Crossposted from The Motley Moose.

I'm going to rant a bit:

The political party that barfed up the hairball that is Sarah Palin, helmed by Michael Keepin' it Real Steele--or depending on the time of day--Rush Limbaugh (the talk radio equivalent of government cheese) has bought the proverbial farm. Dead. Teets up, like Colonel Sanders and Ayn Rand.

The latent racism...err...immigration reform, culture wars, senseless real wars, homophobia, greedy deregulation, trickle-down (i.e. pissing on middle class heads) economics, spreading democracy one smart bomb at a time, and other sundry GOP asshattery has brought about their inevitable (and overdue) demise. Of course, having a semi-sentient uber-douche like George W. Bush as the party's figurehead for eight long years didn't help much either.  Think The Godfather meets Deliverance. Nope, that movie doesn't end well.

Cross-posted (w/ cool photo) at The Motley Moose.

Tomorrow is a big day for football fans. No, not futbol. Apologies to foreign readers, but I'm talking about the uniquely American sports tradition known as the Super Bowl, the Granddaddy of extravagant sporting events. An epic battle first waged on January 15, 1967, between the Green Bay Packers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Coach Vince Lombardi and Quarterback Bart Starr led the Packers to a 35-10 victory.

Tomorrow's Super Bowl XLIII, pitting the underdog Arizona Cardinals against the crushing #1 ranked defense of the Pittsburgh Steelers, is a much different game than the one played back in '67.

Super Bowl I was the only Super Bowl in history that was not a sellout in terms of attendance, despite a TV blackout in the Los Angeles area. Days before the game, local newspapers printed editorials about what they viewed as a then-exorbitant $12 USD price for tickets, and wrote stories about how to pirate the signal from TV stations outside the Los Angeles area.

If you happen to be in Tampa tomorrow, you and three friends can still catch the game live, and in person for a measly 15,000 US dollars.  Oh, how the times have changed.

Crossposted at the always intelligent and irreverent Motley Moose.

The US Air Force, NORAD (North American Aerospace Defense Command), and Pentagon sources confirm that Santa's Sleigh was lost from radar screens at 2,300 feet, somewhere over the western Bering Sea, after tracking a steep descent. Aviation experts said that if the descent continued at that rate, Holiday celebrations around the globe would likely turn somber this year.

Governor Sarah Palin (R - AK), has declared a state of emergency and insists that every available resource would be dedicated to the search and rescue effort. At a press conference with Gov. Palin, which included an odd ceremony in which a large caliber rifle was boiled then buried in her back yard, the Governor said, "We think Putin raised his head up over there in Russia, under the umbrella of job creation, also Maverick".

Crossposted at Motley Moose.

On November 7th, 1860, in the still dark hours of the morning, President Elect Abraham Lincoln excused himself from the Telegraph Office in Springfield, Illinois to walk home and wake his sleeping wife with the news.  Lincoln was "gently touching her shoulder" and received no reply when he whispered her name.   He later recalled, "I spoke again, a little louder, `Mary, Mary!  We are elected!'"

The celebrations had begun hours prior as the returns poured from around the Nation by wire.  Despite the air of elation around him, it's clear that the burdens of the Presidency weighed heavily on Lincoln's mind.  Only a matter of minutes before he woke Mary, Lincoln uttered to friends, "God help me, God help me".

Crossposted at Motley Moose.

No, not really, but according to the PPP poll released very early this morning Ron Paul is pulling about 4% that John McCain might otherwise get.

Crossposted at Motley Moose.

Desperation to resurrect his increasingly hopeless Presidential aspirations has led John McCain to press his divisive rhetoric even further beyond the pale: associating Barack Obama with the specter of socialism. Consequently, he has fueled the irrational fears of his less than reality based supporters to such an extent that they equate Obama with terrorism, with treason, and with the bizzaro belief that the Democratic nominee is somehow a danger to the Nation. Fostering an atmosphere of anxiety and anger may likely earn McCain a place in history alongside the likes of Joe McCarthy.  Whatever honor lies extant in him has suffered under the yoke of his blind ambition.

How will history judge John McCain?  As the son of a public high school History teacher, I learned early to look to the past when seeking to learn about our present--and our future.

Crossposted at Motley Moose and DailyKos.

Heh.  You read me right.  Ha, ha, ha, ha!  Joshua Trevino, co-founder of the conservative blogging flagship site Redstate can't pull the trigger for the McCain/Palin ticket.

Crossposted at Motley Moose

Despite a public outcry and resounding condemnation from the chattering class (brilliantly documented by DCDemocrat) about whipping angry mobs to a near violent frenzy with devisive (and false) rhetoric, the McCain/Palin campaign reached an all new low today.

John McCain had a chance to do the right and honorable thing, which would have been to condemn the lunatics who shout out things like Traitor!, Terrorist! , Kill him!, or verbally accost African American members of the media. Up until today, he appeared to have chosen the slimy route instead, and by letting it go on, they've essentially encouraged the toxic behavior.  Both Obama and Biden have pushed back hard against the smears, and by all accounts they've done so effectively.