Centrist versus Liberal split...

Yesterday I was involved in a mini-debate with someone on the topic of part of the division within the Democratic Party, and how this was nothing recent.

Daily Beast takes you through some of the history. It's a recommended read for those of you who want to put this into perspective...

Media balanced Obama coverage except on Fox News...

Also in the Howard Kurtz piece:

Obama wound up 2009 with balanced coverage -- 49 percent positive, 51 percent negative -- according to the Center for Media and Public Affairs, which studied the network newscasts, Time, Newsweek and the New York Times front page. But he swooned from 59 percent positive in the first four months of the year to 39 percent positive from August through December.

The researchers, from George Mason and Chapman universities, found the president drawing 46 percent positive evaluations on the NBC, ABC and CBS evening newscasts. By comparison, those networks were harder on George W. Bush (23 percent positive), Bill Clinton (28 percent) and Ronald Reagan (26 percent) in the first year of their terms.

In a sharp contrast, Obama drew 22 percent positive coverage on the first half-hour of Fox News's "Special Report," which most resembles a newscast. The study found his evaluations "consistently negative" all year, skidding to 14 percent positive in the last four months.

The public has clearly registered a protest vote against Obama?

Here we go, let's briefly refresh the basics, if you run a bad campaign? You lose, it's not a President's fault, or Congress's fault or even the health care bruhaha, and anyone remotely knowledgeable about politics knows the main reason Brown won in Mass is he ran a better campaign...Evidently this particular Newsweek reporter did not pay attention to all of the warning signs that had nothing to do with DC in writing, this:

Still, last week's special election in Massachusetts is a sign that Obama has a big problem. The public has clearly registered a protest vote against him, congressional Democrats, and their signature policy proposal: the health-care bill. The size of the swing, the issues raised during the campaign and in exit polls, and the migration of independents all suggest that Obama is confronting not just generalized anger but dissatisfaction with the course that the ruling party has taken. How he responds will shape the rest of his term.

It's a mid-term election in the worst economy in people's recent memory. If Hillary would have won, if McCain would have won, seats would have changed parties...

Then again, maybe some of the media wasn't paying attention like a few of us were, since Howard Kurtz suggests they were napping.

What would Clinton do?

Bill of course, not Hillary...The Politico piece is one I highly recommend, Clinton years hold clues for Obama even though I doubt from the sounds of it that the Obama administration will heed that advice. I especially agreed with:

The people around Obama are romantics. They dream of Obama as a transformational figure, looming large on history’s stage. They see Clinton as at best a transitional figure, whose poll-tested pragmatism and incremental policies loom small.

And:

The staff of a winning presidential candidate is a cult. When the candidate wins, the cult usually follows him to the West Wing. That happened with Clinton, and it has happened even more with Obama.

But Clinton discovered he needed good advice more than he needed a cult. He came to feel boxed in by those he called “these kids who got me elected” — aides who sat for flattering media profiles and who fancied themselves the indispensable keepers of the campaign faith.

Zinc is my new friend....

A friend of mine told me that his doctor had told him to take Zinc, not the lozenges, but the actual Zinc in a pill form, that most of the multivitamins out there even prenatal vitamins don't have the amount of Zinc that is needed to help boost your immune system.

I admit at first I scoffed, because I do have a weak immune system and I typically get very sick a few times each winter, with pneumonia and bronchial infections being common and typically end up having to take a steroid pack or two each winter. However, I decided to try it, the key of course with my memory is to remember to take it every day. The other key is to not take too much, a 50 mg pill of Zinc is enough, too much Zinc can cause other problems so it's not like Vitamin C where some take megadoses of that when they are coming down with something. It's not recommended you take more than that though I know some companies manufacture a 100 mg dosage.

I have gotten sick so far this year since I started taking the Zinc, however, I have not been sick as long as some of the non-Zinc taking members of my household who are younger and do not have a weakened immune system. You should talk to your health care professional or at the very least if you are on other medications ask your pharmacist if you can take Zinc with your other medications but? So far it does appear to be making a difference for me.

