hi

John Harwood from The Caucus, huh? Heh. When they first started that thing I tried reading it but gave up. The commenters were for the most part bitching about how shallow and useless it was. I don’t see that it’s changed any…

…..and Donna B, in all her Vichy splendor, surfaces just in time to end the year. Blergh!

Good morning Christy!

oh, thank goodness – primary season will be over soon.

Yeah. The two DB’s, Brazile and Bobo. What a treat for us all.

Weekend Today says Elizabeth Edwards upcoming there, as well.

Should be an interestng morning.

Good Morning Christy!

Morning all. Marion, I occasionally find some good bits in The Caucus — but it generally depends on who is writing the entry. Harwood’s work is pretty good, for the most part — and tends to be filled with little insight bits that I find useful.

Thanks for the beautiful picture, Christy! Missin’ heading to the tall timber of late, so Julie’s pictures much appreciated.

E Edwards on what distinguishes her husband from Obama: Corps are not going to give up easily their entrenched interests…”John is the warrior in this race.”

Well, I guess I’ll have to try again, and sift through the dross looking for him.

Just be forewarned, it is a lot of dross to sift through most days. *g* It’s like reading the WaPo political race coverage as well — too much Mary Ann Akers frivolity, not nearly enough Froomkin-like skepticism. Same can be said for a lot of the NYTimes Caucus bloggery as well. (And the comments both places are just a nasty mesh of name-calling and campaign spam.)

Well, I guess I’ll have to try again, and sift through the dross looking for him.

kinda like looking for a pony… ?

(And the comments both places are just a nasty mesh of name-calling and campaign spam.)

Perhaps you could lend them one or two of your superlative mods to whip them into shape?!

Some political news from South Carolina by way of MSNBC and the Associated Press:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22434242/

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Many South Carolina Republicans got a bogus holiday greeting card this week, purported to be from White House hopeful Mitt Romney, that cites some controversial passages of the Book of Mormon.

(snip)

I see the Karl Rove dirty tricks faction is still alive and well in South Carolina. Everyone remember the robocalls about McCain’s family (”fathered an illegitimate black child” and “wife has drug problems,” among other nasty less-than-accurate bits from Rove’s pals on the Smarm Squad…)? You know who this sounds like — Ralph Reed. Will have to take a peek at that. Thanks, Stephen!

A bird thang since the thread’s leisurely…right before the usual migration of juncoes into the tall timber before the holidays, I saw what I think is a junco I’ve never seen before: solid slate grey with a white “pearl” necklace. Anybody recognize this? In what region?

Global climate change has been bringing some interesting and new visitors to the feeders but it’s also disconcerting to consider where they’re coming from.

Kinda the way our Iowegian neighbors are probably feeling about the migration of the MSM into their backyards.

Youtube providing cameras to local media for caucus coverage for the first time.

Morning, everyone!

Meet the Press should be good– it’ll be fun to watch Obama try to out-Jesus Huckleberry Hound.

Prairie Sunshine, I’m blanking on little gray bird with pearl necklace.

What kid of owl is that in Julie’s picture?

Good Morning everyone.

I was listening to NPR yesterday, and they were talking about chicken tractors. Very interesting concept for those who are looking to become self sufficient in food.

A chicken tractor is a bottomless, portable shelter-pen that fits over your garden beds. The chickens peck and scratch the soil, eat pest bugs and weed seeds, and fertilize the beds with their manure. Best of all, they provide eggs and meat.

At first I was wondering how the chicken’s feet hit the peddles, but that’s just how my mind works.

short-eared owl, says Christy…and Cornell. That’s the definitive source the phenology columnist often cites in her Park Rapids Enterprise column. We subscribe to the paper just to read her!

So, millineryman, I’m visualizing the characters from the Chicken movie careening madly thru the rows of broccoli on a John Deere Gator, green flying everywhere.

Good heavens, the call-ins on C-Span this morning are so snipey. We are a nation of cranky buttheads, if this is any sort of representative sample. *g*

Good heavens, the call-ins on C-Span this morning are so snipey. We are a nation of cranky buttheads, if this is any sort of representative sample. *g*

some days I just can’t stop laughing and this morning’s one of them.

