Fired Up, Ready To Go!

President Obama in Columbus, Ohio today.

"This is a make or break moment for the middle class, and we've been through too much to turn back now."

The American People Have Spoken

How many times have we heard House Speaker John Boehner say, "The American people want..." or "The American people sent us here to..."? How often do you think he'll use that phrase after yesterday's election results?

Well, I'll use it. If yesterday's election results have shown us anything, it's that the American people don't like hypocrites. They American people have spoken in their rejection of Ohio's collective bargaining/anti-union law. The American people have spoken in their rejection of an attempt by Mississippi Republicans to redefine "personhood" as the point of which an egg becomes fertilized. The American people have spoken in their re-election of Kentucky's Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear with 56% of the vote. The American people have spoken in their recall of Republican Arizona Senate President Russell Pierce, the author of the harsh immigration law that had been adopted in Grand Canyon state. The American people have spoken in their addition of a New Jersey Democratic Assembly member as they've cooled off of a Chris Christie love affair. The American people have spoken against voter suppression by repealing Maine's two day voting registration law and restoring same day registration.

The American people have spoken. And if the Congressional members of the Republican party refuse to listen and continue on the path of "Just Say No" to President Obama's every attempt to get the country's employment situation and GDP jump started, they're in for a rude awakening in November of 2012.

Flip Romney

Mitt Romney is confused. The old adage, "All politics is local" is being jumbled in Romney's mind as "All video is local." He thinks he can say one thing in one state and then just 24 hours later say something completely different.

Remember when former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney went to a call center of conservative faithful in Ohio, as volunteers were dialing on behalf of the efforts to save SB 5, the state’s new union-busting bill? And then when asked by reporters, said he wasn’t going to take a position on the issue?

Well, that was yesterday.

Today it appears Romney does have a position: he supports Gov. John Kasich’s efforts to curtail public employee unions in the name of tightening Ohio’s budget. Romney said as much at an event in Virginia...

And apparently the confusion was ours. He wasn't going to take a position on other ballot questions, even though he spent his time at the pro-SB5 call center. Reporters couldn't possibly have been asking him about SB5, could they? As soon as Mitt hightailed it out of Ohio - where polls show a majority of Ohioans plan on voting to repeal the union busting bill - he decided to back Gov. Kasich while his feet were firmly planted in Virginia.

Just say, "Oops!" and get out.

Welcome to Ohio

I'm visiting my in-laws and you just can't get away from it.

Here's the world famous Hannity charity scam bus sitting in a Marriott hotel parking lot in Deerfield, Ohio.  Apparently there's some sort of teabagger rally going on.



And check this out. Bumper stickers are no longer good enough. Now they spread the Gospel (and probably cause more drivers to meet their maker) with fender stickers!



"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." That's the quote. But in between Jebus and the heavy ladened one on the fender sticker, reads "The Valley of Unbelief." The Valley of Unbelief? Is that like the Pit of Despair? Or the Cliffs of Insanity?

Is This Sexist?

"Let's take [Ohio Democratic Rep.] Betty Sutton out of the House and put her back in the kitchen."

Medina County GOP chairman Bill Heck doesn't think so.

...Sigh...

Touchdown Jesus Facelift!

My mother-in-law sent me this article.

A giant depiction of Jesus Christ that has become one of southwest Ohio's most familiar landmarks is getting spruced up.

The Solid Rock Church says it is power-washing and painting the eye-catching "King of Kings" statue along Interstate 75 in Monroe, about midway between Cincinnati and Dayton. Church officials say the work on the 62-foot-tall statue is needed to treat weather exposure. Some 60 gallons of paint will be used.

We've driven by this monstrosity multiple times while visiting my wife's home state of Ohio and I never get over it. It's right on the fucking highway!

It's a shame that the church doesn't see fit to use the money for, oh I don't know,  maybe a food bank or a homeless shelter. But whatever.

My only question is this: Is Touchdown Jesus rooting for the Bengals or the Browns? Is he screaming a Holy 'Who Dey!' or is he a member of the Deity Dawg Pound?

Can I Go Home Yet?

In Ohio for the holidays.



Ugh. I did see a "I Miss Reagan" bumper sticker yesterday. Wanted to ask the driver of the Chevy Tahoe if he missed the 50% income tax rate back then as well.

US Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones Dies at 58

NY Times: Stephanie Tubbs Jones, the first African-American woman elected to the House of Representatives from Ohio and a leader in the fight against predatory lending practices, died Wednesday. She was 58.