I feel like we have a health and beauty section...

Take three people between the age of 20 and 15 and one small bathroom and you can imagine the overflow of their various lotions, shampoos, conditioners, make up (for the two females) feminine products, acne solutions, cotton balls, face washing clothes, etc., etc. It wasn't bad when it was contained within the bathroom though at times things were packed so tightly one product being placed wrongly created a domino affect...

It wasn't bad when some of it migrated to the vanity or to the extra desk, though it had to be kept out of reach from my granddaughters. However earlier tonight it had spread to my dining room table...That's where I drew the line and the motto of the blog actually fit. "The revolution begins at home" and it did begin here, the war against beauty products and make up in my dining room...So far? I'm winning.

:-)

Supreme Court ruling on campaign finance loved by some hated by others...

I'm not really sure at this point who's going to benefit most from the recent Supreme Court decision, Citizens United v. FEC, beyond having a pretty good idea that it's not going to help us as Citizens to see the corporations have even more power than they already have when it comes to influencing politics. That said I'm not sure it's quite the doom scenario some believe or the benefit to Libertarians some believe.

What's interesting though is reading the reaction. You have Grayson: Court's Campaign Finance Decision "Worst Since Dred Scott" which I admit caught my attention as a headline. Comparing campaign finance to slaves and their children not being allowed to be US citizens is quite the comparison to make.

Then however, you have those that feel that The Supreme Court got it right. I recommend reading both pieces, see how you feel after reading them...

More to ponder...

I admit I'm out of touch when it comes to what the stars claim they use to lose weight, so when I saw the words, quick trim fast cleanse I thought of a quick shave for men and a fast cleaning razor. Imagine my surprise when I learned it's a weight loss product touted by Kim Kardashian. The cleanse part is supposed mean the much touted (cue ominous music) "colon cleaning" -- either way some have raised concerns about the product and pointed out it's basically just a diuretic which is a problem with quite a few diet products, it may help you lose those first few pounds, which may be good for the ego temporarily until the reality sets in that you've just lost some of your body's water weight...

Unless you opt for a surgical procedure, there no magic potions when it comes to losing weight...

Things I ponder...

I'm trying to get motivated after a very hectic week where I got a lot accomplished but today feel a little burnt out though I have more to finish before the weekend is over. So when I came across this hair loss shampoo it created some fun pondering...I wondered if it would be more positive to call these products, "hair gain" or "hair grow" since that's the action those who purchase it hope for. It's also interesting because most people think that it's mainly men who are impacted by hair loss, but it's something that some women are affected by as well. Which in many ways is harder for them as a self-image issue since we as a society do accept a receding hairline in a man or even men who decide to shave their heads...

So many are shocked Brown won, calling it an "epic upset" Umm okay...

The signs were there for anyone paying attention that Brown was going to win. See the below post as an example and even the earlier comments from Axelrod...

Meanwhile, in an interview with reporters today, White House senior adviser David Axelrod noted there were "local issues at play" in Massachusetts and complimented Brown's team for running "a very clever campaign."

He said Mr. Obama did all he could for Coakley.

"The White House did everything we were asked to do," Axelrod said, the Baltimore Sun reports. "I think if we had been asked earlier, we would have responded earlier."

Now the typical, "OMG this proves Obama is a failure!" Which is not really the issue, no matter how many times they would have trotted Obama out to Mass, if you run a bad campaign? You usually lose. It's that simple...

So for all of those calling this an "epic upset" -- I'm not sure which campaign they were watching. The "epic upset" would have been if Martha Coakley won...

Running a bad campaign usually means you lose...

After reading this column in the Boston Globe, I wondered what happened to reality? Reality in politics as hard as it may want to be to accept, is if you run a bad campaign, unless the person or persons you happen to be running against run a worse campaign than you? You don't win.

