Inhale that spliff, and a win for Flipper.

Let me start tonight's post with some good news:

"CHICAGO (AP) — Smoking a joint once a week or a bit more apparently doesn't harm the lungs, suggests a 20-year study that bolsters evidence that marijuana doesn't do the kind of damage tobacco does.

The results, from one of the largest and longest studies on the health effects of marijuana, are hazier for heavy users — those who smoke two or more joints daily for several years. The data suggest that using marijuana that often might cause a decline in lung function, but there weren't enough heavy users among the 5,000 young adults in the study to draw firm conclusions.

Still, the authors recommended "caution and moderation when marijuana use is considered."

Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law although some states allow its use for medical purposes.

The study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham was released Tuesday by the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The findings echo results in some smaller studies that showed while marijuana contains some of the same toxic chemicals as tobacco, it does not carry the same risks for lung disease.

It's not clear why that is so, but it's possible that the main active ingredient in marijuana, a chemical known as THC, makes the difference. THC causes the "high" that users feel. It also helps fight inflammation and may counteract the effects of more irritating chemicals in the drug, said Dr. Donald Tashkin, a marijuana researcher and an emeritus professor of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. Tashkin was not involved in the new study.

Study co-author Dr. Stefan Kertesz said there are other aspects of marijuana that may help explain the results." [Source]

Now folks, please don't think for a minute that I am encouraging the smoking of something that is illegal here in A-merry-ca. I am, after all, an officer of the court. I am simply trying to pass on some information to help you people become better informed. Because you never know when you might have to use the stuff for......medical purposes.

Finally, congrats to Flipper for winning New Hampshire. I caught his speech on CNN, and I had this funny urge to break out with a verse of "One Bad Apple".

So anywhoo, Mitt says that some of us progressives are envious of rich folks, and that we want to change A-merry-ca. Mitt wants to restore A-merry-ca to what it was: that "shining city on a hill". (Was that the Gipper or Flipper?) Flipper, some of us weren't too welcome in that city, so pardon me if I am not too enthusiastic about going back.

Flipper is right about one thing, we do want to change A-merry-ca. We want to make sure that folks like him don't continue to get rich on the backs of other people, and that everyone will have a chance to "lead the fabulous life" like the one that he has enjoyed ever since he was born on third base.

"Free enterprise will be on trial,” Mr. Romney said in the final hours of campaigning here. “I thought it was going to come from the president, from the Democrats, from the left, but instead it’s coming from Speaker Gingrich and apparently others. And, you know, that’s just part of the process. I’m not worried about that.”       

Flipper, I am glad to know that you are not worried, because it will come from the left and the right. Why? Because your version of "free enterprise" will only serve you and the few people in A-merry-ca who have enjoyed the benefits of your shining city.

"Fire them!"

I remember when I was just a little Rugrat my father uprooted the family from our wonderful Jamaican home and took us to live in East Lansing, Michigan. He did it so that he could work on his post graduate degree while being surrounded by his family. I also remember the governor of Michigan for a short time that we were there being a man my father always spoke glowingly about long after we left the Great Lakes state. The man pushed for civil rights when it was not popular to do so, and he clashed with his own church on the issue. Well, unfortunately, the apple in this case, has fallen very far from the tree.

Flipper Mitt is no George Romney. Flipper, unlike his father, doesn't seem to understand the working man and woman very much. Flipper lives in a bubble, and he only comes out of it whenever he wants to win an election.

The latest news out of New Hampshire is that Flipper, once again, has shown his true colors.

"With just one day to go before the first-in-the-nation New Hampshire primary, Mitt Romney -- the former Massachusetts governor and frontrunner for the nomination -- described his faith in the free market with words that might come back to haunt him.

"I like being able to fire people who provide services to me," Romney said at a Monday breakfast in New Hampshire, when talking about health care. "You know, if someone doesn't give me a good service that I need, I want to say, 'I'm going to go get someone else to provide that service to me.'"  

