I don't get the joke

So... for the past week, all the politicos could talk about was how the race for New York's 23rd Congressional District was the one to watch because it would indicate which way the wind was blowing. And, oh yeah, (barely a sidenote) there were also these two races for governor.

Now that the Dems won the 23rd for the first time since the 19th Century! in a race where the moderate Republican was forced out by a staunch conservative and threw her support to the Democrat, there's not a mention. It's nothing but the two governor races and how the Dems should be scared.

I don't get the joke.

Come on... There is nothing uniquely horrible about right-wing extremist pundits (eg. Glen Beck) who mint millions by capitalizing on the worst, ungrounded, fears of their hard-core fellow travelers. We had our millionaire-fear-mongerers (if ever so few) who did it during the Bush years. Now, they have theirs (if ever so legion) who are "making hay" during the Obama years. The principle has never been right but let's at least be honest that the technique has always had a certain effectiveness, and many of us previously rejoiced when the tilt was in our favor, regardless the factual basis of the accusations. Fact is, within any political body, there will always be a significant part for which facts have little weight if they don't weigh in on the "correct" side.

Dear Red States:

The letter below gives me an excuse to stare at this map again. We need to savoir our victories!








This letter was part of a wonderful play in Moab over the winter, called The Letters Project.

Dear Red States:

We've decided we're leaving. We intend to form our own country, and we're taking the other Blue States with us. In case you aren't aware, that includes Hawaii, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois and all the Northeast. We believe this split will be beneficial to the nation, and especially to the people of the new country of New California.

To sum up briefly: You get Texas, Oklahoma and all the slave states. We get stem cell research and all the best beaches. We get Elliot Spitzer. You get Ken Lay. We get the Statue of Liberty. You get Dollywood. We get Intel and Microsoft. You get WorldCom. We get Harvard. You get Ole' Miss. We get 85 percent of America's venture capital and entrepreneurs. You get Alabama. We get two-thirds of the tax revenue, you get to make the red states pay their fair share. Since our aggregate divorce rate is 22 percent lower than the Christian Coalition's, we get a bunch of happy families. You get a bunch of single moms.

Please be aware that Nuevo California will be pro-choice and anti-war, and we're going to want all our citizens back from Iraq, at once. If you need people to fight, ask your evangelicals. They have kids they're apparently willing to send to their deaths for no purpose, and they don't care if you don't show pictures of their children's caskets coming home. We do wish you success in Iraq, and hope that the WMDs turn up, but we're not willing to spend our resources in Bush's Quagmire.

With the Blue States in hand, we will have firm control of 80 percent of the country's fresh water, more than 90 percent of the pineapple and lettuce, 92 percent of the nation's fresh fruit, 95 percent of America's quality wines (you can serve French wines at state dinners) 90 percent of all cheese, 90 percent of the high tech industry, most of the U.S. low-sulfur coal, all living redwoods, sequoias and condors, all the Ivy League and Seven Sister schools, plus Stanford, Cal Tech and MIT. With the Red States, on the other hand, you will have to cope with 88 percent of all obese Americans (and their projected health care costs), 92 percent of all U.S. mosquitoes, nearly 100 percent of the tornadoes, 90 percent of the hurricanes, 99 percent of all Southern Baptists, virtually 100 percent of all televangelists, Rush Limbaugh, Bob Jones University, Clemson and the University of Georgia. We get Hollywood and Yosemite, thank you.

Additionally, 38 percent of those in the Red states believe Jonah was actually swallowed by a whale, 62 percent believe life is sacred unless we're discussing the death penalty or gun laws, 44 percent say that evolution is only a theory, 53 percent that Saddam was involved in 9/11; and 61 percent of you crazy b *****ds believe you are people with higher morals then we lefties.

By the way, we're taking all the good pot, too. You can have that dirt weed they grow in Mexico.

Peace out, Blue States =

---------------------------------------------
Chad Niehaus Independent Artist in Moab, Utah (435) 259-9314 www.MoabArt.com

Chicago Trib and Washington Post call for Burris to Resign

This seat needs a fresh start. I hope Burris does resign, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

From My DD today:

Burris is getting to a point where his legal guilt and innocence are irrelevant; that's a very bad place to be. As clammyc puts it, "Political guilt is different from guilt in a court of law" and it's pretty clear that Burris is tainted by the former if not the latter. At the very least, as WaPo states plainly, Burris has violated the public trust. His constant protestations to the contrary just become all the sadder with every new revelation.

The next step must be for Democratic Senate leaders to demand his resignation and for the Illinois legislature to do what it should have done much earlier: call for a special election to fill the seat. I agree with The Tribune:

Strip this whole wretched process out of the hands of the politicians and give it back to the people.