Unfortunately in this nation style means more than substance, charisma more than character and hype more than heart...If a republican does the "unthinkable" and wins the former seat of Ted Kennedy it's because more voters picked him. Right, wrong or indifferent...Fair or unfair...

There have been many candidates I've known in being a political blogger that should have won. They were the better candidate, the better person, but? Voters went for another candidate and it's not much consolation when the complaints later begin to say, "I didn't vote for him/her" -- The only way this will ever end is for voters to wake up, stop falling for campaign hype no matter the party and take an honest look at what that candidate CAN ACTUALLY DO and what they stand for...

Ted Kennedy's widow used for political purposes...

Two e-mails designed to help Coakley fundraise that I've gotten, I'm certain e-mails like this are being sent out by Democratic Senators and candidates and others through out the US, another example. I'm not suggesting Vicki Kennedy is a victim, but she is allowing herself and the memory of her husband to be used to solicit funding because it works. Just as candidates have their spouses, children, even their pets write e-mails looking for financial contributions...

From: Vicki Kennedy
Subject: A message from Victoria Reggie Kennedy

Dear Lee,

Throughout my husband Ted's life, you were always there for him, for me and for the entire Kennedy family. We are tremendously grateful for your friendship and support in the past, and we ask you to stand with us now to support Martha Coakley in the crucial race to fill Ted's remaining term.

This Tuesday, January 19 everything is on the line. The people of Massachusetts will decide who will be their next Senator, and we need Martha Coakley.

The importance of having a voice and a vote that you can count on in Washington has never been more evident than during this ongoing health care debate. And we're going to need every vote again.

Ted fought for national health care reform for 40 years. He believed that every American deserved their chance at the American dream, but that as long as an illness or preexisting condition could bankrupt an American family, that great goal could never become a reality. We need Martha Coakley to continue our shared fight for national health reform, to reduce costs for businesses and families and increase coverage in Massachusetts and throughout this country. This race will be very close and we need you to get us to victory.

We have just 4 days to do the hard work of electing Martha Coakley so that we can continue the agenda that Ted made the fight of his life — reforming health care, ensuring equality and justice for all, protecting our seniors, and rebuilding our economy to allow everyone to prosper. That fight for working families cannot stop — not now, not when so much is at stake for Massachusetts and America. And that's why I'm asking you to ensure that we are victorious this Tuesday.

Stand with me and support Martha Coakley by making a contribution of $35, $50, or whatever you can do today. My husband fought all his life to keep moving this nation forward -- now we must make it the fight of ours.

We need to do everything it takes to ensure our shared fight continues. I am asking you personally to do one more thing for Martha Coakley.

We cannot do this without you.

With gratitude,

Vicki Kennedy

P.S. I know together we can keep fighting for our shared vision of the future. Please go online today to www.marthacoakley.com to make a difference.



Dear Sherrod,

Throughout my husband Ted's life, you were always there for him, for me and for the entire Kennedy family. We are tremendously grateful for your friendship and support in the past, and we ask you to stand with us now to support Martha Coakley in the crucial race to fill Ted's remaining term.

This Tuesday, January 19 everything is on the line. The people of Massachusetts will decide who will be their next Senator, and we need Martha Coakley.

The importance of having a voice and a vote that you can count on in Washington has never been more evident than during this ongoing health care debate. And we're going to need every vote again.

Ted fought for national health care reform for 40 years. He believed that every American deserved their chance at the American dream, but that as long as an illness or preexisting condition could bankrupt an American family, that great goal could never become a reality. We need Martha Coakley to continue our shared fight for national health reform, to reduce costs for businesses and families and increase coverage in Massachusetts and throughout this country. This race will be very close and we need you to get us to victory.

We have just 6 days to do the hard work of electing Martha Coakley so that we can continue the agenda that Ted made the fight of his life - reforming health care, ensuring equality and justice for all, protecting our seniors, and rebuilding our economy to allow everyone to prosper. That fight for working families cannot stop - not now, not when so much is at stake for Massachusetts and America. And that's why I'm asking you to ensure that we are victorious this Tuesday.

