On Wall Building

In honor of Drinking Right and of the Sensennbrenner/Green (et al) Wall.

So, these three guys are shipwrecked on a desert island and a lamp washes up on shore. They get together and one of them rubs it and a genie pops out.

"Because you've freed me from the lamp," says the genie, now twenty feet tall, "I'll grant you each one wish."

"Corn," says the guy from Iowa. "I miss seeing corn so much. Can you take us where there is corn?" And...poof!

They are all standing on a small rise, surrounded by corn. Tall, straight and impossibly green corn. As far as the eye can see, nothing but gorgeous corn with big, fat ears in rows that fade into the distance.

And the guy from Illinois says, "Dope! You could have had anything. Anything in the world and you wished for corn. I am so sick of you people. You come across I-80, driving in the left lane at 7 under with your turn signal on and you're stupid. I just wish there was a wall around Illinois to keep stupid people out."

And the genie says, "I can do that," poof...and there is a wall around Illinois. Thirty feet tall, ten feet thick, no doors, no windows, no seams.

The guy from Illinois says, "Bless you. That's the kind of wall I'm talking about."

And the guy from Wisconsin, he says, "That's really cool. Can you fill that up with beer?"

Jess Gets All Philosophical On Us

This might be one of the strangest posts ever.
NY plane incident

So, we worried it might be a terrorist, and it was a New York Yankee. How weird is that?
(It was a coincidence, Jess. You've fixated on Kevin Barrett for so long that you're starting to sound like him. Not everything is a conspiracy.)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle was the sole person aboard the plane that crashed Wednesday into a high-rise apartment building in New York, FBI officials told CNN.

Lingering question: How, exactly, did a plane - small or not - manage to crash into a NY building? (Um, it had a fuel problem, went off course out of control and freakin' crashed) Aren't we supposed to have people guarding against that now? (No. We're supposed to have people guarding our ports but the funding for that has been slashed by the Bush/Green bunch. They did it at the same time they were gutting funding for school security programs.) What if a terrorist DID commandeer a small plane? (They'd probably do about as much damage as this one did. Two dead [the pilots] and three apartments burned.)

Wouldn't anyone stop them? (Not unless JBvH got anti-aircraft guns for the RV. Yeah, that's it. Allow teachers to carry anti-aircraft guns. Go to work, Jess. Your posts get all paranoid and foolish when you post before you've talked yourself down.).

Buried In The Comments- Local Stories Of Interest

There are a couple of things going on in Evansville that deserve wider play. Some discussion of these things has been going on in the comments to a couple of posts.

What is the progress on hiring a new City Administrator? The Review ran an ad asking for candidates this week, 100 or more dys after the position opened. The comments show us the focus of the search right now.

Some users of the new skate park struggled with boundaries and it's going to cost the City to fix the damage. Do you blame the park when you can't pinpoint the abusers? Check out the comments.

Honest, Mom! The Bed Was On Fire When I Laid Down On It

John McCain says that the Bush administration has been so ineffectual that they should face no responsibility for anything that has happened for the last 6 years.

Tsunami? Clinton's fault

Cheney shot a guy? Hilary's fault

Now, in the interest of not playing the blame game, McCain assigns some blame. It's our fault. The way that the senator is moving to his right you'd think he was trying out for a job at shortstop.

The Bureau Of ATF Gets An 'A'

Unfortunately, the grade was on the former director's nephew's homework assignment. Your CEO Administration at work:

The nephew's project — a documentary about the ATF that took 10 months to
complete — was one of a half-dozen examples of lapses in judgment Carl J.
Truscott committed before he resigned in August, says the report by Justice
Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.

The report found that only the high school project demonstrated
mismanagement by Truscott, whose employees accused him of wasting federal funds, taking costly trips and creating a hostile work environment.

The man who recently departed as director of the Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives ordered his staff to help with his nephew's
high school homework.

An estimated 20 ATF employees were pulled in to help with the documentary,
spending dozens of hours on research, pulling film footage from the agency's
library and setting up interviews with Truscott and other officials in
Washington and Philadelphia.

Congressman Green Is An Extreme Copycat, Too

So says Snooglepoop. Check it out for yourself.

h/t to Jay

For Clarity: This story probably means very little in the grand scheme of things. But how many times, in the web and weft of political writing am I going to get a chance to say, "Snooglepoop?"

Any Questions?

