The Idiot would be me.

I first posted this as a comment to another story, asking for opinions and solutions to a particular problem, and received only a couple candidate/primary responses.  Shame.

As you will probably be able to tell from what I've written below, I'm no whiz when it comes to the Middle East. But my fears are genuine and concern the Middle East, Oil and how that region will shake out in the near future once we leave.

DHinMI wrote a FP story called Lebanon: Yet Another Foreign Policy Opportunity Screwed Up by the Bush Administrationthat focused on Lebanon, and how the Iraq war has "helped" to affect politics and life in that nation.

It got me wondering about our future as a nation once our nation was through fucking up the futures of the nations of the Middle East, went the hell home and quit sticking our arrogant noses into everyone's business.

I apologize is this has already been reported or posted, but it's pretty cool.  Got tired of waiting for an Open Thread, so I'm just going to publish this as a little diary.

I just discovered that the University of Cambridge has published the majority of Charles Darwin's papers online today.  This includes the first draft of Origin Of Species written in his own hand.

How cool is this, eh?

Darwin Papers link here.

I'm going to be spending some time there!

Enjoy!

[Inspired by today's OpenThread by SusanG]

They Hate Us.
Yes, They do.

"They Hate Us For Our Freedoms"

The ringing words of presidential banality.

The community Bush limited his comments to hate us.
Not because of our freedoms...they don't know us
We won’t let them.
They no nothing of our freedoms.
They no nothing of freedom.  Not yet.
They know what they dream, and we’re not in those dreams.
Only in their nightmares.
They hate us because they don't trust us.  Not yet.

And the people I am limiting my comments to hate us.
They hate us for our freedoms.
Conservatives in power and their minions selling it on cable.  They.
Liberals like me...someone with questions.  Us.
Our freedoms, guaranteed.  Us.
Freedoms, meddlesome nuisance to Standard Operational Conduct.  They.

They hate Us.

With just 211 days till the 2008 US Election, already I’m figuring ways to fight the neurosis that plagues all us liberals:  Why don’t they like us?

Apparently, NeoCons think this is the preeminent factor that surrounds my very being, so I decided to take a deeper look into why I truly am so anxious and disturbed.  In doing so I was hoping that they would grow to ‘like me’ just a tad more, but instead discovered something that should have turned out to be even more disturbing than a vain hope for a dose of the neocon friendlies.  Instead, though, it brought a deeper reflection into a more realistic view of my own personal politics.

From this deeper look came the image of my Father.

Soldiers of the Kossack Primary Wars have proven themselves to be about 50% noble to the DailyKos cause, which leaves the rest pretty much classless in my book.  I’d said two things long ago:  I had made up my mind to vote for Edwards, and that I wasn’t reading anymore candidate diaries.  As of 1 p.m. today the first statement won’t be true anymore.  JRE will withdraw (not surprisingly, anymore) from the race.  The second statement remains true, though.  I’m still not reading how good/bad/cerebral/horrid/awesome Clinton/Obama may/may-not-be when in-repose/in-deep-thought/on-their-way to the-promised-land/the-pie-in-the-sky/the-prize as a diary/daily-news-brief/or (shudder) BREAKING!!!

A quick diary.  As I write this George W. Bush and his group of criminals have less than a year to do as much damage as they can before they are run out of town on the rail they so deserve to ride.
As I write this we are down to 364 days, 14 hours and 38 minutes.
As I write this, we are finally under a year till GWB is GONE!
But as I write this, I feel progressives are losing site of the real reason why we are here...to elect Democratic reps who will advance change for the good.
I have one wish for this site:  Let the primary season end soon.
No, I have another:  When it's over, let the 'losers' and the 'winners' come together.
After all, it's only our futures and our kids futures that we are dealing with, here.

How many more diaries will I have to read about the freaking primaries?  I know what you may say...don't read them.  Sorry, but some diarist's here have taken to masking the intent of the diary with misleading titles (something about Kossacks being sheep.  Hell, without the sheep the shepard has no reason to fend off the wolves).

Don't take this personally, Primary Warriors, but all of you, politely screw the hell off, lol.  Kos, please require that these crazy people preface their primary diary titles with "Caution, Primary Wackiness Ensues..."

Things more reasonable below...

It was cold, the day starting with light snow.  Usually I vote in the early morning, but not today.  Got a late start.  Ended my day at my polling place at about 5 p.m.  I was voter number 432.  432 for the entire day!  Unheard of, the turnout so light in a city like Ann Arbor.  At the same polling place in '04 I waited over 3 hours to vote for Kerry and that was an early morning start.  Had an all of 3 minute wait today.
Just wanted to let you know what I experienced today in this political and liberal town.
How I voted is my business, so I'll just conclude with...
Cheers!

