Kansas-Whole Lotta Huckchucking For Huckabee

Kansas Republican voters have followed my advice and, instead of holding their noses and voting for Arizona RINO Senator John McCain, have instead opted to "Huckchuck for Huckabee".

The media of course downplays the importance of this, noting that Kansas is a state with a lot of fundamentalist Bible believing Christians.

Ahhhhh, but what they conveniently forgot to mention is that Kansas is also a state that went blue in the last election cycle by voting out a good many of the rascals who sought to impose fundamentalist "creationist" doctrines on the school system of Kansas. Kansas, a state with a popular Democratic governor, Kathryn Sibelius, who gave the "Democratic response" to President George W. Bush's state of the Union address.

Now, to be sure, the average Kansas citizen will not be likely to join me soon in a drunken revelry in honor of Dionysius, nor are they any time soon going to encourage their wives, girlfriends, and daughters to become temple prostitutes in the service of Aphrodite.

Be that as it may, though Kansas is definitely a Christian state, it would be more than simplistic to overlook the primary there, where Huckabee won an astounding, at last count, 60% of the Republican vote.

Republicans now have a clear choice between two viable candidates, and though Huckabee is far behind McCain in delegate count, and though he is certainly not a favorite alternative among the majority of conservatives, the fact that he did so well in Kansas, in the face of what seems to be on the surface the certainty of an eventual McCain nomination, indicates they are making their greater displeasure at McCain known, loud and clear.

Do not count the Arkansas governor out just yet. He addressed the CPAC conference today, and declared he would remain in the race to provide an alternative. He also pointed out that, despite the odds that seemed stacked against him in regards to McCain's far greater delegate count, that he did not major in math, he majored in miracles. Huckabee still, he asserted, believes in miracles.

Well, I can't honestly say I believe in miracles. I do, however, believe in justice. You should believe in it too, and when it comes time to vote in your own Republican primary, those of you whose primaries are yet to come, you should deliver justice in the form of a vote for Mike Huckabee.

After all, a failure to vote for a lesser of two evils is a denial of the problem. Holding your nose with a vote for McCain is just a temporary band-aid solution to the problem, maybe even a willful surrender to it.

A Huckchuck for Huckabee, on the other hand, might well be cathartic. Just think of how much better you feel, when you are nauseous, after you finally vomit and get it out of your system. See there now?

Teach them a lesson-

HUCKCHUCK FOR HUCKABEE!

HUCKCHUCK-My Plan To Derail John McCain

Since Mitt Romney dropped out of the remaining Republican presidential primaries, it would seem that Senator John McCain is on an unstoppable path toward the nomination. But-does it really have to be that way? I say no.

We are all familiar with that old term voting for the lesser of two evils, as well as that one of similarly long duration, which states that when so voting, one will be obliged to “hold my nose.”

Well, since the race is now down to between McCain and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, I propose the Republican Party faithful do something similar though a bit more explicit. I suggest that you all-get ready for it-

HUCKCHUCK IN THE VOTING BOOTH

In other words, vote for Mike Huckabee.

This would be the stellar opposite of should you decide instead to “Chuck Huck”. It would also be a lot more fun. Just think of how cool it would be to watch crazy John McCain’s reaction, to get so close to the nomination, only to have it jerked right out of his grasp in favor of Huckabee.

Granted, there are many and valid reasons to “Chuck Huck” instead of “HuckChuck”. By the same token, though there are problems with a Huckabee candidacy, the governor does not have nearly as long a history of backstabbing the Republican Party and it’s conservative base. True, he has done some things-okay, he has done a lot of things-the Party faithful might take serious exception to. Compared to McCain, however, his contribution in this regard as minimal.

I would also like to point out to those who insist it would be better to vote in a Democrat than a treacherous Republican the following fact-with Huckabee, your chances of losing are appreciably better than with McCain, who will no doubt draw a significant portion of Independent voters, and not an insignificant amount of Democratic voters as well. Huckabee is unlikely to match McCain’s strength with these voters.

By the same token, if Huckabee were to win the general election, there is the prospect that in at least some regards, he would be a better president than McCain. He might in fact be every bit as conservative in his policies as Romney asserted he would be-despite the fact, remember, that as governor of Massachusetts, Romney campaigned and to an extent governed as a centrist, maybe in some respects even as a liberal.

Well, if you can take Romney’s word that he would have governed as a conservative president, why not give Huckabee the same benefit of the doubt?

Speaking of Romney, there is a good chance he withdrew when he did with precisely this in mind. Although he certainly has no love for Huckabee, his dislike of McCain must be that much greater. He claims of course that he withdrew in order to keep from splitting the party apart. Still, I have a feeling he could easily be prevailed upon to pledge his delegates to Huckabee. He would have good and valid reason to do so. For that matter, there is no hard rule of which I am aware which states that Romney’s delegates are absolutely bound to whomever Romney pledges them. If he pledges them to McCain, or to no one at all, they are certainly free to go to whomever they wish.

I urge both them and Romney to support Huckabee, and I encourage conservative Republicans to do the same thing.

To those of us who steadfastly maintain that awarding the nomination to John McCain would be akin to rewarding bad behavior, I think this is the proper course of action.

Whatever the case, it is certainly not over, by any means. There are now two candidates in the race for the Republican nomination. Conservatives might not have the choice they wish, but they can certainly derail the one candidate they find the most distasteful. This would be all accounts seem to be John McCain.