Jimmy Buffett's keyboard player, Michael Utley













George Bush's player-hater, Karl Rove

Ben Writes About Dave Magnum And What Passes For Issues

From Badger Blues

Since he has previously
indicated a desire to run a substantive, issue-based campaign (presumably
about issues other than where to hold some debates), I decided to look up where
Magnum stands on the issues. It’s not an easy task, since his campaign website
doesn’t mention of any of the things that have dominated our political discourse
for the past two years. Nothing on Social Security. Nothing on Medicare Part D.
Nothing on Iraq. Nothing about habeas corpus (although in the debate he
announced the “moderate” position of favoring a sunset provision for torture).
Nothing about tax cuts. Nothing about fiscal responsibility.

It was not always thus.Back in 2004, when the Republicans were not down 23 points
in the polls, and when George Bush’s approval ratings were not in
the 30s, Dave Magnum didn’t feel the need to separate himself so much from
the President. He was in favor
of privatizing Social Security. He supported George Bush’s rejection
of new stem-cell research. He supported the elimination of the estate tax.
He opposed a woman’s right to choose in almost all cases. He supported the war
in Iraq. He blamed the Republican budget deficits on “the recession”. He was a
conventional George Bush Republican.

Again, Dave Magnum, “moderate” (he says so himself!), wanted to
privatize Social Security.

The Observer Posts The One Letter Everyone In Evansville "Must Read"

Bill Connors writes to the Observer about budget caps.

Did Jennifer's memo say anything about the 2008 budget? The levy limit is
based, in part, on growth in tax base. The tax base recently stopped growing
much outside of the tax incremental districts. The city is adding positions in
the 2007 budget which will create permanent spending increases in 2008, 2009,
etc. The city could find itself in a very tight spot when it puts together its
2008 budget at this time next year.

I hope the city hires a new administrator who is an ace at budgeting and
does not follow Mayor Decker's suggestion to strip the city administrator of
responsibility for the formulating the budget.

Bill Connors
Former City Administrator

Evansville needs a strong administrator soon. Even if the new target date of mid-November is viable we will still have been without a pro running the city for more than 5 months.

You Can't Tell The Players Without A Scorecard

There will be 5 forums of interest to Rock County voters Wednesday night, according to the Gazette.

At UW-Rock County in the All-Purpose Room in Hyatt-Smith Hall:

6 p.m.: Coroner candidates Democrat Jenifer Keach (i), Republican Brad Farrell and Independent Melissa Haverley.
6:45 p.m.: Sheriff candidates Democrat Robert Spoden, Republican Scott Wasemiller and Independent Gary Keller.
7:30 p.m.: Assembly District 44 candidates Democrat Mike Sheridan (i) and Republican Fred Yoss.
8:15 p.m.: Senate District 15 candidates Democrat Judy Robson (i) and Republican Greg Addie.

The forums are moderated by the League of Women Voters and open to the public. Candidates will begin with an introductory statement, and then members of the League will ask prepared questions, as well as questions submitted by the candidates.

At Beloit College in the Oscar Mayer Hall:

At 7 p.m. Wednesday at Beloit College a forum with Democratic U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin and her Republican challenger, Dave Magnum, in the race for the Second Congressional District.

Can Somebody Share The 411?

Does anybody out there know about skateboarders in the pool? Wanna share?

It Could Have Been Worse

They might have used the horse's picture.

"George Bush Is Not The Future"

Who said that?

Hillary Clinton? Charles Rangel? John Kerry? Nope, none of them.

It was Republican Dave Magnum during a debate with Tammy Baldwin, doing his best to run like a bunny from the stink in Washington.

"The fact is I'm not George Bush and George Bush is not the future," said
Magnum.

Is it possible that Magnum is smarter than Congressman Green and Gard the Annointed? Does he see what they cannot?

Republicans Against Theoretical Sex

Hastert and crew are defending their decisions when faced with actual sexual misconduct while GOP candidates are running ads attacking incumbents who voted to fund the NIH which, in turn, uses a small portion of its grant system to fund sexual health research.

North Carolina candidate Vernon Robinson used an ad to attack the incumbent, Rep Brad Miller, last month and ignited a storm of controversy. Now, Paul Nelson has plagiarized the offending ad for his campaign against Rep Ron Kind in Wisconsin. Nelson's spokeswoman, Sheila Mealey, says the ads are similar. Watch the ads yourself and decide. Then check out the comments at TPM Cafe for the discussion.

Updated: McBride saw a story about the ad. Then she missed the story behind it.

