Chimp-in-Chief speaking

Man, as if Barack's speech yesterday wasn't great enough on it's own (even according to his political opponents who bothered to watch/read it - apparently Hillary couldn't quite squeeze in the time), the current pResident goes on television today to tell us all about how morally "right" the Iraq war is/was on the 5th anniversary and couldn't have made the contrast between himself and Barack more stark if he'd tried. Seriously, the man is either too nearsighted (ironic, eh?) or dim-witted to use a teleprompter I guess because he has to look down at his PAPER script after every sentence, and his body language is so staged to look "strong" you can almost hear the person in his ear saying "now, pound your fist on the podium".

I believe it's important to pay close attention to politicians, more so when you disagree with their actions so you can try to head off their intended actions (my inner Hermione-watching-Umbridge-speak-at-the-Feast) but damn, I was EAGER to turn on the darn Doodlebops for Liam about 5min in.

Del's sick, had a fever over 100 yesterday but seems to be considerably better today, hopefully he'll be calm enough for me to get some work done. Haven't even had the mental energy (much less free hands) to reply to emails for a few days since I was sick myself this past weekend. Someday I'll catch up, right? *sigh*

VP Pelosi?

So Pelosi was speaking today and saying "Democrats will have a Dream Ticket" but said it won't be Obama/Clinton or Clinton/Obama. The woman had a total cat-who-ate-the-canary grin on her face while saying it. I'd be willing to bet dollars to cents that she's been tapped to be Obama's VP, and she'd be a much better VP than Hillary (Pelosi has been in the US House of Representatives since 1987, Minority Whip, then Minority Leader, now Speaker of the House, opposed the war from the start, matches Barack's record very well in most areas from what I got scanning through her Wikipedia entry). That would work very well, as it totally undermines the support base behind Hillary without having the divisiveness Hillary brings to the VP slot - Pelosi is another woman "of a certain age" BUT she's got REAL national government level experience that she EARNED FOR HERSELF (and nicely she's seemed to "grow a pair" recently in arguing with Bush, she's been a bit too polite to him for my taste since becoming Speaker). If it really is about it being "a woman's turn" to Hillary's supporters, Pelosi is also a woman so that argument loses steam, and asking Pelosi over Hillary is easily explained because Hillary made the argument for it - Pelosi has more security experience, more experience PERIOD, and brings the "big state that Barack lost" of California legitimately (instead of the "big state" of NY as a carpetbagger).


Garvin saw the video too and agrees with me - she was just smiling WAY to big for it to be someone else who has been tapped. Watch for it. I don't think he'll announce anything of the sort before he's officially the nominee delegate-wise, but if you start seeing a sudden large number of superdelegates announcing support for him, it's been announced behind the scenes. Mark my words.

For those who still aren't feeling too terribly committed one way or the other, a graphic I made for you:
(that's formated 6x4 if anyone wants to print it out, I'm planning to print one and stick it in a magnetic 4x6 holder to stick on my van)

In other news, Del finally had his two bottom teeth pop through the gum line in the last few days. He seems really less than thrilled with the two weird, hard, sharp things in his mouth that he can't get out. NOt been doing good things to my mental funcitoning, lack of sleep combined with fibromyalgia flaring up (which it has been, off and on, since October - I haven't been at my normal energy levels since then) and I'm a bit off my game to say the least.

Real patriotism is holding government responsible | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean

too busy to post my own words so sharing some i found particularly inspiring...

Real patriotism is holding government responsible | www.tennessean.com | The Tennessean:

...I'll let you in on an oddball gesture of mine. Each Sunday, at the end of ABC's This Week when the Pentagon-released names of recently fallen soldiers scrolls down, I stand up from where I've been sitting and, misty-eyed, salute the names. It's corny, I know, but the idea of 20- and 30-somethings dying far away in an unnecessary war touches me at the core, and I feel the least I can do is stand and honor in some way their sacrifice.

Let's examine the thinking of the roughly 30 percent of Americans — the so-called America-lovers — who still support the war. Theirs is a world view painted with broad brush strokes — their country is always right, good, moral; those who oppose us are all bad guys, sometimes with no distinction — "terrorists" "extremists" "insurgents" — all to be done away with; even when we err, it is always in good faith, never with ulterior motives. And if we want someone else's oil or want permanent bases, their astonishing attitude is "So what?" This world view doesn't allow the other guy, Iraqis in this case, to be entitled to the same nationalism, pride and fighting spirit that we claim for ourselves.

Frankly, I wish I could inhabit this island even temporarily, if only because it would be easier. To actually be acquainted with the messy realities of Iraq is to feel a range of emotions — anger, outrage, sorrow, shame.

I have a theory on why some people feel this way. Some of it is a combination of exceptionalism and arrogance, but some of it has to do with what is sometimes evident to outsiders — the dichotomy between the American people and their country's foreign policy — the former are some of the most straightforward people in the world, and the latter can sometimes be devious and hypocritical.

It is for this reason that some Americans are unable to believe that the genial Mr. Bush can be capable of a dishonest war, and that their leaders may not have been entirely honest with them. Hence the denial, delusion and tortured rationalization.

But as Barack Obama has reminded us, dissent is a higher form of patriotism.

If we lose that, the terrorists win. If that happens, they'll follow us here. Then, maybe hopefully, they'll drive out those America-haters and Third World liberals.

Saritha Prabhu of Clarksville is a Tennessean columnist. E-mail: sprabhu@charter.net.

The Obama Movement - Kool-Aid Drinking or Redpill Swallowers?

Cross-posting and linking to my blog entry on barackobama.com

As Obama supporters, we've been being called Kool-Aid Drinkers for a while now from all sides, and some people within our own ranks are starting to use the term as if it's a good thing. Please stop. The reference to Kool-Aid Drinking either refers to taking LSD or, more often, to committing suicide as a show of support to your leader ala Jonestown - here's the Wikipedia entry about it - this is NOT a label we should be casually applying to ourselves!

I believe a more accurate label for us is Redpill Swallowers, a reference to Redpills from the Matrix Movie Trilogy - here's the relevant Wikipedia entry

"This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the Bluepill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the Redpill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes." -Morpheus to Thomas Anderson before he became Neo, from the film The Matrix, first released in 1999.

Exiting the Matrix can be traumatic, particularly to those who have lived in it for too long. It's scary. Change is unsettling and uncomfortable. Sticking with what you've always "known" is so much easier and more comfortable. This is part of the Truth behind HRC's appeal, especially amongst those who lack the education or even language capabilities to investigate her claims and so take the Bluepill way and take HRC at her word, taking comfort in the Clinton Machine's familiar spin cycle.

Me? I'm just another white woman GenX red-pill swallower here. And damn if it ain't one bitter, jagged little pill. Leaves an ache in your trache as it goes down, but it's the only medicine that will keep you awake and alert. It's this alertness, this intentional exiting of the Matrix that the politics of the past has created for us, that will produce change. It needs to be about more than just one man. It needs to be about us, at our most awake, alert, and attentive. It needs to be about We, the People, taking back our country.

Yes, we can.

Swallow the Redpill. It's not a placebo. The side effects are exactly what our country needs. The Bluepill is the path to ruin, individually and collectively.

Send the upcoming state's citizens as many Redpills as you can. It's definately not about Kool-Aid.