And, need I remind you, Duncan Hunter some time back endorsed Huckabee?

Blacksnake Moans And Groans

Don't assume most white women will vote for Hillary Clinton over Barak Obama. Obama might do better among white woman than you think he will. There could be a number of reasons for that. They might have it in their heads that Barak would bring about real change, that he would usher in a new era of civil discourse in our political culture that could filter down into all areas of public life. They might be inspired by his inspirational message of the "Audacity of Hope".

There might be a lot of different reasons white women might vote for Barak Obama, reasons just constantly going around inside their heads. Reasons they might not ever mention, in fact.

I can't help but wonder who Spring Thomas, the woman on this site would vote for.

I wonder who her mom and dad would vote for? Not that I'm trying to get something started. On the other hand, why not have a web-site for

"White Women Who Are Married To White Men But Fuck Black Men With Great Big Long Hard Dicks Behind Their Husbands Backs And Put Unflattering Pictures Of Their Little Dick White Husbands Next To Pictures Of Them Fucking Their Monster Size Dick Black Lovers On A Web-Site For Barak Obama".

Of course the only drawback I can see is a lot of younger white girls on a web-site like that might not be old enough to vote. They could sure have an impact though, in their own little way.

Dump McCain Blogroll

After giving it some thought, I decided I'm going to go ahead and join the new Dump McCain Blogroll started by Lemuel Calhoun of Hillbilly White Trash
Well, until after the Republican convention that is. If he gets the nomination, whether I stay on it or not depends on who the Democrats nominate. If they nominate Hillary, I might stay on it. If they nominate Obama, maybe not. This is based on the mounting disgust I feel at the recent endorsement of Obama by Senator Ted Kennedy, a personage I have come to despise over the last few years.

The fact that Kennedy has endorsed Obama speaks volumes as to what kind of person Kennedy assumes Obama to be, and more importantly, suggests-hell, shouts-that Kennedy assumes Obama would be much easier to control than Hillary Clinton.

Not that I am happy at the prospect of a Hillary presidency either. I am seriously thinking of writing in Lou Dobbs.

Anyway, the Dump McCain Blogroll should be on the sidebar here in a day or two. I just have to acquire the code from Lem, after which I am going to put it under a heading that will make it consistent with the overall theme of this blog's sidebar. So, look for a heading something along the lines of "Demonic Entities".

That would pretty much describe not only McCain, but the entire slate of this years candidates, as far as I'm concerned.

The Kennedy Curse

American and Washington politics is somewhat comparable to a tidal pond. One must exercise all appropriate caution when attempting to navigate over the dark, murky, treacherous-though shallow-waters that rage below. It is a necessity more often than not to build bridges in order to carry oneself over the danger that lurks below. In building those bridges, however, one must seek diligently for those with the proper expertise in driving one across to the other side in safety and security.

If one is unfamiliar, or moves too swiftly, or makes the wrong move, or exercises the wrong judgment, it does not have to be what would appear at first glance an obviously dangerous misstep. The slightest miscalculation can lead to unmitigated disaster.

Such was the case over the last few days, when Hillary Clinton, hoping for an endorsement from Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts-or at least hoping the Senator would stay neutral-found herself dumped unceremoniously off the side of the bridge that marks the political divide.

It has most assuredly been a most traumatic experience for Senator Clinton, and one is left to ponder the obvious question-will she, in fact can she survive?

What was Senator Kennedy's reasoning behind his action? After all, Senator Clinton would seem to have been a devoted advocate of most of those things the Massachusetts senior Senator cares deeply about. One might even make the case that she has been a faithful and tireless worker deserving of the Senator's appreciation, as well as that of his family.

Indeed, one would assume the two of them should be good friends-though certainly nothing more than that, regardless of what the jackals of the press and the Republican Party might be tempted to insinuate.

Is it possible that Senator Kennedy wanted more from Senator Clinton, and that she disappointed him in some regard? Moreover, is it appropriate to ask, is the Massachusetts Senator, that liberal lion, suffering from some intoxication from the presence of Senator Barak Obama, whom he has so enthusiastically endorsed? If so, what is the basis of this intoxication?

Is the Senator drunk with the promise of an extra power and influence that he feels he can acquire through Obama to a much greater extent than he ever could with the seemingly faithfully partisan Clintons, whom he might possibly feel are too independent, too undependable in some regards?

Is it possible that it is such a misjudgement on Kenedy's part, it could even be construed as an accident of some sort, one that has led him to react in a foolhardy and inappropriate manner?

Senator Kennedy spoke quite eloquently in giving his endorsement of Illinois Senator Obama. Yet, a good lot of what he said doesn't seem to coincide with reality. Perhaps his speechwriter might explain the disparity, but somehow I doubt he could.

Whatever the case, I wonder if this tragedy that has befallen Senator Hillary Clinton might, in fact, doom her political career. Someone should move fast to save her if she is to survive. After all, she languishes for now below the surface of those murky, dark, treacherous-and yet shallow-waters that that make up the tidal pond of Washington politics.

True, she has an air pocket, so to speak, that will serve to keep her going for some time. However, this air won't last forever. It's obvious Senator Kennedy is not going to reverse his actions in time to pull her out to safety.

Even if he does, by the time he gets around to it, it will probably be too late.

