Amid all of the tears, joy, exultation, and relief, a round of applause for Senator McCain. He was gracious, and he spoke like a statesman instead of a politician. Then add PRESIDENT-ELECT Obama's speech, which left me sitting here with tears in my eyes, and it's been a hell of a night.
I'm glad that I have lived to see this.
Extra innings, indeed. As several folks have pointed out, this probably just delays the inevitable. While Hillary will never admit it, she can't win without a MAJOR miracle - the numbers just aren't there.
But I really fear that the extended campaign - where Hillary continues to use just about any tactic she can to discredit Obama, and where Obama himself obligingly shoots himself in the foot periodically - is going to cost us the White House yet again. I hope beyond hope that I am incorrect, because I sure don't want 4 or 8 more years of the Shrub's politics with a bit of a twist. But I am beginning to get very nervous about this.
Kevin @ 153:
To me, it isn't so much a matter of the Democrats who would NOT vote for Hillary - I am sure there are a number of these, but I don't know how many, and I suspect no one else does, either. I don't much like Hillary, but I will vote for her if she is the nominee.
The real crux of the matter is that Hillary is [rationally or not] truly disliked, if not hated, by a pretty significant portion of the Republican electorate. Some of that assessment is based on polling, some of it is anecdotal. My fear is that her nomination will unite the Republicans in a way that another Democratic candidate would not. I think that the Democrats are going to need to make sure that they don't find a way to unite what is an increasingly divided Republican party (the same problem that has cost the Democrats in the last two Presidential elections, and in others before that). It may not be rational. But it doesn't have to be. Since when have the American voting public really been rational (taken as a whole)?
An interesting case study in this situation is to look at the state of Kansas. Kansas has been getting steadily more conservative for 30-40 years. In fact, there are essentially 3 political parties in Kansas - Conservative Republicans, Moderate Republicans, and Democrats. Kansas has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since the 1930's. Yet they have a two-term Democratic governor who happens to be a woman [Kathleen Sibelius]. How? The Conservatives and Moderates don't trust each other, and Sibelius split the Republican vote, painting the Conservative Republicans as not representative of the entire populace while appealing to the Moderates to prevent the lunatic fringe from getting/keeping power (sound familiar?) She won her second term with over 55% of the vote, and more Democrats got elected statewide in 2006.
Don't get me wrong, it's still a pretty conservative state, on the whole. But it is an excellent example of how a Democrat can use the fractures in the Republican party against it - just as Republicans have always tried to do to Democrats.
[disclaimer: I am an Obama supporter]
I am thoroughly pleased to see the national news media - not to mention the clowns who call themselves pundits - made to look like the idiots they are. I am glad to see that Hillary's victory is going to (for the moment) make the media treat this like the race it is.
Ultimately, I am hoping that Obama wins the nomination (or is part of the ticket at the very least). But I can't see how it will be anything but beneficial for the party to keep this a race as long as possible IF they can manage to avoid providing a road map for the Republinazis to beat them in the fall.
It is going to be up to every Democrat of whatever stripe to make damn sure that the "SwiftBoaters" and the media don't steal yet another election.
Czechs turning into werewolves? I worry more about them taking up hang-gliding, which would involve the police and the bank...
After all, Czech kiting is against the law, isn't it?
(punning, ducking, and running)
I'd like to nominate a longtime favorite from Red Dwarf for a general purpose swear word, that can be as bad as you want it to be - smeg
What I hope I would do is to 1) call 911; 2) try to get the person's legs up with something/someone; 3) try to stabilize/splint the arm; 4) see if I can get the arm above the person's head; 5) try to keep them calm and wait for the cavalry (or the marines, I'm not picky) to arrive - and get the buddies/camera crew to help out...
After help arrives, THEN I can throw up.
I've never had to deal with a broken bone - just my wife seriously cutting her thumb/hand with a very sharp knife because she tried to slice a frozen bagel. I did really well, I was told after we go to the ER. I thanked the nurse, then had a panic attack. [ With no shame whatsoever, thank you very much ]
If you have a simple extraction of a whole tooth, not to worry. The previous accounts of a fairly painless process are accurate.
However, if you get told that you have a cracked tooth that needs to come out, RUN - do not walk - to an oral surgeon. You don't want to be awake for this. Fractures often don't really show up very well, so what looks like two pieces or a simple crack can be a lot more than that. 3 hours in a chair just plain sucks. I almost felt sorrier for the dentists whose afternoon/early evening I shot to hell than I did for me - for about 2 minutes. Not their fault, they just didn't realize what they were getting into until they were already into it, and it was too late to stop.
