If you notice, every woman at the GOP convention that is singing the praises of Sarah Palin......of what I have seen EVERY ONE OF THEM......is MANY MORE TIMES MORE QUALIFIED THAN THE WOMAN THEY ARE TRYING TO SHOVE DOWN AMERICA'S THROAT!!

And yet....THEY were looked over for the runner-up Miss Alaska 1982!!

This goes so far beyond bizarre.............

It would seem to me, that John McCain couldn't have found a running mate better suited for a GOP ticket, than Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska.
First, if it turns out that her youngest child is actually her daughter's.....then she is a LIAR.

Second, as someone who is an advocate for 'abstainence only' sex education and still believes that it works after her own daughter has been pregnant out of wedlock at LEAST once, if not twice....then she is a HYPOCRITE.

Third, being the type of VP nominee that scares the beejeesus out of people who contemplate her one heartbeat away from being the most powerful person on Earth.....following the likes of Dick Cheney, Dan Quayle and Spiro Agnew....she MEASURES UP.

And fourth, being a Republican politician who is under investigation for ABUSE OF POWER.....hell, she is just another "The Constitution and the laws don't apply to me" REPUBLICAN!!

Short of Ann Coulter......SHE IS THE PERFECT FIT!!

It would seem, as I have written earlier, that the polls are incorrect due to under-polling of the new voting blocks that Barack Obama has brought to the table.

It would also seem that the Republicans are doing their best to continue George W. Bush's direction...for their party......straight off the cliff!

We have seen that McCain having ONE meeting and ONE phone call with the runner-up for Miss Alaska 1982 wasn't anymore telling than Bush's first meeting with Putin when he "looked into eyes and saw deep into his soul" and KNEW that he could trust him!!

A new out-of-wedlock pregnancy in this right-wing Christian, let-US-tell-you-how-to-live-your-life Republican family, along with a good chance it wasn't the first one, since evidence points to the youngest Palin child, may have been the daughter's anyway might be helping them completely devolve into the chaos that Bush/Cheney pictured for the GOP nearly 8 years ago. Throw in the investigation of Ms. Palin in Alaska, and the word now that her husband had a DUI arrest several years ago, and you would think that we could just WALTZ Barack and Michelle right into the front door of the White House.

But, fellow Democrats, as I have been saying for MONTHS now....the ONLY way we can lose this election is to BEAT OURSELVES!!! And we MUST NOT sit on our laurels and allow the next Bush presidency to become reality and completely destroy what is left of our Constitution!!

We cannot drop our guard, and get soft on the issues, the phone calls, the door knocking or the donations. And for SURE we cannot let up on the blogging, because sometimes it is the only place where one can ever find the complete truth!!

Barack and Joe NEED OUR HELP, no matter HOW much the GOP'ers want to rock us to sleep by completely self-destructing.

I want this country back on the right track, and it can only happen if WE MAKE IT HAPPEN!!!!

How does that sound??

First and foremost. All of my prayers and good thoughts are going out to all of the people on the Gulf Coast. God be with them in these trying and dangerous times.

Now, I keep seeing online and on TV about how 'close' this election is, according to the polls. But these polls have to be faulty.

Polls have there base in previous 'models'. How the country trended in past elections is taken into consideration, and then they build from there.

Not included in these 'models' is the large number of young people that Barack Obama brought into our primaries for the first time, just as it doesn't include the extremely large increase, during our primaries, in the number of African-American voters who turned out.

Both of these groups together combine to create a large hole within the numbers that the poll companies continue to release. I honestly believe they are HEAVILY skewed.

I really have to think that when I see John McCain's choice for a running mate. His campaign KNOWS that putting a woman on the ticket, that has NO tolerance for reproductive rights of women and loves to be photographed with assault rifles, will NOT bring many, if any, Hillary Clinton supporters to their cause.

The Palin choice is nothing short of minimizing the down-ballot losses in November. It was made to shore up the Republican base. The right-wing fanatics who think the Constitution is just an irritating little document on display at the National Archives! Otherwise, they would have put someone up for nomination that actually has at least SOME credible and relevent experience to bring to the job.

The idea of putting an empty resume on the ballot otherwise makes no sense at all.

And I believe it is because that their 'internal' polls are telling the GOP that McCain is a lost cause, so salvage whatever you can. George W. Bush has successfully put his party on the ledge of complete self-destruction and he has done it nearly single-handedly.

And I also believe that the Obama campaign is seeing the same things.

In other words, (as if anybody really cares, of course), I believe that this campaign is nowhere NEAR close. Polls looked really close in 1980, but the night before the election, President Jimmy Carter shed tears, while on Air Force One, when told by his people that there was NO way that they could win the election.

