Posted 21:28 by Grote 1 comments

Howdy

First things first. Mea culpa. I haven't written anything lately and I need to. People like what I write, even though they don't always agree with it. So, once again mea culpa.

Now on to business. Can we honestly get Tom Delay out, like now? He makes me embarrassed to be a Republican, him and Bill Frist and his "nuclear option". They both make me want to hide behind my bed (I can't hide under it) and change my name. Bill, Republican to Republican, while it might be nice to think that Republicans will be in power now and forever; it ain't going to happen. Someday we'll have a Democratic Congress and President and he'll want to put a hippie on the bench and we won't be able to stop it. That being said, I'm all in favor of changing the actual rules of a filibuster. Before, you had to stand up in the Senate and talk, and talk and talk. The West Wing had a good episode on it, called "The Stackhouse filibuster". Anyway, you can't sit, you can't lean, you can't eat, drink or go to bathroom. If you do, you lose the floor and it will probably go for a vote. Also, for the record since I began this post some ten minutes ago, I've taken two drinks of Cherry Kool-Ade. So I've failed already. But seriously, if you think you can do it you should try it sometime. I think there should be an up and down vote, or at least some kind of compromise. That's my suggestion, don't get rid of the filibuster but change it so they actually have to talk, instead of declaring a cloture and moving on.

Let's move on...
We have a new Pope. Pope Benedict XVI. A Pope that takes a hard line on Women, Gays, marriage of the clergy and who once said "All other religions are false." The good news is that he likes beer and that he's 78. He's a seat warmer. I hope. He hasn't said anything, but I don't expect him to for another couple weeks.

A Republican I actually Respect
Actually there's more than one but I digress. So ol' George Voinovich actually has a conscience? However, I'm glad he's sending Bolton to the Senate for a straight up and down vote. I don't think Bolton will get through the Senate, I think we'll see a lively and interesting debate but even if he gets through, it will be close. Maybe even 51-50.

Why Wal*Mart is hypocritical
So, Flagstaff, Arizona doesn't want any Wal*Mart supercenters in it's area. It's bad for small businesses, it creates huge traffic problems and it drains revenue from surrounding communities. So, the city council puts on the ballot Proposition 100. Basically it limits stores to 125,000 square feet. Obviously Wal*Mart wants to build a Wal*Mart Supercenter. So they run this ad(need adobe acrobat to view it.) Now what's ironic about this ad, not to mention disgusting, is that it's a scene of a Nazi Book Burning Rally. This from a store that banned America:The Book because of nudity and a Sheryl Crow CD because she accuses Wal*Mart of selling guns to children. But, if a city council wants the community to decide whether or not to let you build there it's a tragedy on the par of Nazism. Bastards. They've since apologized for it, but it's already out.