Heath Ledger-A Method To The Madness

The death of Heath Ledger occurred for about the most bizarre reason, apparently, from which anyone could ever die. If you wrote his obituary in the most concise manner possible, it might well read-

Cause Of Death-Overacting

That is pretty much the truth of the matter. It would be too easy to make an ironic statement to the effect that he was a real life victim of DC Comics villain The Joker. Yet, there is some merit to this as well.

When Ledger worked on the role of the Joker for the soon-to-be-released film The Dark Knight, he threw himself into his role, as he always did. To those who are more than vaguely aware of Hollywood, acting, and movie terminology, this is a well-known theatrical device known as “method acting.”

Ledger was an acclaimed master of the art. In one recent movie, he researched his role of a drug addict by getting to know a real life heroin addict, whom he befriended and who gave him much pertinent information of a technical and real-life nature.

No, I will not make any off-color jokes about how he might have researched for his role in Brokeback Mountain. Let’s just assume he researched cowboys and leave it at that.

As for the Joker, Ledger’s version is reportedly one of the darkest, probably the overall darkest version of them all. There was none of the camp of Caesar Romero’s television Batman version, and for all of the menace of Jack Nicholson’s Batman movie role, Ledger reportedly approached this role with an extra intensity even Nicholson’s version did not attain.

In most versions of the Joker, the villain’s power and menace derives from the prospect that no one would take such a ridiculous looking or acting character seriously, until it is too late. This Heath Ledger version of the Joker, however, is far from ridiculous. This is the archetypical “evil clown” writ large.

In method acting, you are required to “become” your character. You reach deep down into the furthest depths in order to find that identity, and you make it your own. It literally becomes a huge part of who you are. In this case, the Joker was, to Heath Ledger, a psychotically deranged mass murderer, a paranoid schizophrenic maniac and criminal genius.

How far down into the depths of his subconscious did Heath Ledger reach-and what exactly did he dredge up to the surface in reaching down to those depths? Whatever it was, it had a disturbing effect on his psyche, so much to the point he barely managed to sleep two hours a night at the most, even with the aid of prescription medication-overuse of which was evidently the ultimate if at the same time merely the technical cause of his death.

We may and more than likely will never know what dark demons Ledger dredged up from his subconscious, but if anything, this should serve as a caution to anybody that engages in this style of acting. It seems that many if not most actors that engage in this technique tend to be brooding loners. Maybe there is a reason for that. Unfortunately, the brooding loner type might be the very ones who, though most naturally adept at such an intense endeavor, are at the same time the most vulnerable to its ravages.

It is, in a very real sense, a kind of magic. As we have seen here, it can be a very dark and destructive magic.

John McCain-A Glimpse Of Hell Within A Tortured Mind

John McCain is perhaps one of the unique figures in American politics, and there is a very real chance that he might be our next President. What kind of President he would make is open to a great deal of debate. Many independents, and even an appreciable number of Democrats, assume he would be a consensus builder, a man able to “reach across the aisle”, a man of honesty and integrity, in addition to a man of deep courage and conviction.

Many of his most vociferous detractors are those in the Republican Party itself, who view McCain as a backstabber and “RINO”. His qualifications for this are many and varied, and I will not go into them here. I will say this though. McCain might well be the most dangerously deluded individual ever to run a serious candidacy for the office of President, while having a real chance of winning. The problems with McCain as I see them-

He suffers from an advanced and barely disguised case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. On top of this, he might as well suffer from the ravages of Stockholm Syndrome. Some might question this hypothesis due to McCain’s success in public life. I would remind them that there are many drug addicts and alcoholics who are functional in their daily lives, in their careers as well as their personal lives. At the same time, they suffer from a private, personal hell that is killing them every day. An addict can never be truly free, and in my opinion, they can never be truly happy. Their careers are a necessary means to an end. Their families constantly play the roles of enablers, in one way or another.

The fact that John McCain finds so much common cause with Democratic leaders is a sure sign of the influence of Stockholm Syndrome. They have replaced his Vietnamese captors with whom he identified at one point in order to find validation and retain his sanity. They give him a sense of acceptance, while the Republican Party faithful have replaced the American military elites he subconsciously loathes for sending him to a years long ordeal of torture and deprivation, and deep in his mind allowed him to languish throughout that period. He also identifies them in his psyche with his father, the Navy Admiral whose level he could never hope to attain on his own merits.

McCain felt obliged to follow in the military footsteps of his father and grandfather, and yet was toward the bottom of his graduating class. Only in captivity and the experience of brutality could he ever hope to measure up to their standards. He rode the hero welcome home and from there to the halls of Congress, but he never really got over his ordeal. He has been reaching out to those Democrats who are technically supposed to be his enemies, and attacking those who should be his friends, ever since his arrival there. He has done this to some degree of acclimation by targeting pork barrel projects and other kinds of runaway spending. This however is an obvious and easy thing to attack, and he has used this as a vehicle with which to attack the very fiber of conservative politics.

It will be interesting to see the result regardless of whether or not he wins. He has a long hard road ahead of him, but soldiers on against his own party, the leaders of whom have no desire for John McCain to represent them. Most Democrats would prefer him, not only for the reasons I said, but in some cases, because they assume he can be easily defeated. If John McCain wins the nomination, you can expect an October Surprise meant to destroy his candidacy. You can be assured the matter of his involvement as one the so-called ‘Keating Five” will provide much fodder.

