From politics (moderates who lean to the right) to Pogo (drools during poker stare) to rants (Whatcha expect from savvy, sassy sexagenarians?) to raves (Have you had your kudo today?) -- we never take ourselves too seriously.
We do, however, reserve the right to slaughter an occasional sacred cow. And in case we fail to mention it -- we will never forget....
Those who underestimated Mitt Romney's appeal to contributor purse strings had to be utterly amazed at the amount of money (6.5 million) pledged yesterday to support his candidacy for President in 2008.
Toldja.
Unless something (or someone) totally unforeseen appears on the political horizon within the next few months, Mitt Romney will be the candidate everyone will be watching.
Newly elected -- more moderate -- democrats have set their own legislative parameters, putting Speaker Nancy Pelosi on notice. A corp of "Blue Dog" democrats will not be supporting all the initiatives in Pelosi's agenda.
Will she heed the warning? Probably not.
If she doesn't -- my prediction that disagreements amongst democrats may become a highlight during the next two years.
And that will not only make President Bush look even better, but may become a "plus" for Mitt Romney.
Why?
No other candidate for President in 2008 has Romney's history (a Republican Governor in a liberal state) for working successfully with bipartisan initiatives.
We've been forewarned about Pelosi's plans for the first 100 days of her tenure as Speaker of the House. With dissension within her party, however, those plans may have been placed on hold had she not implemented a surprise twist to House Rules ....
What she orchestrated was a ruling to disallow Republicans from entering debates or allowing them to offer amendments to the plethora of bills Dems want to pass -- without the process of committee review.
What can stop this parliamentary steam-roll?
Unless Republicans can come up with a twist of their own (unlikely), only the President's veto.
This should be interesting ....
Suggested Pelosi Theme Song:
99 bottles of ..... days to go 99 days to go Turn a calendar page See the BDS rage -- 98 days to go ....
[Continue singing rounds until "1 day to go" then repeat "99 days" sequences for the next two years.]
.... sitting down while wearing high-heeled shoes, no less!
Today Sen. Joe Biden shared a different perspective on what constitutional leverage Congress actually has over the President, however --
MR. RUSSERT: ...there's really little Democrats can do. Why not cut off funding for the war?
SEN. BIDEN: I've been there, Tim. You can't do it.
MR. RUSSERT: Why?
SEN. BIDEN: You can't do it. It's--what--because it made sense in the Constitution when you said you could cut off funding when you had no standing army. We have a standing army with a budget of hundreds of billions of dollars. You can't go in and, like a tinker toy, and play around and say, "You can't spend the money on this piece and this piece and"--he--able--he'll be able to keep those troops there forever constitutionally if he wants to.
MR. RUSSERT: Why not have legislation then that would cap the number of troops in Iraq?
SEN. BIDEN: Because it's very difficult to--it's constitutionally questionable whether or not you can do that. I think it is unconstitutional to say, "We're going to tell you you can go, but we're going to micromanage the war." When we wrote the Constitution, the intention was to give the commander in chief the authority how to use the forces, when you authorize them, to be able to use the forces. And so... the only way this is going to change, Tim... is when a majority of Lindsey's colleagues, Republicans, say to the president, "Mr. President, enough. We are not going to support you any more," that's when the president will begin to change his policy.
The count-down has begun, may we assume?
Wait.
Maybe Speaker Nancy should not start that clock until Dems themselves are on the same page .....
While admiring John McCain's service on two fronts, I've never felt he had the mentality, stability or qualities befitting a President of the United States. Obviously, I'm not the only one who feels this way.
Folks over at Carpetbaggers have joined their dubious TV personality in revealing a few of McCain's cavings. There will likely be more to come.
* McCain criticized TV preacher Jerry Falwell as "an agent of intolerance" in 2002, but has since decided to cozy up to the man who said Americans "deserved" the 9/11 attacks. (Indeed, McCain has now hired Falwell's debate coach.)
* McCain used to oppose Bush's tax cuts for the very wealthy, but he reversed course in February.
* In 2000, McCain accused Texas businessmen Sam and Charles Wyly of being corrupt, spending "dirty money" to help finance Bush's presidential campaign. McCain not only filed a complaint against the Wylys for allegedly violating campaign finance law, he also lashed out at them publicly. In April, McCain reached out to the Wylys for support.
* McCain supported a major campaign-finance reform measure that bore his name. In June, he abandoned his own legislation.
* McCain used to think that Grover Norquist was a crook and a corrupt shill for dictators. Then McCain got serious about running for president and began to reconcile with Norquist.
* McCain was both for and against state promotion of the Confederate flag.
* McCain decided in 2000 that he didn't want anything to do with former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, believing he "would taint the image of the 'Straight Talk Express.'" Kissinger is now the Honorary Co-Chair for his presidential campaign in New York.
And now McCain has gone from insisting that the war in Iraq would be easy to insisting that he's always said the war in Iraq would be hard. And yet, you'll still find most of the political establishment arguing that McCain's strength as a candidate is his credibility.
I don't relish using liberal research to support my preferred candidate for president -- but, hey -- if the shoe fits, let someone else tromp around in it first!
I don't often post on "power blogs" .... too many trolls try to dominate, distort and seed dissension. But I'm about to get over all that. I feel it is critical to our nation's best-interests (on multiple levels) to have qualified, experienced and capable leadership.
Until and unless a more viable candidate appears on the horizon, I'm putting my meager (online) weight behind Mitt Romney for President.
