not really newsworthy

   Lets start with tonights debate.  The spin machine is pumping out what a new and different thing the You Tube debate will be.  Ok, tell me how?  Because “you” are asking the questions.  Lets look at that.  Over 2000 clips have been submitted according to CNN.  Obviously, they don’t have time in two hours to ask 2000 questions.  How do we pare it down?  Well, lets have CNN’s editors do it.  Out of 2000 maybe 30 will be used.  It’s not much of a stretch to imagine that the 30 will be those that CNN wants asked.  The only input you have is whether you wear a silly hat, or hold your stupid fleabitten cat while you ask it.  This is the first debate sanctioned by The Democratic National Committee this election cycle.  What to expect?  I think John Edwards and Barack Obama have to be more aggressive.  Edwards because if he doesn’t he is dead, and Barack just to show that he is capable of it.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nf/20070723/tc_nf/54047

   I wonder which $2000 suit wearing reject allowed the Republican debate to be held in September?  Seems to me something real serious is going down in terms of Iraq that month, and it is likely to turn the Republican debate into a free for all.  Which is good for the viewers, and for Ron Paul, but it sandbags the hell out of the hawks on stage.  If I we’re Giuliani, McCain, and Romney I’d be mad as hell.  Why?  Well, do you think much is going to change in the next month and a half in Iraq?  Yeah, me either.  The Republican governors say its no big deal that their isn’t a front runner.  They may be right.  Conservatives are notoriously tight with their campaign funding until it shakes out, meaning they’ll be lots of money for the stretch run, and the geneal election.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070723/ap_on_el_pr/republican_governors_2;_ylt=Ag.2ypj8XxumGruFLpERpQgL1vAI

   Have you paid your “support dead farmers” tax?  In a 7 year period over $1.1 billion in subsidies was paid to dead farmers.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture pays out over 40% of claims without any review process at all.  In most cases they rely on the farm corporations to inform them of a death.  They say staff shortages and competing priorities are to blame.  Another government agency tossing your money out the window, and generally to people one hell of a lot richer than you.   Don’t believe me? Read the article.  They’re spending money you could be putting away for your childs tuition to subsidize giant farm companies worth millions.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19912382/

I was reading this and started doing the math.  .09 cents is 3%.  That means you now pay roughly $3.00 for a cup of coffee?  Oh man, you deserve to be bent over and rammed by Starbucks.  That’s pretty much the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19918485/

Obama, Osama, and Chelsea’s Momma?  Well isn’t that clever.  I can understand Mitt’s argument.  He isn’t responsible for his followers, and during photo ops you can’t really stop and check every sign.  Further, this is kinda funny.  Still, if you’re Mitt Romney, you might not want to give anyone any more reason to wonder about you.  I know the Mitt fans are going to hate that comment, but he’s on decidedly thin ice anyway, and I see no reason to hand the guy with the gun some bullets.  The Mormon vote can’t get him elected, so he might want to make sure and not alienate “others” with stupid photo op tricks.

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/

Lil Wayne and Ja Rule got arrested Sunday night on weapons charges.  Lil Wayne also got zapped with drug charges.  I really have to know.  What is with hip hop stars these days? Do they think they’re in the NFL?

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Music/07/23/rappers.arrested/index.html

You may not like him, But nobody packs a punch in publishing like Harry Potter.  The latest book “harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows sold 8.3 million hardcover copies in the U.S. in the first 24 hours.  That shatters the old record of 6.9 copies of…yep, The Half Blood Prince.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,290346,00.html

The worst flooding in 60 years in Great Britain.  I’m not surprised.  Al Gore has not done enough to stop Global Wetting, and now you see the consequences.  Had he not spent so much time inventing the internet this tragedy could easily have been prevented.

http://www.mail.com/newsarticle.aspx?catId=3&articleId=1147296

whoops…i bet this guy supports gay marriage now. This is pretty funny stuff. His wife got licked, and he got stuck.

http://www.mail.com/NewsArticle.aspx?catId=2&articleId=1147225&newssiteid=1

How Ron Paul can win the presidency

  I know, you think I’m joking.  I should be.  Our society should be able to see through all the pandering his disciples are doing, but I really don’t think they can. They should be able to see through the political gamesmanship the two major parties are involved in, but if people were cognizant of it then we wouldn’t be where we are today.  Here’s just a thought on how Ron Paul could win. There are a lot of hypotheticals involved, but it’s better than his “I have no chance” plan.

1.  We suffer no major terrorist attack on our soil between now and the election.  This is important because as long as there is no attack George Bush’s policies will get no credit for it.  People wouldn’t give George Bush credit for pharting if he let a loud, disgusting whopper in front of the white house press corps.  As long as there isn’t an attack the democrats and Ron Paul take the edge.  I’m not counting Fred yet, because Fred isn’t counting Fred yet.

2.  The democrats nominate Hillary Clinton.  I think this is going to happen.  I knw all the newsies are gaga over Barack right now, but it is going to become all to obvious that he hasn’t the experience necessary to win the white house. Neither does his campaign staff.  Hillary would lose the centrists, and even some of the lefties.  She isn’t all that likeable.

3.  Rudy continues to go right.  His comments about only seating strict constructionist judges does not sit well in the center, and the right wing christian conservatives are not a large enough block to get him elected.  Right wing Rudy can’t win the nomination, and this would open the door for Ron.

4.  Mitt continues to be mormon.  i know it shouldn’t matter, but we live in a very bigoted society.  If you are different we hate you or fear you, and that isn’t going to change before 2008.  I can’t see Mitt repudiating his religion, and he shouldn’t.  It’s his albatross though.  You’ve never heard a politician say “we have to get out the mormon vote.”

5.  Ron doesn’t do anything incredibly stupid.  His borderline stupid statements won’t kill him with the middle class.  They are discouraged, in debt, and watching wages decline versus inflation.  They see themselves being vut out of the American Dream by politicians that squander their resources at an alarming rate.  They watch as the rich get tax breaks, and the breaks they get don’t ever seem to make a differencei n their lives.  They are disenfranchised, and know that either party will promise them the moon, and give them more of the same.  This works for Ron because all he promises them is what they already feel is theirs.

6.  The war in Iraq continues.  Which it will.  Politicians make a lot of strategic mistakes.  The republicans are wrong to think its a winnable war.  The democrats are wrong to think they can benefit by allowing it to continue.  Ron Paul has the market cornered here, and if the two sides don’t change he will keep this ground to himself.  None of the other end the war candidates have any credibility left on the issue.

7.  Gas prices go up,  foreclosures continue to rise, and nothing is done about immigration.  The two parties should be ensuring that enforcement of current law is accomplished, and a compromise can be reached on the reform of immigration policy.

8. Instead of picking another libertarian style candidate, or a Republican to run as his vice president, he waits for Hillary to win and then chooses Barack.  Barack makes a nice addition to the team, and Ron doesn’t look so radical anymore.  Barack has to bend some for this to work, but I could see them securing enough of the left, a bunch of the right, and maybe 80% of the middle.

the key here is can Ron Paul compromise, or does he need to have it his way?  If he does he should head to burger king, because he will never win the election.