The Positivity of Absolute Value

The movie sensation known as Borat has divided America into three groups: those who have seen it and found it deliciously, subversively funny; those who have seen it and recoiled in shock; and those who have not seen it and are left wondering what all the fuss is about.

Unfortunately as of right now, I'm in the third camp.

Though Davis is right, the more things of this nature I hear about the movie the more I think I will go ahead and make time for it.

Though speaking from the gut, I am inclined to agree with Schraub and his bottom thirteen article evidence, I have a slight problem.

Yes the GOP reelected Blunt and Boehner as their leadership for the next couple of years; and yes they went ahead and shot themselves in the head by reelecting the conspicuous bigot Trent Lott to the Senate Minority spot, they clearly have problems of their own. They are so far out of sync with the electorate at this point that I might be inclined to say that they have handed the Democrats the election in 2008; except for the fact that I know a little something about the Democrats, too.

My problem is, as Schraub mentions, that his numbers come from the LA Times, which were pointed out by Kos who (a markedly far too liberal liberal who I, with a human stomach, can't bring myself to read) pointed out a markedly liberal paper to boot.

Forgive me if I am a little skeptical when it comes to swallowing the statistics doled out in this article.

If the Democrats are lucky, then Justice Stevens will retire sometime within the next two years.

They still won't get the golden-boy nomination that they would hope for, but at least they can say no until they find someone that suits them.

For the fallen Mr. Foley, things just keep getting worse and worse.

Don't expect to see Sen. Rick Santorum's name on the 2008 presidential ballot.

"Absolutely, positively not. Absolutely not," Santorum said yesterday on The Michael Smerconish Show on WPHT-AM (1210). "My wife would throw me out of the house if I do anything in '08."

Do you think he's serious?

Seriously though, as someone who has slight reservations towards radical social conservatism, this decision is like Rolaids for heartburn; incredible temporary relief.

Glenn Reynolds is keeping us up to date on resveratrol, the potential anti-aging miracle which can be found in small doses in red wine.

The article indeed provides more good news, which is good news for people who drink red wine, and don't want their bodies to ever give out on them (pretty much everyone, right?).

John Podhoretz at the New York Post thinks that the recent civil strife sweeping through the Democratic party, not two weeks after they flogged Republicans in the mid-term elections, is a sign of good health within the party; not festering dissipation.

I tend to agree.

Last week the Democratic Party resumed its reign in a famous victory over the accursed conservatives, thanks in large part to popular anger at an apparently endless string of Republican corruption scandals.

Baker in this opinion, gives an awakening account of the new Democratic Leadership in Washington, notably House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's questionable decision making skills in attempting to appoint some less than blemish free individuals to certain posts; and the apparent ask for help from his father on the part of young Georgy.

I especially like that Baker covers the part about how the former Bush convinced Shia at the end of Desert Storm to rise up against Hussein's regime, and then quickly ditched them as they were being massacred by Apaches that we provided to the other team.

Overall, a very powerful article.

I am no Democrat, but having John Murtha as House Majority Leader would have sucked for everyone.

Now let's see how Hoyer stands up to the task.

WASHINGTON – The 2006 midterms are finally over (almost). Let the 2008 games begin.

A handful of congressional races aren't quite over yet, but the jockeying for the 2008 presidential contest - going on for months, if not years - has burst fully into the open.

Thankfully they admittedly acknowledge that it is far too early to make any solid predictions.

I don't know. . .
Is it finally McCain's turn, or will he be thwarted by the hugely popular Rudy Giuliani of his own party?

On the democratic side, the reason that it is difficult to predict anything just yet is because we need to see what the Dems are going to do, or not do, over the next couple of years while they have power.

Ultimately they need to make very good decisions initially in placing their leadership, which they are seemingly unwilling to do, and more importantly try and push every bit of legislation through the houses that they can muster some agreement on.

I said from the outset that if the Democrats regained power after their decade long hiatus, that as long as Bush was in office we would see his veto pen a lot more often than we have in the past. I still think that's true despite the President's sudden willingness to cooperate with a party who not a week ago he was blasting to high heaven.

I also thought that since the Democratic party was so disorganized, and lacked any cohesive unity, that this would probably be a good thing. Honestly, we don't need to see radically left wing legislation passed, just as much as we do need to see the radically conservative legislation stop.

