I just noticed that the last thing I posted was about how I was going to start blogging more, then I didn't blog for a really long time and now I have a really horrible headache so I guess I won't be blogging much tonight either.
I have been cooking a lot this week. If you want a really good, really easy recipe, try this one for Crash Hot Potatoes from The Pioneer Woman. I made them tonight and they were great. I only had six potatoes so instead of smashing the whole potato I cut them in half first. I used white potatoes instead of red since that is what I had, but otherwise I followed the recipe. The coarse salt is really good on them so if you make them be sure to use it. I also baked chicken tenders. I seasoned them with garlic powder and Lawry's and then dipped them in butter and rolled them in crushed Ritz crackers. I baked at 350 for about an hour, maybe a little less. They were crispy, but still moist on the inside and the girls really liked them. I put honey mustard on the table, but they ate them without it.
I would love to do some political blogging, but that is sure to make my head start hurting again so I'll put it off for another day.
I have not blogged much lately, kinda on purpose. When I blog my time somehow disappears into thin air and I have had too much to do around the house lately for that. I keep blogging in my head though. I listened to a CD today that I had not listened to in a while and thought "I should blog about this." When I cooked so much over the weekend and when I watched the kids play in the snow I thought "I should blog this." I even took some pictures to post. They are still on the SD card. When I went to my daughter's ballgame and, of course, every time I've read a news item...I've wanted to blog. But the computer was not in front of me at the time so no blogging occurred. Twitter is largely to blame. If not for the ability to micro-blog on Twitter a few seconds at a time, I would probably have gone into blog withdrawal. I have had a nice little break so I should be back to blogging more regularly now.
After
"blaming Bush" for the umpteenth time tonight, President Obama said
"just stating the facts." You know, just sayin'. This is the most
wonderful gift that could have been given to the GOP. I think they
should repeat it ad nauseam. You know, when they show charts of Obama's
spending in one year compared to spending under eight years of Bush --
"just stating the facts." Or when they point out the way the Christmas
Day bomber, and Gitmo and other "man-made disaster" issues have been
handled. Or how the unemployment numbers rose significantly in response
to the spendulus bill. "Just stating the facts." And on and on.
I have to admit it takes a lot of nerve or self delusion or
something to be able to talk about "just stating the facts" after
spending a year (including tonight) pointing to fairy tale magical
"jobs saved or created" numbers. Gotta give him that -- he's shameless
(just stating the facts, baby).
Most striking to me is that he learned he had to use some different
buzzwords in reaction to declining poll numbers and losing elections in
Virginia, Massachusetts, etc., but he didn't learn that it is not all
about him and that he has made mistakes. I heard plenty of
rationalizations, but no admissions that his policies were (and are)
crap. If he has not gotten that message, I just don't see how he will
turn things around. Be it this economy or his poll numbers. Americans
are not gonna blindly trust his word anymore. They have smartened up
and will now verify. Just stating the facts.
Update: ABC pointed out (and showed video of) Judge
Alito mouthing "That's not true" and shaking his head during one
portion of the speech. A kinder, gentler version of "You Lie!"
If Scott Brown beats Martha "Marcia" Coakley in the Massachusetts Senate election today Stu Rothenberg
says it could be "the biggest political upset of my adult life." It
will certainly be one of the happiest election nights in many
Republicans' recent memories. For Republicans to take the seat held for
so many decades by the most prominent and influential liberal in the
Senate should send shockwaves through the state of Massachusetts, the
U.S. Senate and the Democratic Party -- and just about everywhere else
as well.
It will be fun to see how the Dems try to spin a Brown win. "Marcia"
Coakley will, no doubt, be blamed. And George Bush. I can't help but
wonder how many Dems are going to tell Obama to stay away from their
districts. A lot can change between now and November, but if Brown does
win (especially as strongly as it now appears he will) the
psychological effect could easily hold into the fall election. As
Rothenberg points out, it will help the GOP recruit some strong
potential candidates who are now fence sitters and could drive some
incumbent Dems into retirement. It will give Republicans confidence and
hope (yeah, I said it) that Americans are not only paying attention and
don't like the agenda the Democrats are ramming through, but that they
are ready to do something about it.