And thanks for the link Prairie Sunshine, it’s a beautiful bird

My great-granny had a mobile chicken coop that we moved around the yard throughout the spring, summer and fall. How funny they would have one that the chickens themselves could move. In my experience with chickens, they aren’t exactly likely to act in concert with each other, so that would be one funny mobile coop mechanism to watch. *g*

want to really lose your breakfast,NPR this morning touting the new Rove talking points
chimpys legacy will be STRONG HOMELAND SECURITY
talk about despsratePoppy looking to save some face

Good morning everyone. Not preaching today but going to church anyway to hear the returning college kids—a new year’s tradition where I’m at. Anyway, if you haven’t read Digby’s take on appeasement with super links to Krugman and Lambert. A MUST READ. Especially for Obama supporters—spouse and I are in heated disagreement about this.

sadlyyes — Oh lordy. That’s just pitiful…

even more pitiful,and cant be helped is this

http://rawstory.com/rawreplay/?p=372

MSNBC new polling shows Edwards, Romney lead in Iowa

i did not want to look at Benies car with the blood stained seat,and then i did; face the reality,that the fuktards are really trying to cover up slaughter….I cant move on…i somehow connected with that woman,and her struggles.arggggggggggggg

OHHHHHHHHHHHH DO I DARE HOPE!!!!!!!!!!!!

I found this Washington Post story by way of Raw Story:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..id=topnews

Bipartisan Group Eyes Independent Bid
First, Main Candidates Urged To Plan ‘Unity’ Government

By David S. Broder
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, December 30, 2007; Page A04

New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a potential independent candidate for president, has scheduled a meeting next week with a dozen leading Democrats and Republicans, who will join him in challenging the major-party contenders to spell out their plans for forming a “government of national unity” to end the gridlock in Washington.

Those who will be at the Jan. 7 session at the University of Oklahoma say that if the likely nominees of the two parties do not pledge to “go beyond tokenism” in building an administration that seeks national consensus, they will be prepared to back Bloomberg or someone else in a third-party campaign for president.

(snip)

just what we need another billionaire olligarch,out of touch with rank and file

Looks like the Mighty Wurlitzer is cranking up just in time for Iowa and the Campaign Season.

second that… i just read it and left a lengthy comment. two must add links to digby’s:

paul rosenberg’s essay, “Martin Luther King and The Moral Imperative For Polarization“
and “The Ratchet Effect” by michael smith.

RevDeb, i think you will especially like paul’s essay (and i especially recommend it, with my greetings, to mr. RevDeb)

Looks like the Mighty Wurlitzer is cranking up just in time for Iowa and the Campaign Season.

What would you play?

i somehow connected with that woman,and her struggles

Same here, I can’t explain why either.

I was jusst about to link to that. You beat me to it. Very sad.

lesseeeeee…..Lieberliar’s out because he supports McCain, unless Lieberliar’s in because McCain gets flushed in Iowa…Susan Collins…..hmmmmm….Hagel fer sher, Bayh and a bunch o’similar Dem followers of Hillary if she gets trounced in Iowa…. and those Rethug “moderate” types who whine but never break ranks…..

Go back to the Bahamas, Michael….we’ll take care of the political scene just fine without you.

i just can not believe,that whole exercise in futility,Condi setting her up,and not following through on the protection…why?

funny story,im a baby boomer(age) and until 4 years ago,i was deathly afraid of birds…dear mom took me to see Hitch movie,when i was very young…a parrot and her owner moved next door…….now im totally smitten with our fine feathered friends…we must help…peeps KEEP YOUR CATS INSIDE!

Classic Sun Tzu — chee-knee proxy kills Condi proxy, tellin’ Condi sit down and STFU…so Condi plans to occupy herself fiddlin’ around in NK to look relevant….