Stand with me and support Martha Coakley by making a contribution of $35, $50, or whatever you can do today. My husband fought all his life to keep moving this nation forward -- now we must make it the fight of ours.

Kennedy - Contribute

We need to do everything it takes to ensure our shared fight continues. I am asking you personally to do one more thing for Martha Coakley. We cannot do this without you.

With gratitude,

Victoria Reggie Kennedy

Vicki Kennedy

P.S. I know together we can keep fighting for our shared vision of the future. Please go online today to www.marthacoakley.com to make a difference.

Late night television moments...

As I was up late doing research last night, I then had a hard time getting to sleep because my mind did not want to turn off. So, I turned on the television...Which turned out to not be a smart thing to do. There was this infomercial on the benefits of colon cleansing which got pretty detailed. I'm not sure about you, but for me? Picturing the years of supposed stuff hanging around in my colon was not what I needed to lull me to sleep, it did the opposite. I then tried to find something else, it was between some jean that was supposed to slim you and some natural formula to stop joint pain...Suddenly the tutorial about my colon health didn't seem all so bad...

:-)

Bureaucracy creates jobs...

No where is that more evident than when it comes to the government benefit system, especially related to the disability appeal system. Companies have been formed specifically to try to help people navigate a system that has become at times too complex for the average person to try to work their way through. Companies like Allsup have helped more than 130,000 people, which while it's great they have found a way to not only help people but to employ people, makes you wonder as to the larger issue of how things got that complex in the first place and what the real solutions are.

Yushchenko seen as the Barack Obama of his day?

Maybe part of the reason some in the Ukraine are disillusioned stems from the title, they believed the election hype rather than reality. Politicians are not saviors, most times they lie and their promises are because voters have shown time and time again it's whoever tells them what they want to hear the most? Wins.

Of course they throw in an occasional "life is going to be hard" type spiel lest to immediately identify they are promising more than what can be delivered. In Ukraine, the Death of the Orange Revolution Time writes about the disappointment, yet when all you do is elect someone that you think is going to fix things for you then you don't hold them accountable when they don't or can't? Waiting for the next election isn't a solution...

But no matter who's elected, voters have little reason to believe the election will bring about any real change. Across the country, Ukrainians are brimming with anger at the failure of their leaders to tackle the country's chronic corruption or bring about much-needed economic or judicial reforms. "We should line them all up against a wall," says Andriy, a taxi driver in the eastern town of Dnipropetrovsk who only gave his first name. "They promise everything, but give us nothing." Judging by the current climate, many Ukrainians may not be voting for a particular candidate so much as voting against another. One candidate hoping to tap into this widespread dissatisfaction recently changed his name to Vasyl Protyvsikh, or Vasyl "Against All."

You get the government you vote for...

Does Medina support succession? She says no...

I don't normally cross post material from my smaller "Libertarian Common Sense" where I focus on media/history related to Libertarian philosophies which has always been an interest of mine since some of my family members were and are Libertarians. Yet this piece on Debra Medina I feel is an interesting one, not just because of the Libertarian aspect, but because it appears the media is trying to brand her as supporting succession and that is something she and her followers have repeatedly stated is not accurate.

As I started reading, Medina adds fire, uncertainty in Texas governor's race in the Dallas news, I came across this, emphasis mine:

AUSTIN, Texas — The Republican race for governor has mostly been a heavyweight showdown, with the senior U.S. senator from Texas trying to knock out the state's longest serving governor.

But Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison and Gov. Rick Perry aren't the only Republicans in the race. Fiery GOP activist and gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina, who has strong libertarian views and does not rule out seceding from the union, could affect the contest, even if she loses, as experts anticipate.

