( Criminal Minds livewatch )

As always, matociquala has far more interesting commentary/insight than I.

Baucus: 'Time to get the job done' on health care Is there any doubt Snowe will vote "yes"?

No, no there is not: Snowe's vote arms Baucus for party war.

Russian FM: Threats of Iran sanctions won't work Really? Telling them "we won't like you if you do that" isn't going to make them modify their behaviour? Well, shoot. Maybe if we just ask them real real nice...

US wants bunker-buster fast, denies Iran is reason Like maybe with a big bomb. Is that nice enough?

Nobel jury speaks out in defense of Obama prize Somehow, their confusion that anyone would disgree about whether or not he deserved it agitates me. As does their defense that they "followed the guidelines set forth by Alfred Nobel" by awarding the prize "to the person who has contributed most to the development of peace in the previous year". So then why are deadlines for nomination in February?? Obama had done absolutely zero last year to "promote the development of peace" or however they want to phrase it. He wasn't even sworn in until January of this year. Liberal idiots.

Liz Cheney takes on 'radical' W.H. At least somebody has the guts to. I always liked the Cheneys.

I have been sitting on these links over the weekend (and maybe a day or two longer in some cases), waiting to see if anyone with a far larger readership than I was going to address them.

Then I realized that if I don't put them out there, they might not get any exposure at all and little is still better than none.

Roland Burris Defends ACORN, Says 'Fox Sting' and 'Agendas' to Blame Seriously? Really? I don't think I made it through the first three paragraphs or so before I was laughing so hard I was crying. How can anyone in good conscience seriously believe this? Think what you will of FOX News, but tell me again how that makes people actually advising that you commit tax fraud and giving detailed instructions on such innocent. Please. Never mind the fact that they were implicitly condoning a.) prostitution in a state where it is illegal, b.) underage prostitution, c.)involuntary servitude, d.)immigration fraud, e.)most likely kidnapping and human trafficking. And all of that, of course, is the fault of FOX News. Mm hmm.

True Liberal tolerance and love of diversity: NJ Governor Mocks Opponent's Waistline I state as a caveat that I am not from New Jersey and have never seen any of these ads (or any others involving their governor's race, for that matter). However, there is no excuse for this. This reeks of schoolyard bullying. That a person is less because they weigh more. It is utter drivel and nonsense. And if Christie's weight is all Corzine can find to mock, it begs several questions: Is Corzine truly incapable of debating his issues and defending his own stances? Is he afraid that Christie's ideas will be superior, so he wants to create an air of hostility toward him? Or did Corzine never mature beyond the age of ten? Or, alternately, is he truly concerned about the overall health of New Jersey and feels an overweight man would set a poor example? (Hint: "One of these things is not like the other, one of these things just doesn't belong.")

'Die quickly' congressman new hero for Fla. Dems. This piece makes me sick. Yes, conservatives are the party of "die quickly". We're the ones who said a grandmother should just take nitro pills instead of receive a needed heart transplant because she might be "too old". We're the ones who don't care that the proposed healthcare system will leave more Americans without healthcare than it will insure. We don't care that the proposed overhaul will collapse the current system and leave all Americans dependent on the government's idea of "fast" and "efficient" care. I think what makes me even sicker is the fact that this wingnut is now lauded as a "hero".

And finally, in entertainment: 'Astro Boy': The Latest in Line of Left-Leaning Animated Films? This is disappointing. My husband and I were looking forward to this from the trailers. I think we'll hold off on it for awhile now, though, if we see it at all. Why can't we just leave politics out of kids' films altogether? Why must we indoctrinate them from kindergarten on up? Whatever happened to letting the parents set the precedent? If we decide to actually see this movie, I would want to be able to discuss with my children exactly where the filmmakers are wrong, and neither of my midgets is old enough to comprehend that yet.

I decided I was going to liveblog this tonight. Most of this is nothing beyond simple thoughts. For more indepth analysis, I enjoy matociquala. Her reviews (and that is such an understatement) are fantastic.

( I'm a blinker )

Roughly an hour and a half after Ted Kennedy's passing, Nancy Pelosi decided a warm body was a bolstering argument for her position in the healthcare debate.

Really? First, where is the class in this? The man isn't even cold; his family is still grieving. Secondly, the government option that "Uncle Teddy" so fondly and warmly embraced would have killed him faster. Brain cancer is almost invariably fatal, regardless of the quality of care received. At least with private care he had a glimmer of hope, however small, that he might have gone into remission.