A thriller writer’s dream story….

he would never go to the lowly Bahamas,he lives in BERMUDA

and Benie had to be cut down…shot across the bow to ALL us uppity womanz

On CSpan: “…he was the only one that didn’t vote for the war…”

Why doesn’t someone point out that Obama wasn’t in the Senate for that vote and if he would have been he would have been the first one to vote for it?

Elliot, here’s what the Goopers should be playing from the Wurlitzer…

Elton John – Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2e4NlnLr28

Well anything that Condi or the administration touches turns to garbage. Sorta like the anti-Midas touch. I know fate lacks any substantial proof that it exists, however when I see the life of someone like Bhutto I can’t help but think that it was fated.

I love mythology, Joseph Campbell is one of my heroes, so that influences my thinking. To answer your question about why, her story is not over, and neither is her influence of the destiny of her followers.

yea cause his idol/mentor is Joe Liarman

Good morning Firepups,

If your representative is on the House Judiciary Committee and you haven’t written to him/her yet about supporting Robert Wexler’s call for impeachment hearings of Richard B. Cheney, now’s your chance. My understanding is only two other Dems (Luis Gutierrez D-IL and Tammy Baldwin D-WI) support him currently.

I included the following statements when I wrote to my rep:

—-
I believe a lot of wrongdoing and possible criminal activity has occurred in the Executive branch since the Bush administration took over in January 2001 and it must not go unchecked. This is why I’d like to encourage you, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, to join with and support Rep. Robert Wexler and more than 160,000 Americans ( http://www.wexlerwantshearings.com/ ) in calling for the impeachment hearings of Vice President Richard B. Cheney.

Thank you for honoring me and the oath you swore to protect and defend the U.S. Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.
—-

- Tom

CONTACT DEMOCRATIC MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
Hon. Berman
(D) California, 28th
http://www.house.gov/berman/contact/index.shtml

Hon. Boucher
(D) Virginia, 9th
http://www.boucher.house.gov/i…..38;Itemid=

Hon. Cohen
(D) Tennessee, 9th
http://cohen.house.gov/index.p…..Itemid=113

Hon. Davis
(D) Alabama, 7th
http://www.house.gov/arturdavis/zipauth.shtml

Hon. Delahunt
(D) Massachusetts, 10th
William.Delahunt@mail.house.gov

Hon. Ellison
(D) Minnesota, 5th
http://ellison.house.gov/index…..#038;id=75

Hon. Jackson Lee
(D) Texas, 18th
http://www.jacksonlee.house.gov/contact-form.shtml

Hon. Johnson
(D) Georgia, 4th
http://hankjohnson.house.gov/c…..rite.shtml

Hon. Lofgren
(D) California, 16th
http://lofgren.house.gov/emailform.shtml

Hon. Nadler
(D) New York, 8th
http://www.house.gov/nadler/emailform.shtml

Hon. Sánchez
(D) California, 39th
http://lindasanchez.house.gov/…..on=contact

Hon. Schiff
(D) California, 29th
http://schiff.house.gov/HoR/CA…..t+Form.htm

Hon. Scott
(D) Virginia, 3rd
http://www.house.gov/writerep/…..obby+Scott

Hon. Sherman
(D) California, 27
http://www.house.gov/sherman/contact/

Hon. Sutton
(D) Ohio, 13th
http://sutton.house.gov/about/emailform.cfm

Hon. Wasserman Schultz
(D) Florida, 20th
http://wassermanschultz.house.gov/zipauth.htm

Hon. Waters
(D) California, 35th
http://www.house.gov/waters/IMA/issue.htm

Hon. Watt
(D) North Carolina, 12th
http://watt.house.gov/IQform.asp

Hon. Weiner
(D) New York, 9th
Weiner@mail.house.gov

i don’t think it’s clear that that was why she was killed.