The candidate is already facing criticism from his Republican rivals about his record as CEO of Bain Capital LLC, a Boston venture capital group that invested in struggling companies in an effort to turn them around.

In the remarks, about his belief in providing people with options, Romney -- who in Massachusetts enacted an individual health care mandate while governor -- spoke about the need to incentivize insurance companies.

"I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means if you don't like what they do, you can fire them," he said." [Story]

"Fire them"! Sure Flipper, because, after all, they are just workers.

"Self destruction."

No racism chasing for me tonight, although I could. The chase is always on here in A-merry-ca. (WTF is wrong with school teachers in Georgia? Slavery to teach math? h/t to Reena for this story.)

Tonight, thanks to an article written by David Gayle that I found over at Politc365, I want to put some focus on black on black killings.

"The very first mention of Philadelphia in the national news for 2012 was not very encouraging. We actually made number one in a significant statistical category, but it’s nothing to write home about. Residents of the City of Brotherly Love murder each other more often than anyone else in America’s ten largest cities.

Heck, the mayor of Washington, D.C. is already bragging about losing the “murder capital” status to Philly, and using it to push his public safety agenda. When the numbers were announced last Friday, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray called a press conference, where he crowed, “The days when the District was known as the nations ‘Murder Capital’ are long behind us, and the plans we are announcing today will enable our police to continue this progress.”

There were 324 homicides in Philadelphia last year, up from 306 in 2010. Sure, that’s down from 2007’s high water mark of 391, but 324 murders in one year is ridiculous no matter how you parse the numbers.

As if to drive that point home for the nonbelievers, already there were six murders in 2012, and we’re only a couple of days into the new year.
About 85 percent of those murdered were young Black men, almost the exact percentage of the murderers themselves. Simply put, young Philadelphians are so hopeless and filled with shortsighted desperation that they’ve engaged in what could well be the first case of self-inflicted genocide in human history.
Our young men are willfully doing what nearly a hundred years of Ku Klux Klan raids could not do — what the night riders, cross burners and skinheads have only dreamed of in their wildest fantasies: the slow, deliberate extermination of the Black race.

Think about it for a minute. For every murder, there are two Black men taken out of the picture: the victim, who was deprived of life itself, and the killer, who is then deprived of any chance at a productive life by rotting in prison for dozens of years. Two sets of children are deprived of their fathers. How many of those children will then grow up in poverty and despair, repeating the same cycle of victim/perpetrator for yet another generation?

Fortunately, these facts are not foreign to the powers that be. In his second inaugural speech Monday morning, Mayor Michael Nutter called the phenomenon of young Black boys murdering each other “the epidemic not sufficiently talked about.”

Nutter is brainstorming with city, state and federal law enforcement agencies to come up with a strategy for combating handgun violence. Handguns are the weapons of choice for urban killing, used in more than four out of five of last year’s 324 Philadelphia murders.

The devil, as always, is in the details.
Any solution will require an entire sea change, a paradigm shift on two fronts: first, laws must be changed or amended to specifically target people who have no business with guns.

Not as easy as it sounds, given that anywhere outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, you’ll be hard pressed to find even a handful of state legislators willing to talk about gun control. Our local leaders have tried for years to implement common sense controls in Philadelphia, only to be shouted down by the rural gun nuts that hate Philadelphia anyway, and don’t much care if Black folk shoot each other until the cows come home.

The second hurdle, sadly, is internal. There are those among us — decent, enlightened, aware Black people — who bristle immediately at any notion that part of the blame lies squarely on our kids and what influences them. This is a mistake, because burying our heads in the sand won’t help them. They need to understand that their future (and ours) lies in their hands, and that future is determined by whether they’re carrying a book — or carrying a gun.
Sure, you can blame the white man for manufacturing all those guns, and legislators for allowing the guns to proliferate in the Black community — but while that’s true, we have to admit, at least to ourselves, that it isn’t the whole story.