I don't like to rely on exit polls or interesting anecdotes. I am a
nervous nellie and like to wait until the votes are counted before
celebrating, but things look really, really good for Brown. So good, in
fact, that if he doesn't win the result will be a big shock as well
because it would show all the polls to be so incredibly wrong.
Tune in tonight to see the results from Massachusetts. Just for fun
click on over to MSNBC periodically to see what Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann are saying. I know it is a sacrifice, but if the results are in line with the most recent polls, it will be worth it.
Update: This was posted at Wizbang earlier today. Real results are now coming in. Michelle Malkin has a live blog on the election with lots of links and Kim has an open thread at Wizbang for election coverage.
I started watching 24 in its first season and have seen every single episode since. I even contributed to a book about the series.
For some reason, though, I have not been excited about the new season
starting. I guess I was too wrapped up in Chuck and Dexter and Pants on
the Ground to find out much about the upcoming season.
I hear we will see a softer, gentler Jack Bauer. Hmmm. Not so sure
how that will go over, but I'll give it a chance. I am even going to
give Kim a chance since she saved his life last season. I do really
like the fact that this season takes place in New York. That will
change things up a bit. I watched a nice little season 8 "featurette"
on the Fox website and found out
that Renee is back and Freddie Prinze, Jr. is in the cast. Those are
both positive things. I also learned the President is the same as last
season. I'm not so crazy about that, but I guess they can't have a new
president every season.
The season premiere airs tonight on Fox at 9 p.m. Eastern. My DVR is set. For a humorous take, check out Dave Barry's blog.
Every
so often I look through the threads at the Democratic Underground
discussion forums to see what those on the wacky left are saying. Last
night I went in search of any discussion of the latest John Edwards National Enquirer scandal
and didn't find much of anything on that front. Maybe they haven't
heard about it? What I did find was a brilliant idea about how to drive Rush from radio.
Find
out which radio station(s) in your area broadcasting his show - then
email/call the station, let them know about Rush's hateful and racist
comments, and inform them you will be calling all of the advertisers
the station has (not only during Rush's show) and tell them the boycott
starts NOW - until they stop supporting the station(s) that supports
Rush...We need to start hitting back where Rush lives - I am so sick of
doing nothing while this gas-barge spews garbage daily. I will be
calling radio stations in my area starting tomorrow.
What a
brilliant idea. I'm sure no one has ever tried that. Okay, I'll stop
mocking the probably very young liberal-in-training. The people at DU
are already doing enough of that. And that is what caught my attention.
Here's the first comment:
You are wasting your time.
Really, we can't even get people on DU to stop listening to Rush
everyday which would do the most damage. People hate him so much they
have to listen so that they can be outraged by whatever he says next.
I
somehow doubt that losing the DU demographic is what would "do the most
damage," but I thought the commenter had a pretty good point -- that
there are a lot of people who disagree with Rush, but find themselves
listening regularly. Do they do it just to be outraged or to find out
what the opposition is doing? Maybe a little bit, but if that were the
case, wouldn't Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews also be experiencing
huge ratings with the help of conservatives who just can't stop
watching? And there is where the difference is and why liberals have
not yet been able to experience the success of a Rush Limbaugh or Sean
Hannity or Glenn Beck. People listen because Rush is entertaining. Love
him or hate him, he produces a quality product. He makes excellent
points and says things people are thinking and often don't hear
anywhere else in the media, but that could be done in a style and
format that would put people to sleep. It is the way he presents the
information that results in even many of those who can't stand him
tuning in daily.