And, in a (vaguely) related tidbit, Obama is now an honorary Kennedy. I'm not going to claim surprise - the media handles both Obama and the Kennedys in similar fashion. It really was inevitable. It's also grating that the media fails to acknowledge that there are those of us who think "Camelot" is a vast overstatement in relations to any of the Kennedy (or Obama) clan.

Ted Kennedy has died.

Removing politics for a moment, I don't think anyone who has had a family member suffer brain cancer can say they were surprised. May God be with his family in their time of grieving.

Anything even vaguely about healthcare in this post is h/t melvin_udall, as is the bit about the New York Times.

First, though, about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr: In my opinion, he wasn't arrested because he was black, he was arrested because he decided it was a good idea to get beligerent with the police. If it had been me, if the police were responding to what they assumed was a break-in of my home, I would thank them for the effort and for the response. I would be polite and civil and make their jobs as easy as possible.

Since the incident, Gates has been crying racism. The arresting officer is finally responding.
"Police say Gates at first refused [to show ID] and then accused the officer of racism."

Update: Apparently, this officer also teaches classes on how to avoid committing racial profiling. And he was recommended for the job by a black police Comissioner.

And what is our dear President's response to the incident? While admitting that he doesn not have all the facts, he says the police acted "stupidly".

Obamacare: The Trainwreck Will of the People's President

Firstly, poor Teddy Kennedy. (And I do mean that.) Would he still be alive under ObamaCare? The answer, is no. I don't like this man at all, but I don't wish brain cancer on him. My grandfather died of brain cancer. It is painful, it robs you of yourself, and it is almost always fatal. Tell me, nay convince me, that if ObamaCare were enacted five years ago that Teddy Kennedy would still be alive. Tell me how he would qualify for all of the money being spent on a man who is going to die from this disease.

Is it possible Obama is trying to shove ObamaCare through so quickly, because if he doesn't, people will realize there is no healthcare crisis?
"[. . .] a poll conducted by the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston and Zogby International that finds that 84 percent of Americans, including 46 percent of Americans without health insurance, are "very satisfied" or "satisfied" with the health care they currently receive."

There are no adequate words for this.
"On Friday, Democrats moved one step closer to giving free health insurance to the nation's estimated 12 million illegal aliens when they successfully defeated a Republican-backed amendment, offered by Rep. Dean Heller, R-Nev., that would have prevented illegal aliens from receiving government-subsidized health care under the proposed plan backed by House Democrats and President Barack Obama."

And in news not related to this sham of a healthcare package, the New York Times proves that their editorial board is losing both its IQ and its grip on reality: New York Times advocates "pullout" method.
I had a male friend once who refered to this as "pull and pray". As if we needed another reminder of its efficacy or lack thereof.

We're having to get major work done on the car, and had it in at the Chrysler dealer for a second opinion yesterday. They told me that "there are some major issues going on" (No, really?), and that it would cost nearly 1000 dollars to pull the heads. That's right. Nearly one thousand dollars just to remove the headgaskets. When I told John, he became rather agitated. I told him that if he really had a problem, he should call the White House and complain.

After all, it seems Barack Obama is the effective CEO of Chrysler at this point - what with informing them of exactly how they are going to structure themselves, both during bankruptcy and after. (And here I was, thinking that was the court's job, and exactly why we had bankruptcy laws. Silly me.)

Then it hit me in the shower today - Barack Obama, our sitting president is currently the effective head of two major corporations, and there is almost no outrage to be found anywhere. I remember the furor when Cheney was revealed to have held stock in Enron. A former stock holding veep vs. a CEO president... I wonder who really deserves the outrage.

I'm posting this mainly for the few who have come here for my Supernatural fiction: Thank you for stopping by, and thank you for adding me. Your comments have been wonderful and made me giddy. I do believe I also (on only one occasion, to my knowledge) performed a Snoopy Dance due to your kind words. I do intend to write more soon. I'm also going to start more public postings. Boring things, generally, as it's rather hard to have a glamorous and exciting life when one is a stay-at-home parent to two small children. If I ever get in a James Bond style shoot'em up, though, I'll make sure to dash off a dry martini and then gush about it here.

Otherwise, I am also going to start political postings. I really don't expect any of this to creep up into my writing, as I see the boys as apolitical. Who has time for politics when you're saving the world?

I do invite any and all of you to participate in any of the posts I make, though. I just expect the conversation to be civil - no matter on which end of the spectrum you fall.

I'll also be implementing the tagging system (Oh, Lord help me. I'm lucky my computer doesnt explode just from my inept attempts at basic HTML.), so those of you who only wish to read the fiction may do so.

With that said, it begins.