Yet, the media promotes him to a great extent. Over the next several months, if you want to know if there is a Republican Presidential primary contest due on any given Tuesday, just tune in to Meet The Press on the preceding Sunday. If you see John McCain being “interviewed” by Tim Russert, you can bet there is at least one Republican primary somewhere the following Tuesday.

Like I said in an earlier post, John McCain might well in a sense be the Republican candidate who is most representative of the Republican party as a whole, in that they are both fragmented entities with a divided personality that has lost it’s way. If McCain wins the nomination, count on this becoming evident in quick fashion. Most of the same media pimps pushing him now will waste no time tearing him apart. In that case, remember this-you read the words Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Stockholm Syndrome, in connection with John McCain, from me before you heard it from them. Just for good measure, I’ll add Alzheimer’s Disease. I won’t go so far as to suggest advanced syphilis of the brain traceable to his time in a North Vietnamese prison, during which time it turns out to be a fact after all that he aided the enemy under duress of torture. At the same time, I will not be surprised if they do-nor for that matter would I be surprised were it the truth.

As for the Republicans, as a party they might provide the first instance of a fragmented party healing and coming together-not in support of one of their own candidates, but in opposition to him. If John McCain wins the Republican Party nomination, the Republican Party will lose-regardless of whether John McCain wins or loses in the general election.

On the other hand, it could help them in the long run.

John McCain might in fact follow in the footsteps of President John Tyler, in becoming only the second President kicked out of his own party while holding office. Imagine if you will the prospect of a spate of off year congressional elections, the Republican candidates of whom run on an overall conservative platform in opposition to their president and standard-bearer. There is a great likelihood that they would do so successfully.

Imagine a future impeachment proceeding in which just enough Democrats cross over to support the ultimately successful impeachment of a Republican president, yet one that is initiated by Republican officeholders. Do you think that it is unlikely, that such a scenario is all but impossible? Well, if John McCain wins the Republican Party nomination, it is not only possible, but also probable. It is just a matter of time. It would almost have to happen during his first term, however, as I seriously doubt he would have a second one.

Westboro Baptist Church To Picket Heath Ledger Funeral

I don't know who this pisses off more, God or the Kansas City Royals, but it's a moot point. It pisses off a lot of people, and the people of Westboro Baptist Church seem to be fine with that. They are now planning to violate the funeral of recently deceased actor Heath Ledger by protesting it. The reason-Ledger's role in the recent "gay cowboy" film "Brokeback Mountain", a scene from which is pictured below.

Of course, Ledger was not really gay, he was merely an actor portraying a gay character, but that is all lost on this Christian cult that fancies itself a "primitive" Baptist Church. According to them, "God hates fags", and since America has become increasingly tolerant of the gay lifestyle, then it naturally follows that "God Hates America".

They therefore insist that all soldiers killed or injured in the Iraq War is due to God's wrath, hence the picketing at military funerals. They have even gone so far as to picket the funerals of a family that died in a house fire in Kentucky, which contained many innocent children, as young as two years old, but so far as I am aware, no homosexuals.

I guess it stands to reason they would protest Ledger's funeral. Here is the release of their announcement to do so in pdf format. I strongly encourage that you read this.

As if that were not enough, they also have, on their blog section, a blog post that goes into extraordinary detail as to what they perceive to be the final, ultimate, eternal fate of Heath Ledger-complete with random little smiley faces tossed in here and there, just for good measure.

All of this reads almost like a parody. Sometimes I wonder if Westboro receives financing from some far leftist group that wants to make all socially conservative Christians look like schmucks.

You might also want to read this web site, which contains a lot of background information on Fred Phelps and his family, who comprise the vast majority of the Westboro Baptist Church members. As of now, I can't vouch for it's accuracy, but it's interesting nonetheless.

Hat Tip to Fenix Mage

Roe v Wade-25th Anniversary Reflections

This year is the twenty fifth-year anniversary of Roe v Wade. In the twenty-five years since the decision came down, there have been a series of laws before the courts challenging some aspect of state abortion laws, which you can view here. You might also want to read the original decision along with the majority and dissenting opinions.

In the meantime, I have a few words to say to Republicans, and especially to social conservatives. My advice to you is-don’t do as I do, do as I say.

Now, what do I mean by that. Well, it’s simple. I have thoughtfully concluded that, all things on balance, women have a constitutional right to an abortion, based on the prospect that it is a privacy issue. Most importantly, I hold that no one has the right to force a rape victim to carry a baby. Yes, I know this is a rare occurrence. I am also aware that, in reality, there are few teenage girls who become pregnant because of incest. Well, at least there are few who become pregnant due to incest that comes about against their wills. Bear in mind, not all incest occurs between a sweet innocent young girl and an adult male. Sometimes, your little girl might be doing things with “Cousin Johnny” out in the woods besides picking wildflowers and berries, ya know.

That being said, I agree that most abortions are the result of situations where an unwed woman, for the most part adults, just decide for whatever reason they just aren’t ready to have a child. In some cases, they are married, or engaged, and fear the financial obligations. Perhaps there are legitimate health reasons, some which connote serious consequences, others that might not be so serious. In some cases, the child might not belong to the husband or boyfriend.

How can you sit back and allow our culture to sink down to this level? Yet, that’s what many of you are doing. I have heard rumors to the effect that you might sit this election out, or even worse, vote Democratic, if the Republican Party nominates a man you personally, for whatever reason, feel is not worthy to lead your party into the next presidential election cycle.