i too terribly miss Campbell

im not sure why,im just trying to wrap my mind around the reasoning

yes, that’s a good one, it’s pretty sorry over there on the right. :)

from another talking head..Arianna

The media reaction to the turmoil in Pakistan is as illogical as it is predictable. Given yet another example of how the president’s disastrous foreign policy has left us all less safe, we are suddenly being showered with analysis that takes as a given that Bush and those who agree with him — or have enabled him — are better at keeping us safe. It’s the same nonsense that prevailed in 2004, and is rearing its ugly head again in the ‘08 race. Witness the rapidly congealing conventional wisdom that Bhutto’s murder will help the campaigns of Rudy Giuliani — who has left no daylight between himself and Bush on Iraq and foreign policy — and Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate who took the longest to distance herself from Bush. The ticking time bomb in Pakistan brings home — once again — what a tragic distraction Iraq has been from where the real danger lies
i cnt watch them anymore….no can do

Re field nesting birds. I read an article in the NYT many years ago (10 or 15, back when it was a real newspaper) that field nesters were endangered from agriculture that mows fields during the nesting season. I have 50 acres in the country, of which about 40 is field (most used to be apple orchard but almost all of the apple trees, which have a 60-80 year lifespan, have died). I bushhog it only once/year and that is in September or later, after the birds fledge. I have mostly red wing blackbirds. Never seen a meadowlark in my life.

I find WaPo is a task to navigate on the web sometimes to get basic coverage. It could be laid out/organized better and more intuitevily. It’s overall columnists’ bias toward the administration is another problem. Political coverage, to me, is far better on scores of blogs than in WaPo. Froomkin’s not swallowed the administration coolade the way many of their reporters seem to have.

I had to stop when I got to “He said the nation needs a “government of national unity” to overcome its partisan divisions in a time of national challenge he likened to that faced by Great Britain during World War II.”

I don’t know about you guys, but it is pretty tough living in a country which is enduring daily bomb and missile attack,and is facing an immensely more powerful enemy across just 22 miles of water. Just like the US is today.

That just pissed me off for the whole day.

Good morning.

Which is the reason I can’t take Obama’s supposed harping on how “anti-Iraq invasion” he was since he selected one of the biggest war promoters as his “mentor” long after the invasion and occupation were ongoing.

If being against the invasion were so very important, I have to believe he could have found someone other than Lieberman as his mentor.

They merely want to insure the gains the corporatists have made in the last 7 years are not challanged. The only way real meaningful progressive change occurs in the U.S. is when the system is shaken to it’s core, i.e. the Civil War, the Great Depression. It will likely take something as momentous to see meaningul universal health care, living wages, a “green” energy policy, meaningful action on global climate change, etc. etc. etc.. It just might take the “rabble” storming the gates of priviledge and hypocrisy with pitchforks and torches in hand before things actually change in a meaningful way. Unfortunately, the citizens have been transformed into nothing more than consumers.

i recently moved to a farm,ill have to ask farmers what their mo is…i have seen manny cardinals and other beauties my neighbors and i feed seed and such

Re field nesting birds. I read an article in the NYT many years ago (10 or 15, back when it was a real newspaper) that field nesters were endangered from agriculture that mows fields during the nesting season. I have 50 acres in the country, of which about 40 is field (most used to be apple orchard but almost all of the apple trees, which have a 60-80 year lifespan, have died). I bushhog it only once/year and that is in September or later, after the birds fledge. I have mostly red wing blackbirds. Never seen a meadowlark in my life.

Pretty sure that farm equipment developments and habitat reduction have really hit the pheasant numbers around here, not that pheasant are native to North America

Well said, as always dakine01.

I bushhog it only once/year

You mean you’re not out “clearing brush” all year every year like W???

Yesterday Pach posted about Steve Gilliard and in the comments was Steve’s Fighting Liberal manifesto. Words to live by.

We need a warrior for these days, not a bunch of appeasers.

Edwards/Dodd 08

i can remember the quote exactly,Sinclair Lewis i believe…you cant expect a mans opinion to differ from the salary that expects him to think differently…or sort of like that

Hey, it’s the only thing I have in common with W. I love to clear brush. I’m getting ready to go out in about a half hour to do more of the same. I did more than half the bushhogging myself last year. (I have a yard guy who helps with jobs on the property.) I have a 1953 International Harvester tractor with 4′ diameter back tires, and a 52″ bed bushhog. I once used the tractor to pull a 10,000 pound telephone repair truck out of the mud. It’s my analogue to a sailboat. I just love being on it. (And remember, I’m a 60+ year old female.)

i hope and pray everyday and disscuss it with who ever will listen,
that we need EDWARDS now

ewwwwww,could ya take some pics and post someday…teh kewl!

