Insomnimusing: Allons-y!

"My mama always taught me to play by the rules and to respect the rules...When you decide to change those rules - especially in the middle of the game - that is referred to as cheating" - Donna Brazile The depths of my despondency were not enough to keep me away from the Democratic National Committee's rules committee meeting to determine the allocation of the delegates from Michigan and Florida. Apparently, I can go without food or air, but I can't give up politics - not when they're this compelling, anyway. I don't know if I'll be able to manage any kind of analysis or commentary, but for now, observing the process is enough. Btw, I have been neglecting my workouts terribly, but my newly trimmed waistline still deserves some showing off. I don't recommend it, but if you absolutely must lose seven pounds in less than a week... *** WOOHOO! Update - something *settled* for Florida and Michigan. Unless there's an appeal. So......are we done yet?

The big political news this week is the endorsement by vice-presidential candidate John Edwards of presumptive-to-everyone-but-Hillary Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. What took so long? Edwards wanted to alienate the minimum possible number of Democrats to boost his progress in fulfilling his VP aspirations. Oh yeah, I heard somewhere that Hillary Clinton won a presidential primary .... West Virginia, I think it was .... Are we at all surprised? No. Does anyone care? No. Also in the headlines - Sen. Ted Kennedy has been hospitalized after having a seizure. Little further word on that. I speculate that attempting to justify his continued opposition to wind farms in his pretty little backyard while maintaining the facade of a party-line Democratic environmentalist finally made something up there snap. (I won't even get into the history - it's well documented. Karma's left this guy alone for waaaaaaaaay too long now.) There are doctors seeking other possible...

Another late night and I have no excuse whatsoever. I've been trying to distract myself today, so I changed up my routine. Unfortunately, I changed it up so much that I completely forgot to watch American Idol. Instead, I watched coverage of the primary returns. THAT was a complete waste of time! CNN called West Virginia for Hillary Clinton with ZERO percent of the precincts reporting! We ALL knew that! Hell, Obama condeded West Virginia a week and a half ago. But still, I had it on for three hours, listening to the pundits say the same things over and over. Listening to tonight's token Clinton supporter who keeps arguing that it's not at all unlikely that Hillary will take 73 percent of the remaining delegates, and all of Florida and Michigan's delegates will be seated as if they had not broken their own rules. As I said, what a waste of time. Also, worked at the office today instead of from home. My routine has become working from home, especially with the gas prices ...

Dear Hillary, It is time to go now. You've done what you can, but it is over. Please - before your image begins to rapidly decompose from "passionate and dedicated" to "delusional and pathetic" - step aside now. Do not become the Ron Paul of the Democratic party. As I recall, unlike many others in this country these days, you've still got a really good, high-paying job with phenomenal benefits, perks and privileges. Go back to the Senate and count your blessings. Thanks for your part in the most exciting political race I've ever seen. Now go home. Sincerely, Just me

If there's one thing I love about this presidential campaign (and let's face it - there are a WHOLE LOTTA things I'm loving about this election!), it's the fact that I'm seeing Donna Brazile all over the place lately. For those of you who don't know, Donna Brazile is a Democratic political activist and strategist who has been on the political scene for the past 30 years. She's worked on pretty much every major Democratic presidential endeavor since 1976. Now, based on my history, one might deduce that I would have little affection for this woman, but that could not be further from the truth. I find that whenever her face appears on the 24-hour news channels or as a guest on this or that political roundtable, I have to stop everything I'm doing to listen to whatever she has to say. She never fails to impress with the depth of her knowledge and understanding, and her keen sensibilities. And more than that - she's just got personality. This week though...

Let's look at this proposed temporary gas tax holiday recommended by Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. John McCain - opposed by Sen. Barack Obama . Now, I have to tell you, for the past couple of days I've been siding with Obama on this one. I did the math to determine exactly how much I would save over the course of 12 weeks (I guessed - I didn't bother to check how long is actually is from Memorial Day to Labor Day) if they suspended the 18 cent/gallon federal gas tax. In that situation, Obama was right. For the average Joe, the direct savings would be pretty insignificant. For me, my savings would be something around $40 or so - total. I'd save 40 bucks over the course of the whole summer. Big deal........right? It's just a feel-good gimmick. Well, no. That's not the big deal - and I haven't heard Clinton or McCain mention it either. The big direct impact that gas tax holiday would make would be in the transportation industry. All along we've been tal...

Greetings, from the All-American girl munching on corn dogs and sipping a glass of cheap American Rose wine! (I almost feel an urge to "yeehaw!") It's another late night for me, but won't be as it has been. I've been absent the past few days - partly because I've been in the grips of a brutal case of insomnia. I finally managed to get a couple of hours' sleep this evening after getting about an hour or so a night for the past three nights. Even that little bit seems to have worked wonders, and I believe I'll be able to break the cycle tonight. I wish I could have gotten some sleep sooner. I'd love to get really deep into tonight's Democratic debate, but unfortunately, I just don't have the presence of mind or strength to do it. I can't resist making a few comments though. First of all, I thought the clear "winner" in this debate was Obama, although I believe that Clinton held her own. She had some serious weak points, but I th...

I feel so powerful! Two days ago I said that I wanted to hear the candidates address the economy, and today, all three did! (Okay, I'm kidding that I think my comment had anything to do with it. I'm not delusional - just a little unwell.....hehe) I have to admit that I wasn't able to get all three speeches in their entirety (and the president's speech on the war on terror - it was a busy day!), so I won't be making any specific comments on the speeches. I'm following the new pastor debacle - Pastor James David Manning calling Obama "trash" and "born of trash." This one's going to be interesting. Even Sean Hannity argued that Obama is a human being and deserves to be treated better and that such speech was completely unacceptable. Well, I think there might be a little less controversy about this pastor problem. But then again, I've been proven too naive before....