White men are not driving in from the suburbs to gun down our children every weekend in our communities. State legislators are not shooting up bars, nightclubs, bowling alleys and house parties in Black neighborhoods.
Our children are doing that. The mayor was right when he correctly identified it as an epidemic. And it’s up to us — all of us — to stop it." [Source]

Because of my criminal law practice, I always have to be careful when talking about crime in Philadelphia. But I have to give the author credit for not only writing about the problem but offering solutions as well.

Still, I would like to add a couple: There has to be a rethinking of the drug laws in this country. Most of the murders in Philadelphia are committed because of drug turfs, the drug trade,or money associated with the trade. Drug dealers do not form commercial contracts, they do not take their disputes to court; they settle scores and disputes in the streets. Drug dealing can be profitable because A-merry-cans love their drugs. (When was the last time you saw a drug dealer offer a two for one sale?) Laws to decriminalize certain drugs, and offering alternative sentencing for users could put a serious dent in the profit margins on the street.

Finally, our urban schools should have programs in place to address anger and behavioral issues with some of these young black males. If the schools don't have the resources, black men who consider themselves positive role models should find the time to volunteer.

They should find the time to teach them the importance of reacting in the right way to a perceived diss. They should teach them how to control their anger, and to make them understand that reacting without thinking can bring a lifetime of terrible things. And, as the author alluded to, carrying a book is much easier than carrying a gun.  

I agree with you Mayor Nutter, it is an epidemic "not sufficiently talked about". But folks like me will keep talking, because at some point someone will have to listen.  

Is he a liar? Is he a racist? Or is he just misunderstood?

I am going to be channel surfing tonight between watching those who dats play the Lions and the republican presidential debates. This is because I really want to hear what these republicans are saying. I haven't made up my mind who I will vote for come 2012 just yet....

Anywhoo, you gotta love that sister in New Hampshire who confronted Rick (I should be in a) Sanitarium.

"At a campaign event outside a pharmacy in Hollis, New Hampshire Saturday afternoon, an African-American woman confronted Rick Santorum over recent comments he made that the NAACP and others have called racially insensitive.

While speaking about welfare reform last week, Santorum was quoted as saying, “I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money.” The candidate now denies that he said “black,” claiming instead that he said “blah.”

At the campaign stop Saturday, the woman — who slipped away from the event before ThinkProgress was able to get her name — asked, “Why do you have a problem against black people?”

WOMAN: Mr. Santorum, why do you have a problem against black people? We are the only ones who need aid? The statistics show that it’s not the popularity [sic] that’s the most needy.
SANTORUM: I didn’t say that. I understand that.
WOMAN: OK, then why’d you say that?
SANTORUM: OK, we gotta go. I didn’t say that. " [Story & Video]

Honestly, I think people are focusing on the wrong issue with Rick's statement. It's not so much that he said something that was racially insensitive while speaking to like minded people. (Welcome to A-merry-ca) The bigger issue is that he is flat out lying about what he said. If a man can lie about something as obvious as this, what else will he lie about?

Still, there are some folks who do not believe that Ricky was being racist. They believe that he was merely trying to reach out to us Negroes.

"NAACP President Benjamin Jealous denounced the comments as "outrageous," and even Fox News host Bill O'Reilly had to remind Santorum that his comments were specious when you consider that "most of the people, as you know, on welfare are white people." Then Santorum made the whole thing worse by denying that he'd even said "black" and insisting instead that what he'd actually said was "blah."

Blah, indeed.

In this weekend's Saturday-and-Sunday New Hampshire primary-debate double-header, if he doesn't take the opportunity to -- in Senate-speak -- revise and extend his thoughts on blacks and welfare, he'll just wind up being the latest in a long line of GOP politicians who not only can't connect with the black vote, but can't even make a convincing case that they've tried. Santorum tried -- and awkwardly failed -- to articulate a position that you hear all the time from black conservatives: that government assistance hurts African Americans over the long term. The problem for Santorum is that it doesn't sound as if he truly understands that message." [Source]

Yes, reaching out is nice. And I would more than welcome an open and honest dialogue on matters of race. The problem is, of course, that when you are talking about republican politicians, it's a thin line between scapegoating and reaching out.





