Madness

Folks on the Right have been hinting for years that the 'feminization' of the Democratic party (read: there are more than a few pro-woman feminists here) has made them a team of wussies.

Well, I'm right proud that we seem to have rubbed off on the Republicans, as all they can talk about nowadays are make up and jewlery.

Come on now, you have to admit, it does feel good sometimes to drop all the serious talk and chatter about unimportant things.

Now that we're done with that, I'd like to ask: who in his right mind gas-bombs women and children in a mosque? For that matter, who tosses any kind of bomb at any house of worship?Give yourself a gold star if you said "terrorist".

Many of these people were here after escaping the disaster that is Iraq - the disaster we created.

Here's the part I love - according to officials, "So far there is no indication that the incident was the result of a hate crime."

I would sure love to know what Dayton officials would consider a hate crime, but I'll certainly call this a hateful, shameful thing.

Some of those paying attention to this have blamed the incident directly on the distribution of the hateful movie "Obsession", a movie that's about as truthful and useful as "The Turner Diaries" or "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion". It's not meant to be informative, but to spread fear and hate and dissention. I'm not ready to go that far, but the Clarion Fund, the originator and distributor of this "film" is on record as supporting John McCain, a clear violation of their non-profit standing.

This is not what America stands for. Religious freedom is religious freedom. The founding fathers set it up that way and we need it to continue that way. Some of them were Christians, some of them were Atheists, some were Deist, but they all agreed that the establishment of one religion over another would be a huge step on the way to tyranny.

These thugs need to be brought to justice. Now.

At times like this I wonder what Molly Ivins would do

Lipstick.

Well, I'll give the R's points for consistency: an issue is an issue, no matter how small.

I say, "Thanks, but no thanks." You go on and play. The grownups are talking now.

Folks, it's the same rotten fish wrapped in fresh newspaper. We've seen it before, and we'll see it again. Obama isn't worried, or, if he is, he didn't show it in his great appearance on David Letterman the other night. He called it the "silly season", and that's all that needs to be said.

Let's focus now. It's less than 60 days to the election, and we still need to be busy. Both campaigns are making their last chess moves, pulling money here, making buys there. People are understandably nervous.

We can expect shrillness from both sides. We can expect overreactions from everyone. We can sure expect some fools in the media to eat up all the controversy they can, or to make it up when they can't find any. You know who you are.

I wasn't going to vote for Hillary Clinton, but I'll be the first to say she's been a trooper. She has been pulling out the stops, and the word is that Bill is going to hit the trail, too. Those of you who remember his inspiring speeches on behalf of his wife ought to be thrilled that he'll be doing the same for Obama. He understands how grown ups behave, and he knows how to get the crowds rolling.

Biden has been doing his part, too. He's fired up people on the trail, but since he's not calling anyone names, it hasn't made the news.

This is a team effort. Howard Dean started this ball rolling four years ago with his 50 state plan. It paid off in 2006 and is fixing to pay off in 2008.

But enough of that. It's time for some serious talking.

We are the deciders. We are the ones who run the country. We are the government. What the government does every day affects you, whether you want to think so or not. It controls the water quality, the air quality, the food quality. The current mess we call the Bush White House has been dismantling that infrastructure, and we've seen the results: worse air, worse water, more and more children left behind.

That's not even counting our standing in the world now. Russia has no fear of us, China has no fear. I wouldn't mind so much except that we don't even have their respect. Even our allies take a while to return our calls. And if you think that what a bunch of foreigners thinks of us doesn't matter, I'll remind you that we import most of our oil (and even Palin knows ANWR will only buy us a month's worth of oil 15 years from now). We're in massive debt to China, and the sinking value of the dollar is what's keeping gas prices up, with a little help from OPEC.

You don't have to beleive that Obama spits rainbows. You don't have to beleive that Barry and Joe are going to ride in on white horses and clean up this old town. The same old rules are going to apply, and the Republicans will not have any reason to cooperate, in fact quite the opposite. What will be different is the attitude in the White House, and that in itself can have a tremendous impact all over. You've already seen it play out in how all of our candidates react to each other and the world around them. Actions speak louder than words, boys and girls.

You don't even have to vote for Obama or McCain - if you know how it's going to go in your state, it might be worth voting for the Greens or Libs, just to give it that much more impact.

There's no reason to "give in" to anyone else's ideas of who we are. We are the deciders. We are the government. We are the people. God Bless America.