Think about what you are going to cause. Think of all the young girls who will be encouraged to have abortions without notifying their parents-those same parents they would be obliged to inform were they decide to get a tattoo or piercing.

Think of the late term abortions. Think of those poor babies, near birth and half born, their skulls pierced with forceps, their brains suctioned out of their skulls. Think of all those fetuses past the four-month stage, and the pain and terror they feel while mercilessly butchered in the womb with their mother’s consent.

Think of how the abortion industry is as we speak making plans to fight against those laws requiring informed consent. They don’t even want a woman to be informed of the facts, or to view an ultrasound of her living, breathing fetus, it’s little heart visibly and audibly beating as it kicks, sucks it’s thumb, in some cases makes tentative attempts to explore it’s surroundings-a sure sign of consciousness.

Yet, you would vote for a woman, or a man, whom you know will appoint judges guaranteed to uphold these laws, or at the very least you would stay home and not vote against them. How are you going to feel when the Supreme Court, due to your obstinance, upholds Roe v Wade for possibly decades to come?

How many babies are you helping to abort? Might it be in the millions? Any baby aborted is not just a single death, you know. You have also aided and abetted the destruction of the many generations of their potential descendants that now-thanks to you-will never come about.

You had better think about what you are doing. What are you going to say to God when you stand before the throne of judgment? Yes, I know, I’m a pagan, and don’t believe in that, but on the other hand-what if you are right? If you are, maybe I’ll be seeing you after the last judgment. I think you are going to have a hard time explaining to God how you refused to vote for Giuliani or McCain, even though they have promised to appoint strict constructionist judges. What will your excuse be?

“Well, God, I thought I should ‘make a statement’”.

I’m just guessing here, but I have an idea his reply might well be somewhere along the lines of-

“Well, you made your statement, and now I will make mine-depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, into the eternal fires of hell and damnation reserved for the devil and his angels.”

Don’t take all this the wrong way. This is not an attempt at humor. I might well be there when you arrive, but as you get there, that laughter you hear will not be mine.

Eli's Coming

Throughout the entire football season, almost everybody assumed the AFC Championship game, in all likelihood, would be a contest between Tom Brady’s New England Patriots and Peyton Manning’s Indianapolis Colts. For most of the season, it looked almost as certain that the NFC Championship would be a match-up between the Dallas Cowboys, headed by Tony Romo, and seventeen-year veteran Bret Favre and his Green Bay Packers. Some sports analysts were so convinced of this alignment, they had all but written the various scenarios while writing all others out. In both cases, they were only half-right

Both the Cowboys and the Colts won their respective conference divisions, and the Cowboys were at the top of their conference, and thus drew home field advantage. Nevertheless, both the Cowboys and the Colts lost their first post-season games. Peyton Manning and his Colts went down to a shocking defeat at the hands of AFC West champions the San Diego Chargers.

Perhaps the biggest shocker, however, was the domination of the NFC playoffs by the New York Giants, who started their post-season playoff schedule as a wild card team. First, they beat AFC South champions the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They went on from there to defeat Dallas, their fellow NFC East rivals, who actually led that division with a record of thirteen wins and just three losses, as opposed to the Giants relatively lackluster record of 9-7.

Then came last nights NFC Championship game, which the Giants won against NFC North division champs the Packers, in overtime, by a score of 23-20, in a brutally cold temperature and wind-chill that, at Lambeau Field, would seem to favor Favre and crew- but, it was not to be.

Had anyone said halfway through the season that a Manning would play in the Super Bowl, only not the Manning everyone assumed, most would have laughed at such a prediction. Eli has spent his professional career, if not his life, in older brother Peyton’s shadow. It had to be a little embarrassing last year, on some level, when Peyton guest hosted Saturday Night Live and, at the beginning of the show, introduced little brother Eli sitting in the audience-the New York City audience, mind you. Many of them had probably joined in the chorus over the last two years that the younger Manning was highly overpaid for his production and effort as the Giants starting quarterback. No one believed for one second he would be around were he not the son of famed former New Orleans Saints quarterback Archie Manning.

Yet, there he was that night, not long following Peyton’s spectacular performance in last year’s Super Bowl as leader of the Colts as they trounced NFC champions the Chicago Bears. He stood and waved at Peyton’s introduction, this shy young man-comparatively awkward, and unassuming, maybe just a little out of his league-pretty much the way he strikes you during a typical Giants game.

Something happened though during the last third of the season, something that culminated in their last defeat, during their last regular season game of the year against the Patriots. No one expected them to win, of course. The last ones that expected them to win were probably the Giants themselves. Where most teams would have folded, however, barely going through the prerequisite movements, the Giants-and Eli Manning-came alive. It was almost as though some kind of team spirit permeated the crew, and whispered in a still, small voice-well, no need in worrying about it, let’s just go out and do our best.

Yes, they still lost-but what a game. It may have been the best regular season game of the year, one of the few times this season that the Patriots came close to losing. The Patriots also played, and defeated, Peyton and the Colts, last years Super Bowl champions. That game was obviously a heart breaker for Peyton, and a reaffirmation of Tom Brady’s claim to, once more, acclamation as the league’s greatest quarterback.