The cause was a ruptured brain aneurysm that Ms. Tubbs Jones suffered Tuesday, Eileen Sheil, a spokeswoman for the Cleveland Clinic, which owns the Huron Hospital in East Cleveland where the congresswoman died, told The Associated Press.

Clinton's "Huge" Pennsylvania Win...

...netted her a total of nine delegates.

















But a horse race is a horse race according to the MSM. So after six very long weeks, all the negative ads, all the "scandal", all the untold millions of dollars spent have amounted to Clinton gaining nine delegates and "Johm McSame" coasting along without so much as a blip, even though the "Maverick" has rejected the new GI bill, agreed with George W. Bush's veto on expanding children's health insurance (SCHIP), claims pride in John Hagee's endorsement and has the temerity to equate his run for the White House to the struggling citizens of Youngstown, Ohio that have been decimated by free trade and are losing jobs, homes and fighting to put food on their tables.

Nine delegates.


UPDATE: Clinton's camp is now saying that they've won more popular votes than Obama. Not only are they trying to change the rules of the game by disregarding the importance of pledged delegates and trying to persuade superdelegates that the popular vote should be the main criteria, but even this lie is with the caveat of including Florida's and Michigan's votes, where Obama didn't campaign as the DNC requested, or in the case of Michigan, his name wasn't even on the fucking ballot (also as the DNC requested)!

How can anyone support this kind of shit?

Hillary Wins Three Out of Four

Clinton takes Rhode Island and Ohio handily. Ohio, ... sigh. Texas was called for her at about 12:40am but it's a squeaker 51%-48% as of this post. Obama looks like he'll win the caucus vote there an he won in Vermont by a wide margin.

Delegates? Negligible. Obama still leads by 150 or so.

I didn't think this was going to happen, but I now believe that this thing is going all the way to Denver. Jeebus help the Democratic Party.

Will Ohio Ever Get Their Shit Together...

...in terms of voting? First they run out of ballots and have to keep polls open later, now MSNBC is reporting that Cuyahoga county (Cleveland) won't have their count in until 4:30am. In fact, NONE of Ohio's cities have reported yet. What the fuck?!

Clinton Campaign Gearing Up For Attacks On Obama

So much for Ms. "Real Change" actually bringing real change to Washington as she's claimed. It's just more of the same.

Huffington Post: The New York Times reports that the Clinton campaign is ratcheting up its plans to try and unseat Senator Obama as the presumptive frontrunner for the democratic nomination.

...Looking backward, interviews with a cross-section of campaign aides and sympathetic outsiders suggest a team consumed with frustration and finger-pointing about the apparent failure of several recent tactical moves against Barack Obama.
Looking forward, it is clear Clinton's team has only a faint and highly improvisational strategy about what to do over the next seven days. Simply put, there is no secret weapon.

Why, Hillary? Why?

So after taking a deep breath and stepping back to look at the overall campaign situation and the history of the last couple of weeks, here's my take on the Clinton campaign going all out negative on Barack Obama: desperation.

1 - Obama has won 11 straight contests, beating Clinton by wide margins.

2 - Clinton going negative (but not all the way) in Wisconsin was viewed by their campaign as a boost for them. They've been quoted as saying the didn't lose by as much (17 points) as they thought they would.

3 - Her closing statement in the Texas debate was viewed by many as conciliatory, which probably prompted the Clinton campaign heads to work overtime to negate that view, else be perceived as giving up.

4 - The Obama mailers on health care and NAFTA caused Hillary's campaign to see red and go off the deep end.

Now, it's one thing to challenge Obama and call him out on it: "Shame on you, Barack Obama. It is time you ran a campaign consistent with your messages in public — that's what I expect from you... Meet me in Ohio, and let's have a debate about your tactics."

It's another matter entirely to mock his message and compare him to the second coming of Jeebus. And here, in my opinion, is where the flaw with Clinton's reactionary attacks get the best of her.

Does she not remember the painting of Howard Dean in 2004 as unhinged because of his overenthusiastic "YAAARRR!" during a rally that sunk him? Seeing the anger in her eyes (scary) reminds me of the Dean incident, not in seeming like a nut, but in how it may be perceived.

The latest polls show Obama beating Clinton or in a statistical dead heat in Texas and Ohio after Clinton had 20 point leads in both states just two weeks ago. The Clinton campaign is not conceding and actually turning 180° in the attacks, looking for a fight to the bitter end.

One thing's for sure: it's going to be a very interesting debate on Tuesday in Cleveland.