In doing some further research, that's created some controversy:



That said, she's also being questioned for accepting the support of Larry Kilgore and if you read the comments in the Dallas news article, some believe that makes her "a contemptible, traitorous coward" as well as it being stated on that same link that:

I originally did not intend or re-commenting on this article, but I must do so to correct some very untrue statements made by the previous commentors 'Patrick' and 'MedinasAWingnut' - Debra Medina does NOT and has NEVER endorsed the succession of Texas from the Union.

Listen to any interview of hers - or even just visit her website - and you will find the truth about this.

What she DOES support is Nullification and Interposition - the right of a state's legislature to 'nullify' unconstitutional Federal law and the right of the executive branch (the Governor) to 'interpose' on the enforcement of said Federal laws, respectively.

This is NOT succession! And any so called 'conservatives' who disagree with such Jeffersonian endorsed rights - in my opinion - are hardly conservative.

I hope I've cleared this up. I also hope that people would either stop lying about a candidate's positions, or at the very least, do some research before they spout such ridiculous nonsense. Thank you!

Liberty in Texas,
Anthony J. Reed

The history of the question of nullification versus succession is one that has happened before, during the Civil War...Medina's website makes it clear what she is advocating for, so it's interesting that the media continues to link her with the term succession...

The growth of online education opportunities

My bunch who has been in college and is still in college took a mix of online courses and in person more traditional setting's curricula. This next semester one of mine will be taking all of her courses online. While for her degree it may not be possible for her to avoid the traditional educational setting completely, there are universities that specialize in helping students obtain an online degree.

One of the surprises for me, was that universities like Western Governors Online University offer an online teaching degree. It's an accredited program and does contain the required student teaching component, that is not done online that is done in a traditional classroom setting. Online courses are not for everyone, you have to be able to manage and budget your time, but the trade off of being able to study and do your work at your own schedule and at your own pace, is one of the many reasons more and more are not heading off to the college campus but to their computers...

A hair product for every day...

Earlier today I set upon a mission I try to avoid as long as possible. Cleaning out the bathtub; which always has to involve removing all of the empty bottles of hair products that are left there to rot. Evidently the distance required to carry an empty bottle of hair supplements from the tub to the garbage can is an insurmountable task for those who reside in my house. They are also apparently unable to tell someone when a product is running low. This can create the male members of the house being forced to use flowery feminine hair products and the female members of the house to be forced to smell like, oceans or spices or "fresh scent" whatever "fresh scent" is supposed to be.

Those of you who have followed my tale of trials and tribulations related to the inability of members of this house to put a roll of toilet paper on the roll, will not be shocked by the empty hair product, body soap, razor blades beyond use and empty bubble bath saga. Though the amount of hair and body washing products that two males and two females can go through in the course of a week, makes me wonder how much they use that they don't really need. Which is why I always try to buy products that come with a pump, that doesn't always work though.

Yesterday is a perfect example, one daughter decided to take a bath, after the tub got done filling up, as she got ready to go in, she saw a spider fall into the bath water. Rather than scoop out the skinning dippying arachnoid, she felt it necessary to drain the complete tub, wash it out then fill it up again with bubble bath...

The itsy bitsy spider went down the water spout...

:-)

Google and Digg content kleptomaniacs?

History has a way of changing how people and businesses operate, Rupert Murdoch is a prime example, once touting the wonders of the free internet merging with news, he's now seeking ways to keep information from being free. Of course he's not alone in trying to erect paywalls for content, but are Google and Digg "content kleptomaniacs" as Murdoch describes?

Google actually can help drive traffic to a website, especially a news site, where those who want to read more, can find it easier. Digg can help boost traffic as well, as long as the complete article is not used without permission/attribution by either source (or Twitter and Facebook too for that matter).

Google has actually helped people find my blogs, that to me is not theft of content, I've had that happen where some asshat takes complete posts from my blogs, posts it on their site without even as much as a link indicating where it came from. I view "content kleptomaniacs" as some of my local media that takes material directly from my one local blog, with rarely a mention, you are lucky to get a "I read this on some blog" -- so when I read things like this?