Some who know me are questioning how I - a once-avowed Conservative (although I have since disavowed any labeling of myself, as I have found it to be far too limiting) - can support Barack Obama in this election, especially as he has been identified as one of the farthest-Left members of Congress. Different periods in history have different priorities and of course, different circumstances. Who is the right man or woman for the job depends on the time in history. It is my belief that this particular time in history needs to see a beginning to healing of the racial divisions in this country. Granted, there are several of his positions politically that I don't necessarily agree with, but I can live with that for several reasons. On the war: Public opinion so staunchly against the war that continuation of it, regardless of outcome, will be met with protests of growing vehemence from the public. The only option at this point, for an incoming president, would be to either pull out the t...

Things I came across randomly today: - Geena Davis' name is misspelled in the opening credits for Thelma & Louise. No, seriously. I've never watched the movie, but it came on TV today, and I saw the opening credits. I couldn't believe it and looked more closely. There it was: "Genna Davis" - Bloggers and columnists are impressing me - and the TV folks are depressing me - on their coverage of Obama's speech. TV folks seem to be focusing on Obama's refusal to sever all connection with his pastor. Seems a little off to me... - Beyond America's Original Sin in today's New York Times. Read this. Please. - This story is tragicomedy at its finest BUMMER - Late breaking news tells of some contract workers checking out Obama's passport application papers. Two workers were fired and one was reprimanded, it seems. Oh, and this apparently happened two months ago, and it's just now getting out. This is going to get interesting over the next few da...

I've been called naive more than once in my life (always figured it had more to do with my appearance and personable disposition than with any real perception of my understanding of the world). I always denied it, but I'm beginning to think it's true. I waited with great anticipation for Barack Obama's speech yesterday. It was everything I wanted him to say, but more than I'd ever hoped possible. For too long now, open discourse has been nonexistent in this country, as there are certain topics that we're just not allowed to talk about. In our modern America, the biggest taboo topic of all has been race. There is no understanding, because in any case of misunderstanding or lack of knowledge, we're NOT ALLOWED to ask. I was elated to hear Obama speak so openly and passionately from his own experiences on this issue - opening the door for more candid discussion all the way around. After experiencing this moment in history, I could not imagine that anyone could ...

To me, "conservative" means smaller government, lower taxes, individual freedom, personal responsibility and accountability, and less government involvement in our private lives. That said, I'll be the first one to admit - to argue strongly, in fact - that the vast majority of politicians representing themselves as conservatives are the furthest thing imaginable from that ideal. And while I generally have identified myself publicly as a conservative, I will be the first to say - nay, to STRESS EMPHATICALLY - that I hold many views on issues that are decidedly NOT conservative in conservatism's current incarnation. For just a few examples, I support gun control (done CORRECTLY - thoughtless and broad bans of guns just criminalize gun ownership, and the criminals aren't terribly concerned about that); I support an independent Palestinian state; I support the right to gay marriage (the slippery slope and/or destruction of the family arguments are complete crap - and...

This just in.....there's a blizzard warning in effect until 4 p.m. tomorrow....ugh.....I'll never get to leave the house again.... In our MSN convo yesterday - and again in our call today - *** informed me that his favorite music site had been busted, and it reminded me that I have not yet begun to replace the hundreds - if not thousands - of music files I lost in a recent software glitch. Some of those files were back-ups of CDs that have since become damaged and unusable. Now I'm working on back-ups of back-ups. I hate to lose music. Now, while this seems like a good opportunity for a discourse on the morality/legality of music downloading, I won't be getting into it tonight. I just don't have it in me right now. Looking at headlines, I see that Hillary Clinton is in Wyoming right now marketing herself now as the "underdog." I think yesterday she was the one to beat again (but not if you look at the math of it really...) - the one with all the momentum. ...

Well, the snow hit. And boy, did it hit! It started about four hours ago, and I have yet to see it actually fall to the ground. As near as I can tell, it's moving directly from left to right. It must be hitting the ground at some point because I can see it down there. Really....this hibernation idea is looking better and better.... ---- Seven hours in, and this snow isn't getting any lighter. On the contrary, it seems to be getting even heavier. I don't think I'll be going anywhere today... Most of my day was spent working, and the rest has been wandering around online - which actually, is *work* for me, in a way. I write a weekly column about the Internet, so surfing is part of my duty. Besides, lately, the poker rooms at Facebook and the blogs of a few of my friends and other persons of acquaintance are my only contacts with the outside world. Good thing I kick ass at Texas Hold'em. :) I look forward to the weather clearing, so I can get out some time within the c...

Have you ever seen one of those nature specials that shows the massive chunks of ice breaking away from the iceberg and crashing into the sea? I feel as if I'm living in one of those today as the temperature rises and the inch-thick layer of ice is being shed from the roof. Sporadically and without warning, the house rumbles and a huge sheet of ice falls past my window. I'll be sure to take care when I go out today and step quickly from the threshold to my car. **** Now my new blog will begin to take on its anticipated shape. (Random and meandering.....don't even TRY to make sense of it.....)  Probably a good thing nobody's reading it yet - it'll give me the opportunity to break it in a bit. :) It's late at night....and as usual, I'm nowhere near falling asleep.... The big thaw came today, and I ventured out again. It appears that not a single tree in the region escaped damage from the ice. Picked up some Chinese food and got back to my cubby. Can't beli...