Good morning. I’m arriving late and skimmed earlier comments. A couple of days ago, I was curious why I never hear anything from Sam Nunn regarding potential spread of nuclear weapons. I looked him up on wiki and it noted that he had made several references to a potential 2008 3rd party run for President. I was surprised to see him listed for CNN’s Late Edition.

but we don’t even know who did it. it may not even be political (not saying one way or another).

Push Polling has been alive and well in Iowa this week. Huckabee after Romney and vice-versa.

I still haven’t bought a digital camera, so no pics today. That purchase is on my list of things to do for this coming week.

My great-granny had a mobile chicken coop that we moved around the yard throughout the spring, summer and fall. How funny they would have one that the chickens themselves could move. In my experience with chickens, they aren’t exactly likely to act in concert with each other, so that would be one funny mobile coop mechanism to watch. *g*

Sounds rather like a major portion of Dems we could name. ;-(

We need a warrior for these days, not a bunch of appeasers.

Edwards/Dodd 08

Yeah!

Well, it’s starting out to be a typical day in Maine this morning! I noticed my cute little chickadees in the trees looking down at my empty bird feeder, so I went inside to get the seeds, came back out to fill them to the brim, and then had to fight off the blue jays who would not let them get near it. After 2.36 minutes of batting them away with my hair looking worse than when I woke up this morning, my chickadees now have a belly full.

Good morning! LOL

hahahahahaha
from Kos

Huckabee was asked yesterday (7+ / 0-)

during a news conference whether he would vote for an honest Democrat over a dishonest Republican. This came after his criticism of Romney for the “dishonesty” in his ads.

He turned all shades of crimson, tried to make a joke out of it, and headed for the hills.

whenever ya get around to it(smile)

well ,of that im pretty convinced,that it was NOT personal

However, for myself, if Dodd is not the top of the ticket, let him stay in the Senate (maybe as ML?) else the R governor of CT will appoint someone like Chris Shays or Nancy Johnson to fill his seat.

If you place your hand below Huckabee’s nose in the following picture, do you also see a resemblance of Hitler?

http://dirtyharrysplace.com/wp…..o-suit.jpg

Oh boy.

Well the answer to that is overwhelming takeover in Senate so an appt by CT guv wouldn’t change things. And CT folks to get another Dem–Lamont–in Senate asap.

Doin’ a little circular commentary this a.m. over at my place–the Gilliard Fighting Liberal piece, instead of posting I link back to it from yesterday’s comments in Pach’s thread. The power of synergy!

Caught only snatches of Huckleberry and Obama on MTP this a.m. but it did seem to me Russert was lobbin’ T-balls at Obama. Anyone else? Do the corporatistas fear the coming tide of Edwards–aka the coming tide of America, by the way….

why?

Christy, I’m a little confused. You said that 20 states would hold primaries on Feb. 3, but then you listed 22 states. I counted because I had heard 22 states on Super (Mega) Tuesday. What’s your final decision?

But why throw extra obstacles in the way that aren’t needed? Dodd in the Senate as ML would be far more useful to a D president in ‘09/10 than he would be as VP. Then Lamont can continue to lay the ground work to take out Short Ride in ‘12.

just my intuition after reading tons of stuff….on the Jung test,that was my highest score…intuition..go figur!

for fun

http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

Chris Matthews shows Huckabee pheasant hunting

The new Bin Laden audio tape has been released by Total Information Awareness. The propaganda is being catapulted by the Corporate journalists such as General Electric MSNBC and the government controlled Washington Post. Bin Laden and the Taliban and “al Qaeda” Pakistan ISI branch murdered Bhutto.
A Bushie official wants us to believe that this is a genuine Bin Laden message, and that the Great Evildoer is still alive, and murdering women. Of course, the evidence is overwhelming that at one time or another, Bin Laden, the Taliban and Al Qaeda were all secretly being funded by the US Government.

