIARY LATELY? NO CHANGE THERE LATELY EITHER.

Sorry, I don't see this change that these people speak of. I guess just talking a good game is enough for some people. Me? I'm more of a results guy.

And I'm not sure that I've ever hear a anything more cynical then choosing a church or a mentor, like the Rev. "God-damned America" Wright, in order to advance your career. Doesn't seem like a real good reason to join a church. And then jettison it when the going got tough for you.

Ask the people of Alaska whether Sarah Palin has changed their government or changed their lives in the short time she has been their Governor.

WHAT I DON'T UNDERSTAND IS THIS. The media and the Obama-ites a re highlighting the thinness of this woman's resume, but it seems to me as if she has ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED more than the windbag from the Windy City has in the years he went from community organizer, to state senator, to U.S. Senator.

So who has the thin resume once you account for RESULTS!! What a great day to be an American.
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SOME COMMENTS FROM NATIONAL LEADERS REGARDING PALIN:

"Before, they were excited about her, with the Down syndrome baby," conservative, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist said. "But now with this, they are over the moon. It reinforces the fact that this family lives its pro-life values."

Palin and John McCain oppose abortion and have supported promoting abstinence in schools, which would seem to make Bristol Palin's pregnancy an inconveniently timed development.

But she is keeping the child, a fact that could make the Alaska governor -- whose candidacy has been enthusiastically embraced by evangelicals who regard her as one of their own -- even more popular among that key GOP voting bloc.

"Fortunately, Bristol is following her mother and father's example of choosing life in the midst of a difficult situation," Family Research Council president Tony Perkins said. "We are committed to praying for Bristol and her husband-to-be and the entire Palin family as they walk through a very private matter in the eyes of the public."

"This is the pro-life choice. The fact that people will criticize her for this shows the astounding extent to which the secular critics of the pro-life movement just don't get it," Land said in a statement.

"Those who criticize the Palin family don't understand that we don't see babies as a punishment but as a blessing. Barack Obama said that if one of his daughters made a mistake and got pregnant out of wedlock, he wouldn't want her to be punished with a child. Pro-lifers don't see a child as punishment."

Most important for Palin, an elder statesman of the movement, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, released a statement lauding the Palins for acting in keeping with the group's policies and practices:

"We have always encouraged the parents to love and support their children and always advised the girls to see their pregnancies through, even though there will of course be challenges along the way. That is what the Palins are doing, and they should be commended once again for not just talking about their pro-life and pro-family values, but living them out even in the midst of trying circumstances.

"Being a Christian does not mean you're perfect. Nor does it mean your children are perfect. But it does mean there is forgiveness and restoration when we confess our imperfections to the Lord. I've been the beneficiary of that forgiveness and restoration in my own life countless times, as I'm sure the Palins have," Dobson said.

"The media are already trying to spin this as evidence Gov. Palin is a 'hypocrite,' but all it really means is that she and her family are human," Dobson said. "They are in my prayers and those of millions of Americans."