 

Ghetto apps, and the C word.

One of the beautiful things about being a black man in urban A-merry-ca, is that you can take really cool shortcuts through certain neighborhoods during rush hour. Neighborhoods that other people  desperately try to avoid, which always make the commute so much easier.

Look, if you are a white person living in A-merry-ca, I strongly suggest that you try to get your hands on the following device:

"REDMOND, Wash. (CBS Seattle) – Microsoft has been granted a patent for its “avoid ghetto” feature for GPS devices.

A GPS device is used to find shortcuts and avoid traffic, but Microsoft’s patent states that a route can be plotted for pedestrians to avoid an “unsafe neighborhood or being in an open area that is subject to harsh temperatures.”

Created for mobile phones, the technology uses the latest crime statistics and weather data and includes them when calculating a route.

Created for mobile phones, the technology uses the latest crime statistics and weather data and includes them when calculating a route.
The patent, written in a combination of tech-speak and legalese, was awarded to Microsoft earlier this week. " [Source]

Yes, I suppose that knowing "crime statistics" is important. Because you can never be too careful when navigating your way around A-merry-ca. (h/t to centauri for sending me this story)

Finally, I have to attack black a little bit tonight.

Hey, it's like this, if I am going to defend you Negroes when white folks get all racial with you during the heat of an athletic battle, you are going to have to restrain yourselves as well.

It is not cool to make racial remarks to your opponents. It's just not. Find another way to try and get under your opponent's skin without making ignorant and derogatory racial remarks.

"Ohio State linebacker Tyler Moeller, complained about racial slurs being used by Florida towards him in Ohio State’s 24-17 loss in the Gator Bowl.
Moeller claims that several Florida players called him “cracker” which led to tensions between the two teams.
Yahoo Sports reports:

“They’re classless. That’s the way I’d put it,” Moeller said, according to Marcus Hartman from Buckeye Sports Bulletin. “I’ve never seen more people swing at our players and call us racial slurs. I’ve never been called a ‘cracker’ more in my life than I have today. So I don’t really have much respect for them in terms of that but they’re a good team. They came out and outplayed us today.” [Story]

Tyler, I agree with you, and those Negroes who did that to you deserve to be in the house.
 

He is just trying to make the "bluh" people's lives a little better.

"Well, you, you have to have someone you can work with, and this president has done more to divide than any other president that I've ever witnessed in my lifetime. This president goes out and gives speech after speech after speech trying to divide America between class, between income group, between racial and ethnic groups."

Pot meet kettle.

Rick ( I should be in a) Sanitarium told John King that he is pretty sure that he didn't use the word black when speaking to his white friends in Iowa. He says that he started saying something and in mid sentence it "changed" and something else came out. (I wonder why the change?)

 “I looked at that [video] and I didn’t say that,” the candidate asserted. “What I started to say was a word and then it sort of changed and ‘bluh’ came out. And people said I said ‘black’ and I didn’t.”

"We won't make "bluh" people's lives better with welfare"? I don't want to give welfare to blah people? Blue people, maybe?

Well I listened to Rick's speech in its entirety, and I really have to wonder who is the "they" and "them" that he kept referring to. There just aren't too many blue and blah people running around these days.

My friend Marc Morial isn't please, and he represents dem professional black folks from the Urban League.

"Senator Santorum is perpetuating a thoroughly false and destructive racial stereotype in a desperate attempt to score political points," Morial said in a statement released Tuesday. "He is appealing to the lowest common denominator within the electorate and quite frankly should be ashamed of himself." [Source]

Come on now Marc, why are you surprised? I know that Rick worked with you and your organization on a couple of occasions, but you should know by now that this is what republican politicians do; they play the majority against those evil minorities who want to take what they (the majority) have. 

“We looked at it and it is a little blurry,” O’Reilly explained. “I’m going to take you on your word.”

