During the last 50 years, the Yankees have not won a single World Series while a Republican was preisdent.

The article definitely nails it on Eisenhower--that man was the last great Republican leader of the free world. He doesn't count.

And here's my conspiracy theory: the Yanks realized this and had to build a new stadium to rid themselves of the Bush curse. When Obama goes to NY to throw out the first pitch for the World Series this year, a new era of champions will be borne.

ETA: Happy Roster Expansion Day!

What is it about Sarah Palin that brings out the raging misogyny in the majority of the population?

No matter what you think of her values, policies, and lifestyle--no matter how much her actions and opinions might offend you--that doesn't give anyone a free pass to demean her in the most sexist and horrifying terms. She doesn't deserve it. Neither do any of her children.

She's certainly not asking for it.

Next time try using your intelligence to deconstruct what bothers you. Otherwise, keep your fingers off the keyboard and go take a logic class.

(I would now like the internet to be rebooted now so I don't have to point out the painfully obvious.)

Ms. Clinton is so righteous and intelligent and reasonable. *dreamy sigh*


But because I accidentally clicked on a trailer link at IMDB I've got to point out feminism FAIL. Behold, the trailer to Drag Me to Hell. Summary: Woman tries to get ahead in office. Woman is punished by being tormented by demons and the threat of eternal damnation. Seriously, Raimi?

dean_daily

You know you want to join it.

The power of Dr. Dean's pants compel you:

I now have a delicious tag for Howard Dean becoming Secretary of HHS. This has been an exciting week for believing in fairies or, even more difficult, that wishes can come true.

As you may have heard, Tom Daschle withdrew his name from the post earlier this week due to his tax issues. Well, more like tax longboxes (for those of you who are inclined to comic book geekery). This left the position open and in desperate need of immediate filling to complement President Obama's swift actions in moving the stimulus bill into action and changing the plight of so many Americans, especially in the middle class.

In some circles, this news met with immediate hope that Dr. Howard Dean--the former governor of Vermont who provided near universal health care for children after being a physician for years, the man who once ran for the democratic presidential nomination, and the chairman of the DNC who worked a little thing called the 50 state strategy that only, oh, revived the party throughout the country and helped deliver government seats from water boards to the President into the hands of newly active people in the past three years (and whose wife is still an active doctor and eyewitness to the reality of healthcare and treatment these days)--would be considered and given some role in the administration's health department.

This week's news also prompted the creation of a Facebook group for the purpose of raising voices to the capital in support of Dr. Dean.

It's not only crazy people on the internet who took to this idea, however. Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) publicly came out in support of Dean for HHS on Thursday in the early afternoon.

Thursday evening it was reported that Representative Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) is another public servant who wants the President to consider Dean. The link includes the letter Rep. Grijalva sent to the President Obama.

I'm not going to deny that my wishing for Howard Dean to be appointed the position is completely unbiased or that there's no one else in the entire country who could adequately perform as Secretary of Health and Human Services. But who really cares if I'm biased and more of a political fangirl than a reasonable expert? Dean is one of the few politicians I actually trust and fervently believe can get things done in a grinding system of penlessness and committees. Moreover, he has a specific background in this field both politically and practically. Additionally, he's not a good old boy in D.C. Some consider that a fatal blow to the possibility of Dean being considered. That's very possible. What excites me, though, is the thought that change can really happen here and now on different levels. Why should there be so much worry about pleasing Conservatives, Republicans, Lobbyists, and the status quo when pleasing the American people is the promise that landed the new administration their gig?

Of course, I think that latter concern is overhyped. Howard Dean can work it, bbs. Howard Dean could face down Rahm Emanuel and still get what he wanted while giving a little to the DLC/opposition as well. He's not unmovable but he's also not easily pressured*.

So, I've been on a news high searching for more about this development. It might meet a screeching halt in the next few days when we learn who is on the President's list for HHS Sec. Or we might see Dr. Dean return to Washington and bring health care all over the country. Yeeeeeeeeah

*And I think he's secretly related to Ed Helms. ♥♥♥

The Greyhound Company, meanwhile, couldn't find a bus driver willing to continue the dangerous journey of the Freedom Riders. Impatient and increasingly irritated, RFK impulsively called the bus company himself. "Do you know how to drive a bus?" he demanded from a Greyhound official. "Surely, someone in the damn bus company can drive a bus, can't they?" Kennedy told the supervisor to get in touch "with Mr. Greyhound or whoever Greyhound is and somebody better give us an answer to this question. I am--the government is--going to be very much upset if this group does not get to continue their trip." Secretly tape-recorded by the state of Alabama, the phone conversation soon leaked--and southern whites believed that Robert Kennedy was the moving force behind the Freedom Riders. From that moment on, as historian Taylor Branch has noted, "Bobby" became an epithet in the South.

- An excerpt from Robert Kennedy: His Life by Evan Thomas

I fucking love Bobby Kennedy. I am working on a mega post on Bobby--about how ahead of his time he became on issues of race and poverty and how passionate he was and yet snuggly, as evidenced by a photo of him curled up with his dog Freckles as they both took a nap on his campaign plane (and he took Freckles along with him on motorcades and askdlfgnirqa IT'S TRUE); and also how much he gave of himself to his family and especially his brother and especially during his brother's presidency.

("Ruthless" they called him and, um, I can totally see him sending dead fish to people who ran their mouths and pens off about his brother. Not that I'm making a comparison to someone else or indicating that, ignoring chronology and history, if the two were to meet they would hit it off so well the world would tremble. I'm not suggesting anything of the kind.)





P.S. On a completely shallow note, I am on twitter. Why? I really don't know. The fact remains, however, that my account is riddering and I have no idea whether you can load LJ people or what to do with my banana peels right now. My brain is telling me to throw them in the trash but my heart is telling me to make earrings out of them and send a picture of myself wearing the peel earrings to Al Gore.

In case you missed it or didn't know you were missing it:

Barack Obama at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Dinner Part One and Part Two.

My girlfriend Rachel Maddow introduced the segment and I have no other commentary because I can't hear myself type over the sound of how awesome Barack Obama is.

Just how wrong am I for looking at the picture presented below and thinking it goes something like...





Hillary: Have fun in New York, honey, I'll be staying with the Bidens. All night.
Bill: Goddammit.
Bidens: [triumphant]


To say that ontd_political has corrupted me would be an understatement. With medical and automotive bills piling up I've had to eschew all my costly interests such as comics, movies, and donating tuxedos to the homeless. But political irreverence comes FREE.