k

Credit to Allard for honoring the term-limit pledge.

Personally, I think that campaign pledges are just gimmicks and should be ignored by opponents if they are challenged to "pledge" also; but Allard made it and is sticking to it.

The term limit process which I endorse, voters exercising their franchise, may have limited him anyway; but we'll never know.

Allard is such a boring person, the GOP might have a better chance of holding it with someone else as the nominee anyway.

Nothing against Mark Udall, but it might be fun to have a Salazar Brothers tandem represent the state.

'One of the reasons I went independent from Democrat is the inability of many Dems to believe there are Republicans with integrity. Well, I know a lot of them, personally. '

Well, I don't, okay? It's true that I once did, but anyone who is 'proud to be gop' at this point in time is either simpleminded or beliigerent. Or both, usually. And in any case, you don't have a problem with the constant deluge of abuse that democrats get from media, from pundits, from talk show hosts? With all these books that are out [like Dinesh D'souzas, for instance] accusing 'liberals' of being the cause of 9/11? Those things aren't a problem for you?

Maybe you're a concern troll, then.

The Post fronts the story of the third official inmate at Guantanamo to illustrate the plight of some who have been held at the naval station for five years despite the lack of evidence against them. The story of Gholam Ruhani is particularly compelling because all evidence seems to point at him having simply been at the wrong place at the wrong time, but he is still being held indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the NYT and WSJ note Defense Secretary Robert Gates criticized Iran in a meeting with reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels before flying to Afghanistan. Gates accused Iran of "acting in a very negative way" in the Middle East and emphasized the United States is planning to be in the region "for a long time."

like as long as oil companies want us to be.

'The LAT fronts a look at how the Iraqi government is making efforts to improve its relationship with Iran, even while the United States is doing exactly the opposite. The U.S. military is still holding the five Iranians it detained last week, and Army Gen. George W. Casey said several of those in custody worked for Iran's intelligence services and were "working with Iraqis to destabilize Iraq and target coalition forces." Meanwhile, Iraq's foreign minister told the Times his government is planning on increasing the number of Iranian consulates inside the country. Notably, the paper waits until near the end of the story to report that, according to the foreign minister, the U.S. military has not shared any of the proof that the Iranians were spies, and Iraqi officials did not participate in the interrogations.'

'The Washington Post leads with word that during the State of the Union address next week President Bush will say having a balanced federal budget is one of his priorities.'

And the way to achieve that will be to roll back the gigantic tax breaks for billionaires? No, silly, to cut Social Security payments, of course. Wait for it.

'Three nights of freezing temperatures have destroyed up to three-quarters of California's $1 billion citrus crop, according to an estimate issued Monday as forecasters warned the weather could continue.

Other crops, including avocados and strawberries, also have suffered damage in the cold snap, agricultural officials said.

"This is one of those freezes that, unfortunately, we'll all remember," said A.G. Kawamura, secretary of the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

The latest freeze will likely surpass the damage done by a three-day cold snap in December 1998 that destroyed 85 percent of California's citrus crop, a loss valued at $700 million, Kawamura said.

Overnight temperatures dropped into the teens again early Monday in parts of the San Joaquin Valley, where many of the state's oranges and lemons are grown, according to the National Weather Service. The subfreezing conditions came after a weekend of record lows.'

Like I've been saying, the agriculture sector is going to continue to be hit bad. Look for losses in the billions this year.

2008 will not be kind to Republican senators, seeing that many of them are in the Class of 2002, which is when Bush's popularity was sky high and the GOP had a huge advantage on terrorism. Some of these new senators may be one term wonders with no staying power.

As for Allard, he should be commended for honoring his self-imposed term limit pledge. Having said that, his retirement does the GOP no favors. It looks like the GOP may have to wait until 2012 to get its majority back. (2004's Republican Senate class is similar to 2002's. This is why 2010 will also likely be a Democratic year.)

I so hope Tancredo runs for something other than Representative, he can lose that AND Democrats can take his seat in the house.

As for Wyoming, Cubin shot herself and Trauner will be back. I think Wyoming will be an interesting race next year as well. As long as Bush is an issue, and he will be long into this race, only the far right will come to the races as they truely believe this country backs them and how wrong they are.

Charlie, you are correct in your remark about Wyoming-Dave Freudenthal is a Democrat, though sometimes I wonder. The Democrat (Gary Trauner) running for the lone house seat ALMOST WON this cycle. Not 10% but as within striking distance of a recount.

People moving to Colorado from the other time zones will tend toward the Progressive. Life-long Westerners, previously Republican, are live-and-let-live types with strong love for the land. Look at Jon Tester, for example. Even Wyoming (where Dick Cheney graduated from high school) has a Democratic governor, for cryin' out loud. Don't be too surprised by--nor read too much into--a little blue tint in the Mountain states.