“I don’t use the term ‘black’ very often,” Santorum insisted. “I use the term ‘African American’ more than I use ‘black.’ And I as someone who did more work for historically black colleges, I used to — every year I used to bring all the historically black colleges into Washington, D.C. to try to help them.”

“You don’t have to convince me, senator,” O’Reilly replied. “I don’t think you’re a bigot.” [Source]

Maybe not a bigot Senator, just a despicable politician who will do anything for power.

Speaking of despicable politicians, I see that Newt has also jumped on the bash black parade.

"Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich said today he is willing to go before the NAACP and urge blacks to demand paychecks, not food stamps.
Gingrich told a town hall meeting at a senior center in Plymouth, N.H., that if the NAACP invites him to its annual convention this year, he'd go there and talk about "why the African-American community should demand paychecks and not be satisfied with food stamps."

Newt, I am thankful that the government doesn't have to give you food stamps, if it did, I am sure that we wouldn't have enough money to do anything else.



 





 

God's candidates.

You know what pisses me off about some of these powerful Christians here in A-merry-ca? The fact that they have all this access to the big gal and they won't share it with the rest of us.

"Christian leader Pat Robertson is claiming that God gave him insight regarding who America’s next president will be. But the conservative media mogul isn’t willing to name names.

'I think He showed me about the next president, but I‘m not supposed to talk about that so I’ll leave you in the dark — probably just as well — but I think I know who it’s gonna be,” Robertson said on Tuesday‘s episode of the Christian Broadcast Network’s “700 Club.'

Aside from making this proclamation, he went on to read the message, word-for-word, that he claims to have heard directly from God. Here it is, in full:

Your country will be torn apart by internal stress. A house divided cannot stand. Your president holds a radical view of the direction of your country which is at odds with the majority. Expect chaos and paralysis. Your president holds a view which is at the odds with the majority — it’s a radical view of the future of this country, and so that‘s why we’re having this division. This is a spiritual battle which can only be won by overwhelming prayer. The future of the world is at stake because if America falls, there’s no longer a strong champion of freedom and a champion of the oppressed of the world. There must be an urgent call to prayer." [Source]

 

At least Pat is sharing God's thoughts with the rest of us. Pat must be a good guy. Can you imagine what some of us would do with that type of power?
"Pssst..., God, sorry to bug you again, but could you give me the numbers to that Powerball ticket?".

So anyway, the guys who I am sure that "God" would like to see in the White House are really going at it these days.

Ron Paul called Newt a "chicken hawk", Newt called Flipper a liar, and Flipper called Newt an abortion supporter. (Definitely a no no for a God candidate.)

Finally, it's time to say goodbye to Michele Bachmann. She gave it the old wingnut try, but, in the end, it just wasn't enough.

Sarah, it might be time to show off that new hairdo. The Tea Party needs you.

The Iowa Three.

Man it's nice to be home. It's been a long holiday.

So anyway, I am watching the election results come in from Iowa, and CNN is saying that it's going to be close between three candidates. (Poor Newt and Michele.) So far the turnout has been lower than expected. Hmm, I wonder what that means?

There is Soledad O'Brien. Poor thing, she is trying so hard to look comfortable in the land of corn. (She"tussled" with Michele Bachmann on her show.) Soledad claims her black side,but she might want to hold back a little on that until she leaves Iowa.

Thanks to one of the candidates, folks in corn country might start giving her the fuzzy eye ball because they think she wants a handout.

"Rick Santorum was responding to a question Sunday about how he would get the country back on track, and he was telling a group of Iowans that President Obama wanted to make them more dependent on programs like Medicaid.
There was little or no reaction from an audience that appeared to be all, or overwhelmingly, white. And perhaps as a result, Santorum continued with this gem of scapegoating: 

  '“I don’t want to make black peoples’ lives better by giving them somebody else’s money,” Mr. Santorum said. “I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money and provide for themselves and for their families.”' 

Now that's special. A guy who stole money from the people of Pistolvania is lecturing a race of people about handouts.