Without a doubt, the two of them are yet rival claimants to the title. Manning is a virtual offensive driving machine. The same is true with Brady, who combines his skill and ability with a kind of inner resolve and courage that is almost rebellious towards any kind of accepted conventions. This inner confidence led him to support the re-election of George W. Bush against Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. This of course contradicted the conventional wisdom that would suggest he either support the seemingly obvious choice of most New England fans, or stay out of it.

The football world looked with relish toward the prospect of the clash of these two titans of the AFC, and one of them going on to face off against, hopefully, the legendary Favre. Again, the conventional wisdom held this more than likely would be Brady’s Patriots. The quarterback of the future would then write finis to the career of Favre, the legendary Packer desperate to retire with one final Super Bowl ring to cap a final winning season. It would have been like an ancient Celtic tribal ritual, where the young chieftain ends the life of the fading elder in a bloody rite of succession.

It was not supposed to be this way. The old chief was to fall at the hands of a worthy successor, not a mediocre at best upstart like Eli Manning. Maybe the Giant’s management knows more than we realized. They have resisted the calls to bench Manning over the last couple of years, ignored the insistence of most fans that Eli just is not the quarterback Peyton is.

Nevertheless, the team has stayed by Eli and showed faith in him, and worked with him through thick and thin. It looks as though their faith and patience has paid off. Make no mistake about it. Eli managed his team through this post-season playoff run. It was not just luck accentuated by a great defense and some fortuitous interceptions and fumble recoveries. To be sure, the defense played a role, as did the offensive line, and the team as a whole. Well, that is what makes a great team, of course, overall depth. The greatest quarterback in the world can only do so much with a mediocre team-and that so much is not a lot.

Instead of seeing a rite of tribal succession in this years’ Super Bowl, we may instead be privy to a David and Goliath scenario. Unfortunately, I feel pretty safe in betting Goliath will win this round. I look for a score of somewhere in the neighborhood of 24-13, the Patriots wining their fourth Super Bowl, thus ending this season with a perfect record.

However, I would not bet the farm on it. The biggest rap against Eli has been his lack of consistency. Well, so far he has been pretty damn consistent through this play-off season at making us all look premature in our judgments and assessments. I would not be very shocked if he does it again.

Patriot's Head Coach Bill Bellachik-"Just get out there and do your job".



Tom Brady-Conceivably the greatest quarterback of all time.



Tynes kicked the winning field goal for the Giants, in overtime. About time-he missed two before this one, though he got two others earlier in the game.



Bret Favre-The end of a long and distinguished career?



Eli Manning and fans-Hey, yeah-Whut do ya think of me now?
Pictures from Reuters

The Guilty Rant When None Accusseth

Bill can rest a little easier tonight. Hillary won a clear if not too convincing victory over Barak Obama in the Nevada primary today, garnering more than half of the vote at 51 percent. Unfortunately, through some arcane reasoning I'm not sure I understand yet, Obama might yet get a majority of the states delegates. This might well have Bill in an uproar after all. He has been kind of ill-tempered over the last couple of weeks, hasn't he?

He got pretty agitated when it looked like Hillary would lose the New Hampshire primary, demanding "give me a break" while calling Obama's candidacy a "fairy tale".

He almost lost it again when a court challenge to the rules set up by the Nevada State Democratic Party to allow casino workers to caucus at their work sites was thrown out. He seemed to think this gave the casino workers an unfair advantage-especially after their unions supported Obama.

Some people think Bill is losing it, that he can't deal with the prospect of losing the White House-er, his wife losing the White house, I meant to say, of course. Actually, I think there's another factor in his recent displays of bad temperament. This factor has not gone unnoticed or unmentioned. Yet, no one seems to have made the correlation. When you stop to think about it, it certainly has to be bearing heavily on his mind-especially as it also involves his wife, and is transpiring at a pivotal point in her run for the presidency.

This week, in fact, happens to be the tenth year anniversary of-

Seriously, is it possible that he has been expecting somebody to bring this up to him? Well, actually, Hillary has been questioned about it on at least one occasion, on a network interview program. Will somebody now please ask Bill, so he can go on a good rant and get it out of his system?

Divine Comedy My Ass

The Dante's Inferno Test has banished you to the Second Level of Hell!
Here is how you matched up against all the levels:

Level	Score
Purgatory (Repenting Believers)	Very Low
Level 1 - Limbo (Virtuous Non-Believers)	Low
Level 2 (Lustful)	Very High
Level 3 (Gluttonous)	Low
Level 4 (Prodigal and Avaricious)	High
Level 5 (Wrathful and Gloomy)	High
Level 6 - The City of Dis (Heretics)	Low
Level 7 (Violent)	Moderate
Level 8- the Malebolge (Fraudulent, Malicious, Panderers)	Very High
Level 9 - Cocytus (Treacherous)	High

Take the Dante's Inferno Hell Test
Hat Tip-Nichole

Doctor Robert Jarvik-Affairs Of The Heart

Doctor Robert Jarvik, world renowned inventor of the Jarvik artificial heart, may be in trouble. He may be summonsed to testify before Congress about his role in commercials advertising the cholesterol lowering drug Lipitor, according to this report from ABC News.

The report cites that "Michigan Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak, both Democrats, sent a letter to drug company Pfizer last week, questioning Jarvik's credibility".

"Is he entitled to appear here and prescribe or give the impression he can prescribe prescription pharmaceuticals for patients?" Dingell said. "I think the law in every state says, no he's not, because he can't prescribe medicine in any state we can find."