Two years can be a long time ..... Hopefully, it will be enough time for other moderates and moderate-conservatives to get to know Mitt Romney's capabilities and potential to lead this nation.
Those who believe Romney to be the most qualified candidate need to get organized. Fast. We need blog bursts, blog rolls and related promos. Grassroot movements require nurturing.
Today I commented on the Powerline blog:
Romney is receiving positive nods across mod-conservative observers. (I keep a log of pro and con articles on my blog.) He's weathering the Mormon fear-factor and the flip-flop hype being seeded by factions who have the most to lose .....
Romney has the balance, the experience, the demeanor and the intellect that few others possess. A unique feather in Romney's hat is that he's the only viable candidate who has succeeded in working with a democrat legislature -- blue dogs AND extremists.
I believe this. Peruse the log of commentaries/articles in the Romney 2008 roll in the sidebar. Visit his exploratory site.
MSM is already trying to "slant" an image of our next President. Romney's potential opponents and their supporters are seeding misinformation to down-play his merits and capabilities .... The security and welfare of our nation are too critical to have the 2008 Presidential Election relegated to personality contests and empty rhetoric.
Joe Lieberman on Iraq "In Iraq today we have a responsibility to do what is strategically and morally right for our nation over the long term -- not what appears easier in the short term. The daily scenes of death and destruction are heartbreaking and infuriating. But there is no better strategic and moral alternative for America than standing with the moderate Iraqis until the country is stable and they can take over their security. Rather than engaging in hand-wringing, carping or calls for withdrawal, we must summon the vision, will and courage to take the difficult and decisive steps needed for success and, yes, victory in Iraq. That will greatly advance the cause of moderation and freedom throughout the Middle East and protect our security at home."
From the Washington Post, Dec. 29th, 2006
I believe President Bush also "stands with Joe." My highest hope is that the President has the personnel and resources in place to bring about the strategic and moral alternative to allow moderate Iraqis to determine their own security and their own victory.
Logically (to me, at least), there is no rationale NOT to call upon religious factions to assume responsible leadership in their respective regions of influence. While current Iraqi leadership does not want provinces to have autonomy, this may be the most expedient way to achieve peaceful coexistence while concurrently -- with coalition support -- riding their country of foreign insurgents.
If we can support Iraq in achieving this level of self-governance -- militarily, economically, politically -- we will have "won."
I've resolved to expand my cultural sensitivity and awareness this year.
I'm willing to concede that the LALALALALALALA! chant may involve a range of decibels which alters its meaning and may, indeed, connote something very similar to more familiar cultural quips and utterances as:
"yippie yi yo ki yahhhh" or "oi vey" or "aussie aussie aussie oi oi oi" or even "uuuh rah!"
Depending upon infliction, could it also mean the same as:
"Hot damn?" "Bloody damn good?" "Hallelujah?" "Choi duc oi?" "Kiwabonga?" "Cool beans?" "EEEEEEKS?" "Please, God. NO!!!"? "YEAAAAAAAAA"? "You gotta be kidding!!"? "Fugiddaboudit"? "What the h---?" "22 skiddo"? "Fair dinkum?"
Notwithstanding, the universal
???
Anyway -- If it's good enough for the Iraqi, it's good enough for me.
* Pat Robertson needs to stay attuned to his humanitarian efforts and stop with the messages from God. No more predictions, OK, Pat? All we need is for someone of conservative affiliation to muck up the political pot (such as running again for President -- LALALALALALA!) and remind middle- American that the far right contains as many loonies as the far left .... Hillary will love it.
LALALALALALALALALALALA! Meaning #1: Shut up and feed the hungry, Pat. Meaning #2: God forbid. Meaning #3: Say NO to Hillary.
On second thought -- maybe Hillary is associated with the alleged "disaster" God was telling Pat about .... LALALALALALALA! Meaning: From God's lips to Pat's ears.
* Can anyone sorta-understand the mob-mentality which the hanging committee exhibited when Saddam stepped to the gallows? While it certainly was not the solemn occasion one might expect amongst most western-encultured folks, let's not forget that this low-life had mercilessly massacred millions. LALALALALALALALALA!!!!!! Meaning: Ding dong, the witch is dead.
I'm still pondering the last word Saddam spat ("Muqtada"), which likely set-off a "LALALALALALALA" feeding frenzy as he dangled at rope's end. Muqtada was certainly not the image of a "god-send" Saddam had in mind -- he had already killed Muqtada's father .... Meaning: blah blah blah blah! We're not listeningggggg!
But I digress.
In truth -- I can't blame those folks for not waiting for allah to drag that piece of dung through hot deserts and sand spurs enroute to eternal hell.
AND While the common "LALALALALALALA" is not a celebratory retort I'm partial to (I'd have likely uttered a prayer that Saddam's spirit be sucked down the closest drain by those evil forces from Ghost), maybe "LALALA" also means "burn in the darkest corner of hell, you scumbag."
* I'm also concerned that the hanging party included Muqtada followers -- assigned by PM Maliki. He's a home-boy, after all. What would you have expected? LALALALALALALA! Meaning: "neener neener neener!"
* Headlines today suggest that Maliki wants to step down before his term as PM is up. That would be good. LALALALALALALA!!!!!! Meaning: Don't delay our disappointment.
He's ineffective, weak and seemingly has little to no respect from his electorate. Resign and save your country, Maliki. LALALALALALALA! Meaning: "Don't make me have to type in caps!"
Newly elected -- more moderate -- democrats have set their own legislative parameters, 
to 
???