"Asked about it later, Santorum told Sean Hannity on Fox News: said: “I haven’t heard it; all I can say is that I don’t single out any group of people– that’s one thing I don’t do,” Santorum explained. “I don’t divide people by group and race and class.”  [Source]

And people wonder why I say that Rick is crazy. Rick, are you saying that you didn't hear what you said? "I haven't heard it"? Yes, I think that's what you are saying.

Folks, I rest my case.

This just in: Santorum is leading with 49% of the votes counted. Hang in there folks, it could be a long night.  

Now it's Rick's turn, and Obama is just like Kim.

Congrats to former Pistolvania Senator, Rick [I should be in a] Sanitarium, for being the latest republican presidential flavor of the month. I am from Pistolvania, so I know a thing or two about Rick. (Even met him once.) And, how do I say this? Rick is crazy!

'"One of the criticisms I make is to what I refer to as more of a libertarianish right...This whole idea of personal autonomy, well, I don’t think most conservatives hold that point of view. Some do. They have this idea that people should be left alone, be able to do whatever they want to do, government should keep our taxes down and keep our regulations low, that we shouldn’t get involved in the bedroom, we shouldn’t get involved in cultural issues. You know, people should do whatever they want. Well, that is not how traditional conservatives view the world, and I think most conservatives understand that individuals can’t go it alone. That there is no such society that I am aware of, where we’ve had radical individualism and that it succeeds as a culture.” '

'I’m a pretty tolerant guy, but beyond his ideology, some of Santorum’s behavior is just a little bizarre. For example, Santorum has six children. In 1996, he had son born prematurely who lived for only two hours. He and wife brought the child home and introduced the dead infant to the rest of their children as “your brother Gabriel” and slept with the body overnight."' [Source]

Yesterday, on national television, Rick pretty much confirmed to the rest of A-merry-ca that he should not be the man we trust to hold the highest office in the land and the most powerful position in the world.

"Rick Santorum said today he would bomb Iran's nuclear plants if international inspectors aren't allowed inside, the Wall Street Journal reports. "You can't go out and say, 'This is what I'm for,' and then do nothing," Santorum said on Meet the Press. "You become a paper tiger." [Source]  

Oh ohhh, we have seen this movie before: No "international inspectors" means we will have to take "action". Well we just pulled our troops out of a country after taking "action" against another one of those "evil" Middle Eastern countries. 

Rick, you might want to start loading up those B2's right now, because Iran might have already started. 

Another one of those republican candidates just compared his Oness to Kim Kardashian. 

 "I’ve been looking at some video clips on YouTube of President Obama, then candidate Obama, going through Iowa making promises," he said at a campaign stop in Iowa. "I think the gap between his promises and his performance is the largest I’ve seen, well, since the Kardashian wedding and the promise of 'til death do we part."    

Poor Flipper, he is trying so hard to come off as being in touch with popular culture.

"The Huffington Post notes that Romney has lately been making more attempts to seem in-touch with pop culture, referring to I Love Lucy last week and Twilight (his favorite book, apparently) in May. He also recently compared Obama to Marie Antoinette."

"I Love Lucy"? OK, I guess if you are still jonesing to live in 1950's A-merry-ca, using "I Love Lucy" to make a point would make sense.

Finally, you have to feel sorry for Newt. I actually saw the poor guy crying the other day after talking about his now departed mama.

Newt says that he has been "Romney-Boated". I guess that's kind of like being "swiftboated"  without the military connection.

"I probably should have responded faster and more aggressively,’’ Mr. Gingrich told reporters here Sunday. “If somebody spent $3.5 million lying about you, you have some obligation to come back and set the record straight.’’

Mr. Gingrich acknowledged that his campaign had underestimated the damage inflicted by ads and mailers that accused him of influence-peddling because he had earned $1.6 million in consulting work for Freddie Mac.

The Iowa race, he said, was still in flux, and his “experiment” in staying positive – a promise he has not always stuck to – could still pay dividends at the caucuses on Tuesday.