Bill Ritter, Colorado's new govenor, gave his first state of the state the other day. Alternative energy, education and universal health care were the primary themes in his speech. The west is moving to the left quickly. Bill Owens, a slimy Bush style Republican with an adultery problem, should think twice.

Chris Cizilla, you're a ----ing genious. I am hoping to have a career very similar to yours someday.

xjspzx@peoplepc.com
I'm a political junkie like you, so if you read this and get the time, you gotta tell me who you think has the edge for the Democratic nomination for Governor of Kentucky.

Rothenberg already had CO has one of the most vulnerable seats. Now I'm sure it holds the top slot.

http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2007/01/2008-senate-ratings.html

Chris you are such a cool guy. I listen to you on NPR and I like your blog. But you really need to change that picture. You look like an idiot with your lips all pursed up liker that. Get a new one man.

A run by Tancredo for president would hang by the illegal alien thread, and it now seems he would have to compete with Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) for this slice of the voter pie.

Tancredo's stated reason for tilting at the presidential windmill would be to raise awareness of the issues surrounding our open borders and the tens of millions of illegal aliens.

It remains to be seen just how big this media-papered-over issue will be in the run-up to 2008.

http://whathappenedtomycountry.blogspot.com

I heard Alfred E. Newman is running for the 5th District Congress in Missouri. Any truth to that rumor?

http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/message/index.php?id=204

Wednesday, January 10th, 2007

Dear Mr. President: Send Even MORE Troops (and you go, too!) ...from Michael Moore

Dear Mr. President,

Thanks for your address to the nation. It's good to know you still want to talk to us after how we behaved in November.

Listen, can I be frank? Sending in 20,000 more troops just ain't gonna do the job. That will only bring the troop level back up to what it was last year. And we were losing the war last year! We've already had over a million troops serve some time in Iraq since 2003. Another few thousand is simply not enough to find those weapons of mass destruction! Er, I mean... bringing those responsible for 9/11 to justice! Um, scratch that. Try this -- BRING DEMOCRACY TO THE MIDDLE EAST! YES!!!

You've got to show some courage, dude! You've got to win this one! C'mon, you got Saddam! You hung 'im high! I loved watching the video of that -- just like the old wild west! The bad guy wore black! The hangmen were as crazy as the hangee! Lynch mobs rule!!!

Look, I have to admit I feel very sorry for the predicament you're in. As Ricky Bobby said, "If you're not first, you're last." And you being humiliated in front of the whole world does NONE of us Americans any good.

Sir, listen to me. You have to send in MILLIONS of troops to Iraq, not thousands! The only way to lick this thing now is to flood Iraq with millions of us! I know that you're out of combat-ready soldiers -- so you have to look elsewhere! The only way you are going to beat a nation of 27 million -- Iraq -- is to send in at least 28 million! Here's how it would work:

The first 27 million Americans go in and kill one Iraqi each. That will quickly take care of any insurgency. The other one million of us will stay and rebuild the country. Simple.

Now, I know you're saying, where will I find 28 million Americans to go to Iraq? Here are some suggestions:

1. More than 62,000,000 Americans voted for you in the last election (the one that took place a year and half into a war we already knew we were losing). I am confident that at least a third of them would want to put their body where their vote was and sign up to volunteer. I know many of these people and, while we may disagree politically, I know that they don't believe someone else should have to go and fight their fight for them -- while they hide here in America.

2. Start a "Kill an Iraqi" Meet-Up group in cities across the country. I know this idea is so early-21st century, but I once went to a Lou Dobbs Meet-Up and, I swear, some of the best ideas happen after the third mojito. I'm sure you'll get another five million or so enlistees from this effort.

3. Send over all members of the mainstream media. After all, they were your collaborators in bringing us this war -- and many of them are already trained from having been "embedded!" If that doesn't bring the total to 28 million, then draft all viewers of the FOX News channel.

Mr. Bush, do not give up! Now is not the time to pull your punch! Don't be a weenie by sending in a few over-tired troops. Get your people behind you and YOU lead them in like a true commander in chief! Leave no conservative behind! Full speed ahead!

We promise to write. Go get 'em W!

Yours,

Michael Moore
mmflint@aol.com
www.michaelmoore.com

For uncensored news please bookmark:

otherside123.blogspot.com
www.wsws.org
www.onlinejournal.com
www.takingaim.info

Final New York ballot count gives SEP Senate candidate more than 11,000 votes

The certified election results announced by the state of New York last month recorded 11,071 votes cast for the Socialist Equality Party's candidate for US Senate, Bill Van Auken. This final official tally represents more than a 41 percent increase over the unofficial returns announced in the immediate aftermath of the November 2006 midterm elections.