And as I remember.....sadly for sure......it turned out a Ronald Reagan landslide!

WHAT A CONVENTION!! The DNC and the Obama campaign set the bar SO high for ALL future conventions.....but that isn't my point right now.

The Republicans, next week, will have such an impossible task, as to try to keep the American people from going to sleep or just change the channel. They can talk about 'celebrities' all they want, but our speakers ARE not just 'celebrities'.....hell, they are SUPERSTARS!!!

Michelle Obama? Teddy Kennedy? Hillary Clinton? Al Gore? The 'GOP' which has allowed itself to be obliterated by George W. Bush, have NOTHING like these people.

President Bill Clinton?....ROCK STAR!! And NOW...Barack Obama? The NEXT President of the United States? EVER BIT THE ROCK STAR, himself!!!

Now, the GOP can take their band of misfits to the convention, and try to not be completely overshadowed by the Democrats who KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!

Picture this. After 80,000+ people in Mile High Stadium, along with what I am sure will be some HUGE numbers of Americans watching Senator Obama's acceptance speech....a complete SEA of AMERICANS in high definition, the Republicans now get to go to their venue and try to make Barack look like some 'celebrity'. But this is not possible any longer. Their little crowds inside with TV cameras, will show so many of the differences between, not only the two conventions, but in depth, compassion, and make America actually see who the REAL 'ELITESTS' are!

And that crowd may even be smaller if they can't drag a bunch of their male delegates out of the men's room at the airport......imagine all that FOOT TAPPING..........

CONGRATULATIONS DEMOCRATS!!!!

OBAMA/BIDEN '08!!!!!!!

CNN just reported that Hillary Clinton will be releasing her delegates to vote for Barack Obama in a show of unity!!

She says that SHE will be casting her convention vote for Obama!

THAT is what political class is all about!

I can only wish that I was joining those of you that are delegates in Denver. However, I will be taking my usual place, in front of my TV, as I have since I was 5 years old.

This is one that I will feel some melancholy about, though, as it is SO MONUMENTAL and of such HISTORICAL significance and even more than the first Clinton convention, I wish my Daddy was here to watch it on my 52" High Definition television with me. He was an old fashion Democrat, but I believe that he would have evolved so much, had he lived past 1989. And not only would he have been a Clinton Democrat like me, but he would have been even more pissed about the Lewinski mess.....and able to get past it. He would be excited about Obama, after he would have voted for Hillary in the primary.

I am hoping for as much party unity as we can get in the Mile High City, because that is what Daddy always wished for, and the thing that he preached to me my entire life. He pointed out how the loss of it turned into the chaos of the 1968 convention. We also originally thought the 1972 convention was caused by the same thing. But later we were both convinced that it was the will of the criminal organization, known as the Nixon Administration, that successfully infiltrated our ranks in a successful effort to determine which Democrat that they wanted to run against, that caused that mess.

My biggest concern is the idea by PUMA and others that are willing to throw the baby out with the bathwater, and vote for John McCain. In their zeal to "fix the party" in hopes that in 4 years Hillary can come along and beat McCain, they continue to ignor just how bad just 4 years of a McCain Administration could be!

They are not concerned about one or two more right-wing radicals being named to the Supreme Court. This would affect SCOTUS and the national judiciary for at least a generation, and there would be NO FIX that Hillary would have in 4 years.

They ignore how many more of our kids they will be sacrificing to an occupation of Iraq, if McCain is allowed to put his open ended Iraq policy into practice. Even though Hillary COULD fix that, how many more have to die to make a political point? That is a Republican mindset, not anything that the Democratic Party has ever supported.

And what could be worse, they ingore the fact that John McCain would be 72 when he is sworn-in to office, and there is a good chance the pressure of the job might keep him from even completing a term. That said, whatever right wing neo-con that he has to pick to shore up the religious fanatics on the fringe required to be elected, even WITH the help of disgruntled Dems. A young Republican that would have a GREAT chance of re-election in 4 years, whether Hillary runs or NOT!

I love Hillary! I am a Clinton Democrat and proud of it! But I am a Democrat, first and foremost. More importantly, this election cycle is......I support the only party that can KEEP America from having to endure 4 more years of this national nightmare. For THAT purpose, call us Democrats, anti-Republicans, Bush haters but maybe the best moniker to hang on us would be....AMERICA LOVERS!

But as usual.....that's just me........

HAVE FUN AT THE CONVENTION, and occassionally, wave at this old Texas fart when the TV camera passes by! (Don't concern yourself if it is a FOX cam.....I wouldn't see it anyway...LOL).

......that would get you a return text from Barack with the VP choice?

Left? Right? Liberal? Conservative? Does anyone besides me see how broad the strokes are in this painting?

