Merry Christmas tax payers!

As I spend my last dime on Christmas presents, I can't help but lose a little holiday cheer thinking about this.

"Banks that are getting taxpayer bailouts awarded their top executives nearly $1.6 billion in salaries, bonuses, and other benefits in the calendar year 2007, an Associated Press analysis reveals."

Cheers!!

Warren

While I totally get the "unify the electorate" argument, I must say that I think it's a bit of a slap in the face to not only gays but everyone that fought against Prop.8 or even just felt saddened by Prop.8 to choose someone that played an active role in supporting it. I'm no expert on evangical leaders but I'm guessing there are plenty of other choices that may not be quite as close to something so recently controversial. The thing is is that arguing that this guy let Obama speak in his church and that we should be able to "disagree without being disagreable" is great. But the truth is that this man actually worked against the very foundation of that argument by promoting legislation that would not only negate any intelligent discussion but actually outlaw that very discussion. The literal purpose of Prop 8 was to end any discussion or disagreement in legal terms so in supporting it Warren obviously is not one to promote the argument Obama has given for choosing him.

In addition the pure political nature of the pick leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Oh well, at the end of the day it's not that big of a deal but I do feel like "the gays" have been slapped around enough lately.

Quote of the day...

Andrew Sullivan:

"Evil is usually done by people who believe they are doing good."

A reminder that we are all human...

As I scanned the headlines this morning two stuck out.

I am a mother. I am a human. It has made me so sad lately to see such division amoung Americans and people in general. We all share this Earth and we all share in the suffering that plagues this Earth. Mothers (and fathers) are being forced to abandone their children...all around the globe. Please, before you decide to hate your neighbor, remember that we suffer and celebrate together. Remember that in all wars humans lose. In all recessions children suffer.

Pakistan

"The mothers were sobbing as they tried to leave the children and the children were crying clinging to their mothers," Edhi said. "It was heart wrenching to watch."

Nebraska
More on Nebraska

There have been six 17-year-olds, two 16-year-olds, six 15-year-olds, three 14-year-olds, three 13-year-olds, three 12-year-olds, five 11-year-olds, one 9-year-old, one 8-year-old, one 7-year-old, one 6-year-old and one 1-year-old. Five were from out of state.

Libertarian = the new GOP?

Maybe not the new GOP but the new rival party to the Democrats. I think it would be a welcome change for all the moderates that just want, well, the following:

Preamble
As Libertarians, we seek a world of liberty; a world in which all individuals are sovereign over their own lives and no one is forced to sacrifice his or her values for the benefit of others.

We believe that respect for individual rights is the essential precondition for a free and prosperous world, that force and fraud must be banished from human relationships, and that only through freedom can peace and prosperity be realized.

Consequently, we defend each person's right to engage in any activity that is peaceful and honest, and welcome the diversity that freedom brings. The world we seek to build is one where individuals are free to follow their own dreams in their own ways, without interference from government or any authoritarian power.

In the following pages we have set forth our basic principles and enumerated various policy stands derived from those principles.

These specific policies are not our goal, however. Our goal is nothing more nor less than a world set free in our lifetime, and it is to this end that we take these stands.

"Fiscally conservative and socially liberal"...now that sounds like a great America, maybe not a libertarian America but they seem pretty close.

Amen

This is a direct copy from Andrew Sullivan:


I've been a little taken aback by the news that gun sales have rocketed in red states since Obama was elected. Watching O'Reilly and reading Drudge lately has also been a bit of a revelation. A reader sums it up:

I can't tell whether the lack of serious attention given to the continued hysteria about our President-Elect still emerging from various corners of the Right is a good thing or bad thing. By hysteria I mean things like Congressman Jim Broun from Georgia equating Obama with Hitler and then his lame excuse of an apology. I also mean Sarah Palin using her 15 minutes to slime our President-Elect with Bill Ayers one more time, wink wink, and the 24/7 vitriol from demagogues like Hannity and priests who refuse to give Obama voters communion.

It's why as a 27-year-old voter, the Republican party has been off the table for me since I could vote in the 2000 election. No matter how much I like or identify with any of "conservative" ideas, I refuse to stand in any tent, now matter how big, with people like Sarah Palin, Jim Broun, and Sean Hannity.

And for all of those "non-kook" conservatives out there scratching their heads about why the country polls "center-right" but voted so strongly for Obama, there is your answer, especially in my generation.

Whether my generation becomes life-long Democrats because of President-Elect Obama remains to be seen. We have no undying loyalty to the Pelosis, Harry Reid's, and the baby boomers of the left (we know their faults as well). But we will be able to forgive them if they come up short in trying to get us a renewable energy plan, affordable healthcare, and a government that is as technically savvy as its population.

The questions is, how the hell could we ever forgive the Republicans for coming up short on all of that because they were too busy trying to make a boogeyman out of an honest President?

There you go GOP, there is the answer to how to "re-brand" your party. Quit with the hysterics, get back to reality and start being "conservative" again. Extreme is off putting on both sides of the spectrum.

Let em' hang!

I kinf of agree that the auto companies should not be bailed out. There is a point when you have to let failing businesses, you know, fail.

Yes it would be horrible to lose jobs but we are already losing them left and right and if it's the unemployed we want to protect then let's do that with the temporary extension of benefits. The problem is that we are letting institutions become "too big to fail" and that not only defies capitalism, it destroys the general idea of a free market. A free market needs a lot of businesses to function properly, small business with limited power, not gigantic corporations with government lobbyists and now government funding.

This article is a good one.

"Not so long ago, corporate giants with names like PanAm, ITT and Montgomery Ward roamed the earth. They faded and were replaced by new companies with names like Microsoft, Southwest Airlines and Target. The U.S. became famous for this pattern of decay and new growth. Over time, American government built a bigger safety net so workers could survive the vicissitudes of this creative destruction — with unemployment insurance and soon, one hopes, health care security. But the government has generally not interfered in the dynamic process itself, which is the source of the country’s prosperity."

Please let the new administration understand that we need to protect american people not big business. Big business can take care of, and destroy, themselves.