Van Auken challenged incumbent Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton in the race, running on a platform demanding the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all US troops from Iraq and advancing socialist policies to combat social inequality. His name was placed on the ballot through a concerted petition campaign that won the support of 25,000 New York voters.

While the overall New York State Board of Elections results recorded a major increase in the SEP vote statewide--over an initial count of 7,738--the New York City Board of Elections, which issues the final count for the city's five boroughs, produced precisely the opposite change in its final count.

The city board claimed in its official tally that the SEP candidate received only 741 votes, as opposed to the 2,594 ballots that were reported cast for Van Auken in the city in the immediate aftermath of the November 7 election. In other words, more than two thirds of the votes for the SEP candidate in the city of New York were mysteriously wiped out in the city board's final count.

An official at the Manhattan Board of Elections attributed the fall in the SEP vote total to a "computer glitch," claiming that the first vote totals reported were "the correct ones" and that the report would be corrected on the New York City Board of Elections web site.

For the rest please go to:

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2007/jan2007/nyvo-j15.shtml

This has got to scare the pants off of the RNC. How many more guys like this are there going to be? Republican legislators who liked being in the majority, liked getting things done but watched their party get clobbered in 2006 and are deciding that they'd rather not run themselves ragged just to be 2008's Mike Dewine or George Allen. Especially now that they are in the minority and enjoying their jobs less than before.

Step out voluntarily and they're keeping their options open for when the political climate changes in a few cycles. Lose the election and their career is probably over.

There will be more. Candidate retention has got to be the #1 problem facing the RNC this cycle. While it's not impossible for the GOP to retain open seats like Allard's, we all know perfectly well that the surest way to flip a seat is to let it open up. If there are more than a couple of these than the Democrats will definitely be adding to their majority.

I think that this is a bad thing for Udall. Udall, so far, is pretty much the Democratic nominee(which makes me think that early announcements in statewide races may help, a perfect example being Gov. Spitzer of NY). Sen. Allard is unpopular and was named one of America's 5 worst Senators by Time, not to mention the measley amount of campaign cash he had. I think since Allard's out, Udall will have a tougher time. I still would say he has the edge over almost anyone. Former Rep. Beauprez may still have cash from his last race, but I don't see him doing any better this time. The second strongest Republican I think would be Rep. Tom Tancredo. Former Gov. Bill Owens, in my mind, would be the only candidate starting out on an even slate with Udall. Owens vs. Udall would be really interesting. Reguardless Udall is undoubtedly the frontrunner at this point.

I think that this is a bad thing for Udall. Udall, so far, is pretty much the Democratic nominee(which makes me think that early announcements in statewide races may help, a perfect example being Gov. Spitzer of NY). Sen. Allard is unpopular and was named one of America's 5 worst Senators by Time, not to mention the measley amount of campaign cash he had. I think since Allard's out, Udall will have a tougher time. I still would say he has the edge over almost anyone. Former Rep. Beauprez may still have cash from his last race, but I don't see him doing any better this time. The second strongest Republican I think would be Rep. Tom Tancredo. Former Gov. Bill Owens, in my mind, would be the only candidate starting out on an even slate with Udall. Owens vs. Udall would be really interesting. Reguardless Udall is undoubtedly the frontrunner at this point.

Gee, it it possible Allard is just a man of his word and serving out two terms as he promised? One of the reasons I went independent from Democrat is the inability of many Dems to believe there are Republicans with integrity. Well, I know a lot of them, personally. Now we have Dems bashing Allard for doing what he promised his constituents. This kind of partisanship drives people to the other party. That attitude will make the Democratic majority a short one. Look where it got the Republicans.

I keep wondering at times just what it is that makes a statement that has already been stated make news. The news, although hidden, is the dems chooseing Colorado for their convention in 08 and should give them the edge in all politics in the state.

Good for him. He made a promise and he kept it. Too many Congressman promise term limits when they get into office but change their minds later.

More likely Allard saw the handwriting on the wall....the Bush anchor around his neck, coupled with a growing Democratic tilt in Colorado. He wouldn't stand a chance agianst Udall, and he knew it. Now the Republicans will probably nominate crazy Tom Tancredo or Both-Ways Bob Beauprez, practially guaranteeing a win for the Democrats.

this is the first of several shoes to drop as republican senators contemplate stiff fights to achieve the probable continuance of minority status. all the republicans on foreign relations are up and will have to defend their war. several are likely to retire, chief among them john warner. in pursuit of the permanent republican majority through war and domestic divisiveness, bush may have instead provided a decade of democratic dominance.

Wave bye-bye to those hopes of picking up a senate majority through profiting from a mans sickness, GOP.