When I discuss politics with some of my Republican friends, they call me "left-wing" or "liberal". And you know what? There is NOTHING wrong with either term. And when I speak to some of my Democratic friends, they call me a "right-winger" or a "neo-con" or something. And today, I just stopped to ask myself why different people see me and my views so differently.

Am I a Democrat? Without a doubt. A dyed-in-the-wool Texas Yellow Dog Democrat!! A moniker that I have worn with pride my entire life. I love my party and it is THE party that best represents my views, feelings and that gives me the best answers to the problems of a VERY middle-class American that spent most of the last two years out of work. Luckily, that changed in April, and unlike many around the country, my job is extremely secure....and THAT is the kind of relaxing security that I wish for every American.

Am I a liberal or a conservative? That depends on which issue you are talking about I guess. Personally as I see the issues that really concern me, they are CATO'S issues.....not liberal OR conservative. It does appear, though, that using other peoples values to judge my own opinions, many of them would fall on one side of that fence or the other.

And that is the point of this post from me. I believe that the Democratic Party has ALWAYS been the party of INCLUSION! The BIG TENT Party, if you will. We do have some very conservative members, in some parts of the country. And some very liberal ones in other areas. When we have been successful in American politics, it has always been when we allowed ourselves to listen, study and discuss ALL sides of an issue and all OPINIONS of those discussions. We would fight, amongst ourselves, about platforms and candidates and which way the country should go on each and every issue. THIS is what has made the Democratic Party the biggest, most honest, and best prepared to lead the country into the future, and the world by example.

When we have chosen otherwise, the examples that come to mind relate to 1968 and the Chigago convention. Chicago Mayor Richard Daley wanted to strong arm the convention. Everything blew up from there on the inside. On the outside were protesters from both sides of the Vietnam War argument, and chaos became the lasting memory of a party disassembling itself, into a pile of carnage that lasted until 1992, for the most part.

AND for the most part, President Bill Clinton brought us together like no one since John F. Kennedy. Bobby Kennedy would have, but it was his assassination that was actually the opening for what insued in Chicago.

Political opinions are not only based on left and right. They are also based on geography. Take illegal immigration for instance. In many state that do not border Mexico to the south, the argument ranges from human rights to making it sound like border state Democrats are racists or are completely against "immigration". So much of the times, when they are arguing, the word "illegal" never comes up. Hey, my great-great-great grandparents were immigrants.

Without immigration, I would be neither an American or a Texan.....and just so you know....that would really suck!! But when you live like I do in Texas, you have to deal with the large amount of tax money we have to spend on, not just health care for the illegals, but having to place a specific percentage of "biligual" teachers in our schools so that we can accomidate people who really shouldn't be here at all. (OK, that is our take anyway).

On the other hand, I am a lifelong Southern Baptist who has a big brother and a son that are both Southern Baptist ministers. And although none of us actually favors abortion as a birth control method, we all agree that it is nothing that the government should get involved with. As a matter of fact, we believe that CHURCH, as well as home, is the PERFECT place to actually DISCUSS how to avoid abortions......not the State House or Washington. A woman's body is HER property. And no one has the right to tell her what she can or can't do with it. Not here where they want to REQUIRE abortions be stopped...or say China where they REQUIRE abortions in many instances to control population growth.

My point is that MOST of the really important issues facing America are nearly always the ones you can't label liberal or conservatives. They are simply....AMERICAN ISSUES! They are issues that require fairness...compassion...consideration for the least of us as well as the richest of us. And most of all those that require us as a nation, to realize that our government is supposed to be run BY THE PEOPLE! Not the corporations! Not the rich! Not the religious! Not the non-religious! But by the AMERICAN PEOPLE! And we need our representation in Washington D.C.......from ALL walks of life and all political persuations.....to start REPRESENTING and stop just proving to us just how STUPID they can really be! Listen to the people that put you there, or get the hell out of the way, and let REAL people take over and follow the lead of Our Founding Fathers.

The party of Thomas Jefferson and John F. Kennedy deserves nothing less than the best, truest, and most honorable representatives to walk the hallowed halls of the Capitol and The White House, for the purpose of doing the country's business. Not the business of special interests or even the party.

"Nothing can stop the man with right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." Thomas Jefferson

OK, besides Fox News!

I honestly couldn't care less! And the ONLY reason I gave a flip about Larry Craig and others like him is that they are the HYPOCRITS that vote AGAINST who they really are, and place themselves on some sort of holier than thou plane of existence, while carrying on like the real, fallible people, (like the rest of the world), who are sinners and don't want the world to realize it!

Just wondering if anyone else is awake this late besides me!

Think we can get THIS rumor started....I mean McCain's people keep making things up....why not US?.....LOL

Cato