Considering some of the talk here on the DKOS concerning the Democratic 'un-primaries' being held in Michigan and Florida, I've been a little confused on who to vote for.  Here's a good diary for some details.  I vote in all elections that come my way, because I believe in exercising my rights, but this is the first time I've been encouraged to vote in an election where I cannot throw a nod to the candidate of my choice {Who that candidate is really doesn't matter for the purposes of this diary.  Just let it be said the if my candidate wins, great for me (and all of us!), and if not, I will fully endorse and support the Democratic nominee who does win}.

But here in Michigan, because of the primary foul-up (thanks Chairman Brewer and the MDP Central Committee for throwing down the gauntlet...sweet move!), there has been a lot of talk about casting your vote for Ron Paul, just to screw up the ReThugs (MI's primary is open.  I can vote for whoever's on the ballot) or cast my vote for uncommitted.  I started thinking about 'uncommitted'.  What does uncommitted truly mean to the DNC and if Uncommitted wins, what will that mean when the DNC caves and lets MI and FL take their seats to vote at the convention?

He just got the phone call.  They told him that his acceptance package was in the mail, and "Welcome to the Hiram family!"

The boy and I traveled to Hiram, OH to visit the campus last summer.  It's beautiful.  Truly a world class liberal arts college.  They seem to produce well rounded citizens that question authority on a regular basis.  I liked that, and so did my boy.

(More gush below the fold)

IMHO, we need to change the presidential oath of office wording and procedures.

We should probably change it for congress-folks and senate-types as well, but one step at a time.

Right now, by convention, all Presidents elect raise their right hand and hold the other on a Bible while repeating the oath of office as said to them by either the Chief Justice or another Federal Judge.

If we are truly serious about eliminating any religious tests in our form of politics and government, then, in what is the final stage of our presidential electorial process, let's make a few necessary changes:

It's just a quick read, with a poll, below the fold...

I'm not feeling very generous towards republicans these days.  No matter what they now say, they let Bush, that bald other-president and all their cronies assault our country and attempt to lay waste our core beliefs.

Impeachment's too good for them, but what the 'ell... Bring it on!

But they aren't the only ones to blame.  I blame All Republicans.  Especially for 2004.

Now I know that the company line is to "put the past behind us and start building a consensus, heal the country, blah, blah, blah."

Yeah, well, hell!  We've only been doing that for the last 100 years or so, and every time we finally get back in power the first thing we gotta do is get out the mops and buckets!

Maybe its time to stop with all that.

This will be short and sweet (actually, bitter.  I thought we could trust 'em.  Oh well).

I've been reading the diaries and blogs here and elsewhere, and everyone who voted for the Democrats in '04 seems to be as upset as I am with the way things are going.  It's like we voted in a crapload of closet Republicans.

Below is a poll.  Keep in mind that, although I firmly believe Democrats are going to sweep Congress again and reclaim the Whitehouse, it's also my belief that if Al Gore is not the Democratic nominee, then we still have a lot of work to do to get back our country.  The present leadership has done little other than to keep us even more in the dark as to the ways our country is run.

I’ve been thinking about Rep. Pete Stark’s comments to and about our prez, and the republican response of an expected apology.  I hope they don’t get it.  I hope we don’t cave.  Pete Stark’s done nothing wrong, and no progressive or democrat has anything to apologize for.  Not for simply stating truths.  But it’s hard for a Democrat to not apologize.  We’re are people of consensus and apology is one of the tools of that trade.

But sometimes consensus is not the path to take, and I believe that this is one of those times.

Seems some Dems in Florida decided to have a little fun with Kitty H.  

Decided to see the Mad Kat Woman of Florida had the props to make a bid for the Big Job.

See this link.

I've always wondered when this flake was going to through her sunhat into the ring.  She's got the Repub fanatic frozen stare and grin just so down!

Enjoy!

BTW, the site has some great info on the rest of the republican front runners, disputing their wild claims and such, as well as some great pics.

So I finally faced up to reality that Ann Coulter actually exists and has a voice.  A hot-air, wind-bag, grates-on-one’s-sense-of-reason kinda voice, but a voice nonetheless.

In order to try and understand her a little better I did two things:  I started a study on the basic ocean dwelling jellyfish, the creature she has the most in common with, and I looked up her Bio on NNDB.

Freaking Idaho.  What’s up with this place.  ‘Bought as wacky as Montana, with only half the sky, I suppose.

Don’t they read the papers?  Don’t they have the internets?  Don’t they have any brains?

Seems the other day Larry Craig (of the Minnesotan Craig’s, purveyors of fine Toe Taps, Back-Peddles and Broken Promises) was named, Saturday night, to the Idaho Hall of Fame (See this miserable little link for more).