I also agree, looking back at a week of posts, that I need to try to improve my phone-typing. Yikes! Look at all the typos! My real computer is finally back from the shop, so there will be some somewhat legible posts here and there, one hopes!

Who knew a day would come when I would be debating our black President with other people on a virtual message board using my telephone? And that John Byrne would be there? If I could tell the 11 year old Mike O'Brien that, he'd look at me and say, "What the fuck is the 'in-ter-net' you old bald fool?!" and then he'd probably stab me... so... hm. Maybe I shouldn't get too deep into this whole time travel thing...

But, yes, I agree, Brad. We can do better. I mentioned this idea a few posts back now - that we need more ... you know... Pride. Self-Respect. Don't leave the house in pyjammas. Don't talk on your cell-phone at a funeral. Don't call your waitress a cunt. Etc.

There's something to be said for, you know, indoor plumbing, electricity, science, a full mouth full of teeth, education, etc. According to Palin, that sort of evil witch thinking excludes me from being a "real American".

Ah well...

Hey, in other news - so Matthew, you've read the Health Reform bill cover to cover - why don't you tell us what it says about the whole malpractice insurance thing? You know, the talking point that Republicans say would fix everything?

HINT: The bill does address the malpractice insurance concern.

Is there anything Barack Obama CAN'T do??

Other than keep a GOD DAMNED DEMOCRAT in Ted Kennedy's seat?   Still... That Brown kid? He's more liberal than a giant chunk of our Dems in Congress, so the joke might be on the Republicans on that one...

I had all sorts of crazy adventures. My dad did the same in SF when he was a kid.

He now has a pair of teen boys, and they live in San Mateo - a suburb of San Francisco, and those kids have never left the house alone. Either of them!

And look - let's not fool ourselves for one second - things are no worse now than they used to be. People got killed, kidnapped, whatever, all the time when my dad and I were kids. We just culturally accept the culture of fear now.

So, yeah, that's a concern.

But having said that... I think it would be fair to say that it was the Youth of America who managed to get Obama elected. Not just in their numbers, but influencing their parents and grandparents. One of many factors - Victor is right that Palin scared off a lot of sane Republicans, but as many sane people as she scares off, she sure brings a lot of insane people out of the woodwork.

I also blame young people for Bush, too - I remember in the 2000 election, I was still in college and the kids were all ... you know... too smart for their own good, if you will. They all thought, Well, Gore is ok, but we can do better, so let's all vote for Nader or write in Mario Cuomo or whatever, and it drove me nuts - clearly, whatever failings Gore had, he was better than Bush, and if you're not voting for Gore, you're basically giving Bush another vote.

But all over America, college kids held their noses and voted for Nader or stayed home and smoked their bongs and ate fruit loops and look where it got us.

Fucking college kids.

But they sure as hell woke up, shook off that could of pot haze and redeemed themselves with Obama.

That's exactly what Obama needs to do - get it all on record so he can take credit after the fact, but he needs to start doing a Bugs Bunny and saying the opposite of what he wants, so that the Republicans will support it.

You all remember how they supported Rape when Franken introduced the Anti-Rape bill right?

Republicans are a god-damned embarrassment, but that doesn't mean we can't use them to our advantage.

I move to install Jodi Moisan as head of the Democratic Party.

***

She has my vote.