On Increasing Headcount At City Hall

There has been discussion about having the city and the Chamber of Commerce jointly fund a "go-to" position for economic development in Evansville. The Economic Development Committee recommended that the city fund 40% of such a position to the tune of $12,000 a year.

The position was not funded in the latest budget proposal, mainly due to WERP restrictions but could be resurrected by cuts to other programs.

To my mind, this position would be a waste of city dollars. The whole point is to have one place to call for those looking to invest in the city and to drive economic, rather than residential, growth in the city. The best possible solution to that would be to fill the vacant City Administrator's position with someone who will aggressively represent the city.

Too often in the past, the City Administrator has been turned into a hand-holder for residential development at the expense of much needed Industrial and Commercial business. Teaming with the CoC in those duties will result in a conflict of interest for either the city or the Chamber that could quickly become untenable. While there are mutual benefits to be driven by new business in town, there are also situations that would benefit the city while contradicting the mission of the Chamber.

In order to best benefit the city we need to fill the Administrator's position soon (the newest target date is 11/16) with someone to serve as a lightning rod for the interests of the city and the taxpayers. Funding a position for the CoC is not in the best interests of either group.

One who serves two masters serves neither well. (Matt. 6:24)

Newest Republican Response To Misfeasance In Office By Hastert And His Posse?

Blame Steve Kagen.

The NRCC, led by the Federally embattled Tom Reynolds, has dumped nearly $8
million into attacking challengers in Republican held districts.

Nevermind that Reynolds, the man in charge of finding and developing Republican candidates is so insecure in his own race that he doesn't mention his party affiliation on his own website.

I Guess It's True. Men Are Idiots

Leann Real promised her husband, an avid sports fan, that if they ever had
a son he'd get to pick the name. ESPN Montana Real was born this week at Biloxi
Regional Medical Center.

From the AP

The CEO Administration's Trickle Down Corruption

From WDSU

Federal agents have arrested two current employees and one former employee of the
Federal Emergency Management Agency in an undercover sting operation.

Agents said the sting caught the men trying to sell air conditioning units which were stolen from FEMA trailers being stored in Baton Rouge. The arrested men were Byron Basil, 29, of Plaquemine; Leroy Thomas Jr., 37, of Baton Rouge; and Byron Hardesty, 37, of Baker.

New GOP Plan: Punish The Pages

Rep Ray LaHood has called for the Page Program to be suspended calling it a flawed program. From the Oregonian:

Either today's House members are less capable of being trusted around
16-year-olds, or today's 16-year-olds -- as one conservative voice suggested
Tuesday -- are more dangerous and seductive.
To liberate House members from this unbearably suggestive atmosphere, from now on their errands might have to be run by prison trusties, or possibly elderly British nannies -- unless congressmen just decide to eliminate the middlemen and replace the teenagers with lobbyists.

Last night on John Williams' WGN Radio show LaHood was asked if he thought other pages were in peril. "Well," he said, "There are other gays in Congress."

So there you have it. The issue isn't a predator in Congress. It isn't the failure of Republican Leadership (of which Foley was a part) to investigate or communicate. The issue isn't the cover-up or the CYA attitude in Dennis Hastert's Office. It's all about them gays.

Yesterday Hastert said that he takes full responsibility but that he will take no action to hold himself accountable. Although his words said, "The Buck stops here," he made it very clear that his search continues for someone to whom he can pass the buck. That seems to be a common theme in Washington over the last 6 years, doesn't it?

Related: Seth says, "It's the cover-up, stupid!"

Update: The Republican from Utah puts the blame where it belongs; on the page's parents.

"Frankly, this is the responsibility of the parents," (Rep Chris) Cannon
said. "If you get online you may find people who are creepy. There are creepy
people out there who will do and say creepy things. Avoid them. That's what you
have to do. And maybe we can say that a little more to the pages."

After all, Ray Lahood says that Congress is a creepy place.

How Much Safer Do You Feel?

I know that you must have felt safer last week when the TSA confiscated my purple Sharpie at the Madison airport. But, how much safer does this make you feel?

More than 30,000 airline passengers have asked just one agency — the
Transportation Security Administration — to have their names cleared from the
lists, according to the Government Accountability report.

Or this?

He said an agreement reached Friday between the U.S. and the European would
help prevent people from being misidentified. The agreement calls for airlines
to submit 34 pieces of data — including names, addresses and credit card details
— about passengers flying from Europe to the United States.

Even if you're comfortable giving up your liberty, are you willing to trust this administration with your credit card info?