As the campaign moves to New Hampshire and South Carolina, Mr. Gingrich said he would direct ads that point up Mr. Romney’s relatively moderate record as governor of Massachusetts — not attacks, he insisted, but a look at the record.
“I think you can do very calm, very pleasant ads,’’ he said. “The nature of the Republican Party is such that a calm, pleasant ad that says he was for tax-paid abortions, I’m against it” would have an impact." [Source]

You gotta love these "calm and pleasant" republicans. I can't wait to see the "calm and pleasant" campaign the republican nominee runs in the general election.

  





                                                      

Welcome 2012!

Happy 2012 everyone! No resolutions, please. I am pretty sure that most of you are going to forget whatever it is you promised to do by March.

Every day should be like a new year for you, and those promises to yourself should be made every morning when you wake: I want to be a better husband, a better father, I am going to eat right, I am going to take care of my body, I am really going to help and advocate on behalf of people who are less fortunate than I am...you get the picture.

I know one thing, 2012 will be very interesting. There is a national election here in A-merry-ca, and there is continuing economic and political instability in Europe and the Middle East.

A-merry-cans will continue to be "color aroused" (thanks Francis) and I will be here to observe and write about it every step of the way.

I haven't found Lark Voorhies, (Hey, I saw the recent pics, so maybe that's not such a bad thing. Besides, there is always Debbie Morgan.) so I guess I will keep on blogging. Pissing off the haters, sharing ideas -and thoughts- with like minded individuals, and learning from others who are willing to engage and discuss things in an intelligent and logical manner.

So goodbye 2011; it was fun while it lasted.  

Obama, the leftist Americans like.

So most A-merry-cans believe that O is to the left of them politically. And given how A-merry-cans feel about leftist, it's shocking that his Oness is stacking up so well against each of the republican candidates for president of these divided states. Even the right wing leaning Rasmussen Poll can't put O away just yet.

Maybe it's because most of them admire him so much personally that they can look past his political leanings.

I also wonder if this curious contradiction has something to do with the economy picking up in the last quarter of 2011. The housing market is picking up. Unemployment numbers are down. And there has been growth in the manufacturing sector.

This, of course, is bad news for Flipper Mitt and company. No one is praying for a failing economy harder than my republican friends. Four years of power is at stake. A-merry-cans, as is usually the case, do not care about foreign policy. All they care about is their pocket books, and that is what will influence their vote in 2012. If a leftist commie helps to put steak and potatoes on the table; well then so be it.

Speaking of Flipper Mitt; I see where he recently compared O to Marie Antoinette.

"Mitt Romney says President Obama is out of touch with average Americans and compared the man he'd like to replace with the former French queen who came to symbolize extravagance.

"When the president's characterization of our economy was, 'It could be worse,' it reminded me of Marie Antoinette: 'Let them eat cake,' " Romney told The Huffington Post in an interview Thursday."

Hmmmm.....this is an interesting observation from Flipper. I say that because I just read the following:

"DAVENPORT, Iowa--I'm told the reason it remains illegal to raise chickens in Iowa City, where I live, is because Iowans moved to our relatively cosmopolitan college town to get away from the country people and, by extension, their chickens. Twentysomethings from bigger cities, where it is fashionable to raise your own chicks and harvest fresh eggs and place them decorously on gingham dish towels, come to Iowa thinking they will live the country life for a little while, only to find their neighbors shutting them down. I mention this by way of explaining my first impression of the 400 people who came to see Mitt Romney in a hotel in Davenport, Iowa, on Tuesday night: These are the people who would call the police on your illegal chickens.

The women have accessorized. They're wearing foundation, bronzer, silk scarves, pearls. There are men in ties, men in Banana Republic sweaters, over-scrubbed little blond boys in blue fleece. It is a crowd in which it is possible to linger on a face that seems remotely recognizable and wonder if you're staring at a news anchor whose name you used to know." [Source]

Mitt, those all sound like folks Marie Antoinette would love to me.

Finally, shout out to the folks over at the Black Weblog Awards for recognizing the field for the best political or news blog. That is serious FNB on your part.