A US counter-terrorism official said Washington was aware of the recording and was looking into it.

“There has never been a fake bin Laden tape, so there really wouldn’t be any reason going in to believe it would be anything other than authentic,” the official said.

It looks as if the Surge is still working thanks to the strategery of General Betray-us. At least if we keep paying bribes to the Sunnis so they do not switch allegiances.

Several hours before the tape was issued, General David Petraeus, the most senior US commander in Iraq, said al-Qaeda was becoming increasingly fearful over losing the support of Sunnis and had begun targeting the leaders of the tribal councils who have switched allegiances to the US.

you practice SAT for fun or something?

On the subject of disappearing field birds, combined with Romney’s hunting experience, following is a reminded from happier times, before GWB had even been elected as Texas Governor. I later thought of the incident often as prescient of his invasion of the wrong countries.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f…..A962958260

Huckabee lookin’ pretty dumb on MTP. Gave an encyclopedia-based answer to explain his understanding of Pakistan. You could almost see the wheels spinning, and a prayer being uttered, when Timmeh asked “is it mostly Sunni or Shia”? It sure seemed to me that he was guessing when he said “…Sunni”.

On the subject of disappearing field birds, combined with Romney’s hunting experience, following is a reminded from happier times, before GWB had even been elected as Texas Governor. I later thought of the incident often as prescient of his invasion of the wrong countries.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/f…..A962958260

wow, that was a blast from the past

I want to see if Huckabee can pass the “Name the leader of the country xxxx” test. My bet, anyone here would do better.

http://afp.google.com/article/…..AO4ep7buxw

looks like our goons are gonna overturn the election
(confessions of an economic hitman style)

hahahahahahaha

The new Bin Laden audio tape has been released by Total Information Awareness.

Has anyone here watched ant commercials lately? there are things being done technology-wise that are (to me, at least) mind-boggling.

A new, conveniently timed (again) Bin-Laden tape? Child’s play.

Well I totally agree with you–Dodd would be a powerful ML. It’s just that I think he makes a strong VP for the Edwards ticket. Torn, really torn.

Mr. Annis talkin’ to Yepson about the Iowa caucuses and all the politicos who suck up to him before. CNN tag: Iowa’s premier pundit. So we’ve totally erased the line between “journalist” and pundit now, have we?

*any* commercials.

(what’s wrong with my coffee this morning?)

:)

Yeah, I actually got to wondering about the killdeer and the meadowlark after reading watching the earlier clip. Then I wondered if any clips of the incident remained. I think this ranching and brush cutting experince are equally sincere.

CBS Sunday Morning retrospective of those we lost in 2007.

The great Molly Ivins, David Halberstam, Mailer…..

[yes, Mr. Annis was Mr. Sunshine’s choice, not moi!]

Darth does it like this

http://web.alternet.org/stories/67663/

Huckabee: People may be born gay, but acting on that is a choice.

Hucklebee also an adherent of the principle the prez’s first, and most important job is to protect Americans from being killed. Wrong again. And Huck says – let no one doubt that I’d attack Pakistan if necessary.

Oh, and Mr. Annis Media Minute tweaks NYT reporter blogging that Ron Paul was taking money from a White Supremacist group. NYT had to pull it back. Mr. Annis says “you know what they say about bloggers….”

No, Mr. Annis, you know what they say about MSM reporters who don’t get their facts straight and rely on crony GOP faxes for their info instead of, you know, reporting…whatever their medium.

Cheney really takes the “caged hunt” analogy too far.

oh you just cant beat them on content!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Huckabee:Punish doctors who perform abortions.

Huckabee: People may be born gay, but acting on that is a choice.

Hey Huck – is one born hungry, which would not be your fault sir, but acting upon it to the point of gluttony a sin?

still no follow up question about believe the earth is 6000yrs. old

The republic thinks more than the media.