So there you have it. Jarvik, according to these Congressmen, should not be recommending Lipitor, since he himself, though a medical research specialist, is not actually licensed to practice medicine or to prescribe medication.

As opposed to, for example-

World renowned medical bone expert and osteoporosis specialist Sally Field.

The Nevada Democratic Debate-A Nuclear Waste Of Time

The Nevada Democratic Presidential debate was a predictable snoozefest. Or, if you were a Democratic voter, it was the greatest thing since Novocaine. Take your pick. One thing is for sure, if you take all these candidates at their word, you will never have the pleasure of taking part in a guided tour such as that pictured at top, of people entering the north portal of Yucca Mountain, where the nation's radioactive waste is stored.

This has been a hot button issue for Nevada voters for some time now. American politics works this way. If you want to win over the voters of Nevada in a primary or caucus contest, you can do so in part by promising to shut down Yucca Mountain. If you want to win the general election that comes later, you can do so in part by convincing the voters of the country that you were talking shit to the voters in Nevada, which has all of five electoral votes. See how it works? Just ask John Edwards, who as a Senator voted for maintaining Yucca Mountain as the national go-to place for nuclear waste, before he turned against it as a struggling Democratic Presidential candidate desperate for a win. The trick in the general election is to not come right out and admit you were lying. We get it. What happens in Yucca Mountain, stays in Yucca Mountain.

In other Nevada debate news, Hilary Clinton agreed with Senator Obama that the greatest event of the nineteen sixties civil rights movement was not Lyndon Johnson's great "I Have A Scheme" speech.

Giant Rat Ancestor Of South America

It lived more than a million years ago, when it roamed the jungles of South America. At a size estimated at ten feet long and five feet tall, with a weight of about a ton, it's easy to see why mankind developed such an overpowering, subconscious fear and loathing of rats. This one, that seemed to look like a cross between a beaver and a guinea pig, was the granddaddy of all rats.

They say it probably lived in the water, like a hippopotamus, and going by the size of it's teeth-which never stopped growing-it lived off soft plants and fruits, using it's large fangs probably as a defensive weapon.

Click on the picture for a bigger view. Notice the scale image of a modern mouse.

No wonder our ancestors left the jungles.

Hat Tip to The Drudge Report

Lauterbach-Did Obsession Lead To Murder?

When Cpl Maria Lauterbach went missing on December 15th, a note she left her roommate turned in two days later gave the Marines sufficient reason to think she left on her own. In the letter, she said she was tired of the Marines. Now that her burnt remains, and those of her unborn child, have been found in a pit in the yard of Cpl Cesar Armando Laurean', it comes to light she had earlier accused Laurean of raping her. Moreover, blood splatter found on Laurean's ceiling suggested the 20 year old Lauterbach was killed by blunt force trauma.

Still, it must be asked, what was she doing in the home of a man she insisted raped her? Why did she tell Marine investigators that she did not feel threatened in any way by Laurean? Why did Lauterbach engage in sexual relations with Laurean on at least one occasion two weeks after the incident of the alleged rape?

Was she bi-polar, as her own mother suggested in a televised news interview?

Finally, where is Laurean? The last account of his whereabouts suggests he was in Texas, and may be on his way to Mexico.

I'll come right out and say it. Is it possible Lauterbach lied about the rape as a means of attaining and keeping her hold over Laurean? If so, did this induce him to snap and murder her in a rage? Looking at everything that is known about the case so far, it sure looks that way to me.

Tom Cruise-Gaydar, Scientology, and the Reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard

According to the newly published and soon to be released Tom Cruise-An Unauthorized Biography
it would seem that Tom Cruise is not gay after all-in fact, he is quite the ladies man. He's just scared to death people will think he is if he is around gay men-especially the gay men he is around from time to time.

There are other nuggets purported to be in the book. Come to find out, there are several different levels one must aspire to in Scientology, and it's not until you get to the highest level that you discover the religion is based on the proposition that space aliens visited earth's distant past and somehow played a role in mankind's development.

Cruise allegedly struggled with this information upon first learning it, and there was a rift between him and the higher-ups in the sect, but he evidently came to terms with them.

Perhaps the most compelling thing said to be in the book is that Katie was never pregnant by Cruise. In fact, she was impregnated by the frozen sperm of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, and that it was seriously believed by cult members that little Surrey Cruise would, in fact, be the reincarnation of Hubbard.

The book will not be on sale in England due to British libel laws, and it is rumored that the Church of Scientology might be preparing a lawsuit against the author and publisher.

Ares

It's not often that you read a balanced view on the Greek war god Ares, but this post is one that offers such a perspective. The author of this Witchvox article suggests that Ares achieves his greatest use when paired with a moderating influence. In her example, she uses the goddess Hestia, goddess of the hearth, as an example of how Ares might well be paired with a deity with whom, at first glance, he would appear to have little in common.

Nor does she marginalize Ares' more sanguine aspects in doing so. Ares indeed is a deity who might be useful in many endeavors that require extraordinary effort, courage, and strength. Attuning with him while making the attempt to stop smoking or some other bad habit-the cessation of which requires considerable willpower, courage, and determination-is only one example.

I have long been of the opinion that the bad rap this god has received over the centuries is due mainly to an ancient cult rivalry between his adherents and the devotees of the goddess Athene.