Michael @ 94:
...not to mention Winifred Burkle (heart leaping)
We got 12+" of powder here yesterday in Champaign, IL, supplemented by 40MPH gusts. Beautiful day today, with the sun shining and the wind down from yesterday's blizzard, but it's the second day of cancellations for schoolkids of all ages around here (including the U of I and the community colleges my wife and I work at).
Mitt Romney declares and we get a blizzard. Coincidence? I think not... ;-)
I hope to Ghod that Charlie Stross is wrong, but I'm afraid he isn't. It is possible for us to get the troops out, but it won't be easy, and a lot of folks are going to get killed/injured in the process.
It's going to be ugly any way you slice it; at some point, when enough folks get killed trying to pull out, the orders are going to change to allow a LOT more discretionary use of force. I'm not saying it is a good thing, but if the object is to get as many of our troops home as possible, then we may have to stomach some mighty ugly ROE to get there.
Sandy - Obviously you missed the 4th Whitman I tucked up my sleeve - Slim
(grinning, ducking, and running)
Scott
#30 ::: James D. Macdonald He spelled "ABSENCE" just fine. It's just that the word doesn't mean what he thinks it means.
When I read this, the first thing that went through my mind was Inigo Montoya's "You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means" said to Vizzini right out of Princess Bride (TheGreatestMovieEverMade, ideally said along with the title in one breath)
Ajay @ #23:
The problem is that the Brits typically didn't put anything below a 3rd rate (a 74 two-decker) in the line of battle, at least not when it counted. The lesser rates were relegated to relaying signals and fighting similar level ships that the enemy might have at the battle.
The US, on the other hand, has elected 6th-rate leaders who aren't even qualified to lead (or appoint others to lead) their armed forces to guard a bordello - with the obvious line to finish that phrase. With the results you might expect.
Xopher said: "I think it's also important to remember that the average person has slightly more than one head."
OK, then - a mullet for the big one and a merkin for the other (where appropriate). Or vice-versa. Whatever makes your Jello jiggle...
Michael I. wrote:
Do we live in a world of the fiery eye?
We used to. Then this magic ring fell into a volcano...
I saw a bumper snicker the other day that said:
"Frodo failed - Bush has the Ring"
With respect to those with more medical knowledge than I possess, I must be one one of the wierd cases that get more relief from Darvocet than from straight acetominophen. I can't take NSAIDS in general due to GI issues, and while acetominophen does help most of my headaches, there are times when all I can do is take a Darvocet (sometimes accompanied by additional acetominophen when it is really bad) and try to ride it out - preferably in a quiet, dark room. Sparing use of Darvocet in combination with large doses of straight acetominophen was the only thing that got me through a headache last summer that went on for better than 2 weeks in varying levels of intensity.
And aren't large doses of acetominophen supposed to be linked to liver toxicity? Shhh. They'll go after that next...
The only thing that I have ever been given by a doctor that relieved the pain better with 0 apparent side effects was Toradol (sp?) (which is a strong NSAID - why no GI complications I don't know).
I'd welcome an alternative. I'd also welcome Public Citizen talking a very long walk off a very short pier.
This is the kind of weather (well, not 30" of it, but you get the picture) I had in mind when I went out in December and bought a snowblower . I finally grew tired of risking a coronary and generally tearing up my back and shoulders every time I shoveled the driveway. And wouldn't you know it - we have had all of 2" during the worst of the falls we have had so far.
Still and all, probably cheap life insurance...
Stay warm and well!
TNH wrote:
"... Oh, and Voldemort could accomplish most of his aims just by having one of his minions sneak into Hogwarts with a Thompson submachine gun -- but then, I think the same thing about the X-Men's mansion."
Hmmm. Somehow I think that JKR has maybe thought of this (or something like it); perhaps she just hadn't included a situation where it could be tested. Personally, I had thought a couple of times of the Bk7 denouement of the Harry/Voldemort conflict ending with a scene straight out of Raiders of the Lost Ark - After listening to another Voldemort harangue (I'm gonna kill you, you can't stop me, etc.), Harry just pulls out a Glock and empties it into Voldemort.
Not original, I admit, but an oddly satifying mental image.
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2009 | 1 |
| 2008 | 4 |
| 2007 | 6 |
| 2006 | 10 |
| 2005 | 1 |
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