The Huckabee interview is over. Timmy did a decent job of illuminating his views. Of course there were some follow-up questions that should have been asked. But overall, Huck was revealed to be an ill-informed nut.

but what about the conflict with the choudhary brothers ?

i’m a big fan of intuition – but only for getting ideas, not conclusions.. for that i like evidence.

prolly the most despickable of them all imo

LMAO

I’m afraid,then, you can’t be considered for any office in the Bush Administration.

as i said this is just my opinion

Love the Owl Photo. Yesterday morning while walking my morning hike I was fortunate enough to be directed to a Barn Owl perched in a tall ponderosa tree. Here in Bend Oregon we have a trail close to my home that winds through neighborhood and past parks and after passing a couple walking the opposite direction they called out to me and pointed out the Barn Owl. This trail goes all the way to Pilot Butte a 500 foot high cinder cone (Central Oregon was a hot lava rock 6000 years ago). In the past on three different occasions while hiking to the summit I’ve been lucky enough to observe Bald Eagles cruising for the numerous Jack Rabbits and Chipmunks that populate the Butte.

The owl photo is nice reprieve from politics. I’m a political junky and I’m sick and tired of this protracted Presidential campaign. We need to fix and shorten the Primary System!
Go John Edwards

Ann — The plus sign doesn’t appear on the screen — will add the word in for clarity. There is some confusion in some of the reporting as to which states are or are not scheduled at this point, so I’ve given you all the best information that I could verify at this point numbers-wise.

Brooks on This Week saying a win for Edwards in Iowa is a win for Hillary.

WRONG. A win for Edwards in Iowa is a win for Edwards–and America.

Why the hell did Russert not ask Obama about his inflammatory Pakistan rhetoric? Just this August he threatened to invade Pakistan for God’s sake and somehow this isn’t relevant in selecting a president, especially now?

Good Lord.

and Benie had to be cut down…shot across the bow to ALL us uppity womanz

I’ve seen one news story or blog which had a video of her interview where she says ObL was murdered. She has also said that murder was somehow related to Omar Shaik. Well, this story was censored by the BBC. Why?

One reason *might* be that Omar Shaikh, despite the name, was British!

Yep, one of the top Al Qaeda types was a Brit. Connecting all the dots on this story is a nightmare. I’m sure there will be more to come, even if it’s just cover-up material.

We’re still waiting (aren’t we) for someone to say why she stood up at just the moment they were on the road right next to the assassin. We’ve certainly heard about 5 other stories which didn’t jibe. There was the withdrawal of the Musharraf police, the timing of her standing up, the two men pictured near her car and no security tackling them and going back there is the huge question of how she came to go back despite grave dangers. Just like 9/11 there are lots of questions and few answers.

it did seem to me Russert was lobbin’ T-balls at Obama. Anyone else?

I was very curious how Russert would handle Obama and in the end I thought it was pretty typical. I don’t think he was particularly easy or hard on him. Obama has been struggling of late and that interview didn’t go very well in my opinion.

Sadly, I missed the Clinton interview on Stephanopoulos’ show.

I watched C-SPAN later and saw town hall meeting by all 3 and Edwards & Clinton looked significantly better than Obama. Hillary has come a long way with her speaking skills. She’s slower and cooler than Edwards, but very smooth and speaks very clearly. Edwards was his usual fast-paced, hard-hitting anti-corporation-control speech and focused on down-to-earth issues and solutions. All of them had good crowds, so we know all of Iowa is now engaged and listening closely.

Hucklebee also an adherent of the principle the prez’s first, and most important job is to protect Americans from being killed. Wrong again. And Huck says – let no one doubt that I’d attack Pakistan if necessary.

Huckabee is completely burned toast if many in Iowa saw that interview.

I don’t care which Repub wins their nomination, but it would be best for America if their best did win. We must always strive to have the best. Huckabee has been damaging himself every time he opens his mouth. Now, I think it’s irreparable, so we’ll probably see Romney take Iowa with at least a 10% lead. After that it is only a question of whether he can finish 1st or 2nd in NH. If he can’t then it remains an open question.