At the same time, it would be a grave mistake to imagine that Ares should never be utilized as a literal war god the way he is generally conceived. That he was a violent blowhard, bully, and even a bit of a coward, can not be denied-nor should it be. He exulted in violence, combat, and bloodshed. Yet, when the tables were turned, he was wont to go screaming off in pain and terror. Often he was humiliated.

All of us have had days like those, and Ares perfectly represents these aspects of human existence. He is someone you can turn to when you have had one of those days. He has been there.

At the same time, he always manage to recover, to pull himself up by his bootstraps, dust himself off, and go on to fight another day.

There is a great lesson there to be learned as well. Ares represents that force in nature that marks a determination to survive, and to thrive. In the grand scheme of things, death awaits us all, but the strong survive, passing their genes on to the next generation and beyond.

It is not always a violent, bloody endeavor. A good many times, however, violence and bloodshed are not only unavoidable necessities-they are sacred duties.

Psychic Date Rape And The Downward Spiral Of Lindsay Lohan

Lindsay Lohan, over the course of the last year, almost took a back seat to the shenanigans of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, even though she certainly did her part to keep her name in the tabloids. Out of the three of them, I have the most sympathy for her, because I feel that she is by far the most talented of the three, whom I dubbed in an earlier post the “trio of trashiness”

She is a good actress, and in my opinion a better singer than Britney. Still, for some reason, once the tabloids latched onto her story, they could not get enough, and she could not find enough reasons not to feed their mania. She has hit various rehab facilities, but it never seems to take. Her prison parolee father, who claims to be a born again Christian, seems determined to steer her life back onto a path of disciplined sanity. Assuming he is for real, he has his work cut out for him.

Because of her youth and the fact she is truly talented, there is hope for her, but a reflection over the last year of her life suggests she needs to work hard to put the past behind her and start anew. At the same time, perhaps we can forgive her a swig of champagne at a party over the last New Year’s Eve.

The kind of psychic rape perpetrated by the tabloids and their photographers-and voyeuristically swallowed up by their readers-will take any opening presented at any given moment and look for any sign of weakness in order to impose their will. Nor does it necessarily have to present itself in a violent format. Most rapes, after all, are probably not conducted by violent strangers, but by people the victim knows, and to at least a point, likes and trusts. So it seems to be with the tabloid news industry. They start out as friends, feeding on their would-be victim’s egos and insecurities. Then, once they have them in their clutches and establish a level of trust, and possibly even dependence to some degree, they make their move.

The psychic rape of Lindsay Lohan, therefore, we can see from the vantage point of a history in pictures. It starts out like a date to the prom, and ends in a revelation of the long-range goal, which would be a kind of psychic date rape by way of tabloid news and photography.

Although many people decry the process, and rightly so, still others will willingly pay money to feed an industry that produces what a thoughtful person should legitimately view as crime scene photos produced by the perpetrators, and eagerly devoured by a society of gawkers.

To illustrate the point, the daily viewer stats of this blog have tripled over the last month, based primarily on a photo I earlier published on a post here of Britney Spears flashing her pussy. The vast majority of readers who view this post read no other pages on the blog. This being the case, I felt I should offer some kind of rational explanation as to the psychology behind this cultural phenomenon. I am no Doctor Phil, and this is just my unprofessional opinion. At the same time, I consider it as valid as any Doctor Phil or anyone else might offer, and for what its’ worth, it’s free.

Britney Spears-A Puzzling Case Of Stockholm Syndrome

I’m starting to fall under the Britney curse, finding myself growing more fascinated by this woman every day. Now, she has affected a British accent, though not a good one. When I hear her, I actually feel embarrassed for her, and I am sure I am not alone. It’s almost as though she, having no sense of shame, nor wanting one, has told the world, here, you take this. When Madonna affected her accent, it was bad enough. It was obviously phony. Britney’s is something else again. I can only think of one way to describe it-Valley Girl Cockney. If you heard anyone else but Britney Spears uttering something in this absurdly fake accent, you would know not to take it seriously. If you were British, you might understandably feel belittled.

So, is she crazy? Has she finally gone completely over the edge? Is it a coping mechanism? Is she just in love, therefore engrossed by her boyfriend’s accent, and so determined to get close to him in the only way she really can on anything like an intellectual level?

I personally feel she is exhibiting the signs of a rape victim that falls in love with her rapist. In her case, it is not necessarily so much a physical rape as a psychic one. Subconsciously, she feels all her detractors and voyeurs are witnesses and to an extent willing participants in her psychic rape, and she has latched onto to the strongest and most aggressive of her assailants, as she sees it, as a form of protection. It is almost a classic yet heretofore unknown variant of Stockholm Syndrome. Her boyfriend just happens to be a British photographer named Adnan Ghalib. There currently are rumors circulating to the effect that she is so much in love with him, she might well convert to Islam.

If he happened to be an Islamic radical-or for that matter an openly practicing Satanist, an old-fashioned Mormon polygamist, a vampire practicing Goth, or a Grand Dragon of the Ku Klux Klan-I have no doubt her life and mannerisms would in some way reflect whatever lifestyle he lives and beliefs he has.

She has, according to some insider gossip, even considered faking her own death and afterwards re-emerging, and then "re-inventing" herself.

At the rate she's going, she might not have to fake anything. She might be doing well to live long enough to see her thirtieth birthday.