Another thing of note in the DU comments is idea that all these
advertisers don't know what Rush is saying. Some of them believe that
if advertisers only knew all the hate Rush spews they would have to
drop their support. A couple of ironies -- first, that anyone saying
Rush spews hate obviously doesn't know much about the actual content of
his show. Second, it doesn't get much more ironic than for people at
Democratic Underground to be talking about others spewing hate. Just
look at what some at Democratic Underground spewedatRush
during his recent hospitalization. These are the people who think the
idiotic, hateful stuff Olbermann and Matthews say is just great.
CNN's angry old man Jack Cafferty is not exactly a fan of
Republicans. In the past he has been pretty openly hostile to them.
Imagine my surprise (does anyone say that anymore?) when I saw this
video clip via Anchoress:
For those who missed it, and for me who just wants to see it in print, here is that last line:
Here's hoping the voters remember some of this crap when the midterm elections roll around later this year.
He is, in effect, telling viewers to return the Congress to Republicans
in November. Well, he doesn't go that far. But at the very least he is
telling them they should feel really crappy about themselves when they
vote for Democrats this time around.
If Obama and the Democrats in Congress have lost Jack Cafferty
they are in worse shape than I thought. Lack of transparency and broken
promises on health care are the reason for this comment from Cafferty,
but there are many other issues out there that do not help Democrats --
"shocking" lapses in security, record high deficit spending, record
high unemployment, etc. There is other stuff out there too, like that
global warming crisis that made so much money for people like Al Gore
and scared your kids half to death. Not even considering those
Climategate memos, it is pretty darn cold outside and this winter may
be the coldest in 25 years.
I don't know how much difference Cafferty's comments will make
except to those who spend a lot of time in airports and other places
people are held captive to CNN, but it certainly can't be a good thing
for any Democrats on the ballot in November. If Democrats were smart
they would start distancing themselves from some of these unpopular
policies and would work to deliver on some of those campaign promises.
My guess is they will stick to their old playbooks though and blame
Bush, who is no longer in office, and Republicans, who have been in the
minority since 2007. That has worked for them in the past, but this
time around people are paying closer attention.
Update: The following comment was made to this (crossposted at Wizbang):
And
who really cares 'how' Obama and Congress go about doing things? What
matters is the 'what' they do, the content and substance of the laws
they pass and not whether the text of the bill has been posted online.
Here is my response: Who cares "how"? Well, a bunch of those
insignificant little voters in flyover country do. You know, the ones
who are not career politicians, the ones who pick up the tab. I can
only hope that is the arrogant stance Democrats take from now 'til
November. Using that logic it wouldn't matter which politicians sold
their votes to the highest bidder, as long as the policy outcome was
okay.
But that's the problem with the commenter's argument. Voters are not
okay with the policies being enacted. These policies are pretty darned
unpopular and are only becoming more so. That is one of the reasons
people are as upset about the "how" as they are -- because they are not
happy with the result of all that backroom dealing in the middle of the
night.
Besides, Obama told them it was important to have the negotiations
and debate open and aired on C-Span. Blame him if people seem overly
interested in the "how." His promises of open government helped get him
elected.
With all the holiday activities, sick kids, puppies, and now back to school, I have not done any real blogging in a while. I think one of the reasons I have been so slack when it comes to blogging is due to Facebook and Twitter. It is so much quicker and easier to tweet something (even easier to retweet it) or to link it on Facebook, that I find myself spending much more time there than here on my personal blog or at Wizbang. I am going to ease myself back into it though. There is sooo much to blog about these days. My biggest problem might just be deciding which topic I want to choose. This cold as all get out weather we are experiencing (I read today that we may have the coldest winter in 25 years), the reemergence of terrorism as a front burner issue and Obama's lame job of addressing it, the 2010 mid-term elections, and the return of 24 (yea!) and other favorite television shows like Chuck, are just a few. If you have a favorite topic of interest, post it in the comments section.