However, if the Dems can be successful in attempting to pass boatloads of legislation through, they will convince the American people that they are trying to lead the country in a new direction; and whether that direction is the right one or not is irrelevant. Once the electorate sees that the only thing hindering a new direction is the leader of the Republican party, they will be much more apt to elect a Democrat to office in 2008, of which there is no shortage if candidates.

The other thing the Democrats need to accomplish is to at least present the illusion that they are focused on the issues that voters thought important while they were booting the GOP out of both chambers (Iraq, Corruption etc.). As is mentioned above, appointing John Murtha to the House Majority Leader is an incredibly rocky start, and the fact that Nancy Pelosi is so adamant about his nomination is already bringing a burnt smell of old corruption to what should be a fresh face in Washington.

Though it is notable to point out here that the Republicans have apparently not learned their lesson, even though the November elections resembled more a public flogging than a congressional race.

You know, your pundits tell you this and your pundits tell you that, but what I am interested in seeing in the 2008 presidential election is just how fed up with the entire process voters can become. Ultimately, if we can get out even 65% of the vote, I think that would be a victory for America. When the day is done it really doesn't matter who wins or loses, because the voice belongs to the people, whether the people know it or not. And even if the candidate who wins isn't the candidate of your choice, if you are loud enough, you can make that person be the candidate of your choice.

"We The People" still control this country.
Let us show them that, like we did this past congressional election.

You Tube reveals a Rodney Kingesque video of a man being arrested by a couple of LAPD blues, prompting the FBI to begin an investigation concerning the conduct of the officers in the department.

Amba over at Ambivablog has presented an interesting take on Bush's new-found humility in the wake of the democratic takeover of power on the hill.

I have heard the press conferences and I just chalked it up to Bush playing good politics in the very beginning waiting to unleash, or should I say re-release, the old conservative dogs stowed away in his closet.

I am not saying that I have changed my mind and now agree with Amba, I am just saying that it is an interesting take.

It's only when I hear the announcement of John Murtha as House Majority Leader that I'll begin to squirm inside my own skin.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D) has a little something to say over at The Huffington Post.

Most of the spiel is your typical political science 101 mumbo jumbo, that is not worth mentioning in this post.

However I feel no shame in promoting two very key issues that she addresses:

1. That if elected, the democrats, with Pelosi as the majority leader, will promote stem cell research and. . .

2. That if elected the democrats will begin their quest to cut interest rates on student loans in half.

Now I am not new to this business.
The chances of these things actually coming to full fruition is virtually impossible. Still, even if this country only begins to look at stem cell research as a viable medical and economic entity is a monumental step forward; and even if the interest rates for college loans come down by only a fraction, it will mean great progress for the health and education of the same American citizens who are shaping this election.

Though regardless of all that partisanship, what is most important is that everyone get out and vote. Young and old. It has never been more important than it is right now. If it isn't too late for you, find your polling station and let your voice be heard.

Glenn just posted this over at Instapundit, along with some thoughts.

He correctly predicts that if CNN's polls are accurate, then the GOP will wish they would have made good on ethics reform. And according to Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard, there is much, much more that they will wish they made good on.

We know now that it was definitely too little, but is it too late for the GOP?

RealClearPolitics has got the best rundown of the elections that I have found so far.

Particularly because there is little to no opinion. they simply report the polls. And when I say polls I mean all of the polls. This is the closest thing I have seen to unbiased coverage all election season, and I thank this team for providing it.

Get caught up now. It isn't too late. With information like this you could be in the know in no time and on your way to making informed decisions at the voting booths on Tuesday.

Get out the vote. It's more important than you could ever imagine.

I stumbled onto this site last year sometime while I was looking for an exotic cheese for an exotic occasion.

When I started to realize what the site was about I had a hard time believing that what I was seeing could be true.

But after having ordered some Gruyere from Switzerland for a fondue dish I wanted to try, I will now tell you that it is true. This is a fabulous company and I would recommend them to anyone wanting to branch out and try some international cuisine.

But just in case you need to eliminate static on the volume and control knobs in your home entertainment system, here are 2000 uses for WD-40.

I listened to this the other day and thought, you know, I should really post something on this. Alas! I did not.

And leave it to Glenn to beat me to the punch.

Seriously though, I am not opposed to drinking the fifty bottles of wine a day that would be required to receive the proper dose of resveratrol.
Though I imagine over the next few days there may be some pretty heavy publicity on the hazards of red wine to combat these latest discoveries; there always are.