Murdoch and his lieutenants have begun their assault with a barrage of vitriol, most of it directed at Google. “Should we be allowing Google to steal all our copyrights?” he asked a gathering of publishers last year. In November, Murdoch laid out his opposition to the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, which is looking into the fate of the newspaper business. “There are those who think they have a right to take our news content and use it for their own purposes without contributing a penny to its production,” he said. “They are feeding off the hard-earned efforts and investments of others. And their almost wholesale misappropriation of our stories is not ‘fair use.’ To be impolite, it’s theft.” Other News Corp. executives have been even more scathing. Robert Thomson, for instance, the editor-in-chief of the Wall Street Journal, has called Google and news aggregators “parasites or tech tapeworms in the intestines of the Internet.”

I wonder why doesn't Google just drop these news sources complete from their search engines and their readers. That way it will be clearly evident how much traffic is lost...Google had no problem destroying years of hard work to develop page ranks, they should easily be able to drop the newsfeeds of these companies.

Apparently she did not inherit my luck...

I am not a lucky person when it comes to contests and drawings, my biggest "win" goes all the way back to when I was five years old and I won a coloring contest in the local newspaper where the prize was a Koolaid tent...My middle child appears to not have inherited my lack of a winning streak. Recently she won a 52 inch television set from a drawing held at her job, which not only created discussion which plasma mounts she should use for the brick wall they wanted to place it on, but some moments of envy. Though I did suggest to her that a 52 inch television set would be a heck of a gift...She didn't buy that.

:-)

One industry that does not appear to be suffering...

Lobbyists....One small part of the recommended article at Politico:

Washington’s influence industry is on track to shatter last year’s record $3.3 billion spent to lobby Congress and the rest of the federal government — and that’s with a down economy and about 1,500 fewer registered lobbyists in town, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics.

Many lobbying firms have escaped the worst of the corporate belt-tightening, thanks, in large part, to the ambitious agenda set out by President Barack Obama — who, ironically, came to Washington with a pledge to break what he considered the undue influence of special-interest lobbyists.

“They won’t work in my White House!” said Obama when he was a candidate...Well sort of...

There should be people fired over Blackwater case...

When you actually read the court opinion it seems as if some related to this case should be fired. Just one example from the beginning of the opinion of Judge Ricardo Urbina, emphasis mine:

From this extensive presentation of evidence and argument, the following conclusions
ineluctably emerge. In their zeal to bring charges against the defendants in this case, the prosecutors and investigators aggressively sought out statements the defendants had been compelled to make to government investigators in the immediate aftermath of the shooting and in the subsequent investigation. In so doing, the government’s trial team repeatedly disregarded the warnings of experienced, senior prosecutors, assigned to the case specifically to advise the trial team on Garrity and Kastigar issues, that this course of action threatened the viability of the prosecution. The government used the defendants’ compelled statements to guide its charging decisions, to formulate its theory of the case, to develop investigatory leads and, ultimately, to obtain the indictment in this case. The government’s key witnesses immersed themselves in the defendants’ compelled statements, and the evidence adduced at the Kastigar hearing plainly demonstrated that these compelled statements shaped portions of the witnesses’ testimony to the indicting grand jury.2 The explanations offered by the prosecutors and investigators in an attempt to justify their actions and persuade the court that they did not use the defendants’ compelled testimony were all too often contradictory, unbelievable and lacking in credibility.

When you read the full file, it's hard to believe that the amount of disregard for the actual process that was put into place to prevent the court case from being "tainted" could have not been purposeful. Another example:

In direct contravention of Hulser’s unequivocal warnings, in January and February 2008, the government’s trial team interviewed all of the DSS agents who had conducted the September 16, 2007 interviews and specifically inquired about the details of the defendants’ statements during those interviews.

The opinion is 90 pages long, but I really recommend reading it if you are interested in what happened. I also recommend reading this for those of you interested in what the current status of the civil suit that was filed against Blackwater.