I went to the Obama rally ...

... in Greensboro, N.C., yesterday and it was an awesome experience! For those of you all who live in areas where he will be coming in the next few weeks, make it your business to attend. Of course, I have pictures:

A little more than 12 hours after he and Sen. McCain had they much publicized debate in Mississippi, Sens. Obama and Biden flew 663 miles for a rally in what is being called the "new" Ohio. My fair state of North Carolina has become a battleground state in this election and given our current conditions, why wouldn't it be? We have some of the highest taxes in the Southeast. A large population of poor people confined to rural and depressed areas. And, the entire state has been brought to its knees with repeated closing of textile factories all across the state. To give you all a little background, I am from a very rural area of the state called Fairmont. Fairmont is located in Robeson County, the biggest county - in area, and the poorest county. Robeson County is probably the only place in the country where you can own acres upon acres of land and several houses and still be poor. I know of at least four textile factories in my hometown that have closed down. There are at least 20 more throughout the county that no longer exist because of jobs being sent overseas. Also keep in mind that my area relied a lot on the tobacco industry. Nearly a decade ago, Congress offered the tobacco farmers a buyout to stop growing so much tobacco in their effort to keep so many Americans from smoking and using other tobacco products. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with getting people to stop smoking, but I have a problem with taking away an industry without replacing it with another. Before I stand up on that soap box, I will say that Obama spoke to us about bringing back some of the industries that we've lost and putting more into education so that our next generation can get more out of it. I don't know about ya'll but I can get into that. I will be posting my commentary on the debate later on, I still haven't watched it all. I also have a few videos from yesterday that I will post later on.

Have ya heard?

The debate is back on! I knew it would be, I don't think Sen. McCain took too kindly to being called an old punk. Hell, we all know he's old, he doesn't have to be a punk too. I say, be one or the other and let's face it, one of them, he can't help. I just saw the picture of him and blonde Elvira boarding his plane. Hopefully, they are on their way to Mississippi. They only have a little more than seven hours before the debate is expected to begin. Seeing as how it took his 22 hours to get to Washington, D.C., from New York City, he's already a day behind. Anyway, I won't be able to comment during or immediately after the debate. But I will be posting tomorrow afternoon, hopefully with a surprise for you guys where you'll be able to read my delightful commentary on tonight's happenings.

Am I a hypocrite ...

... because I find this funny?

OK, I was totally offended by the Obama cover. But as we have gotten further along, I've started looking back on the journey and the foolishness that we are being inundated with at it relates to the Democratic presidential nominee and this wasn't that bad. Granted, it is offensive but it is not as dangerous as those fools in Denver riding around with the weapons talking about an assassination plot on Sen. Obama. It's not nearly as dangerous as the fool who was arrested near his home in Chicago. All of the tasteless jokes and sad attempts at satire now all seem so trivial because these fools are trying to jeopardize the safety of him and his family. Not to get off subject, I just think those two guys are h.i.larious!!! The difference in what they did and what the graphic artists and editors at the New Yorker did is Stewart and Colbert make their living spoofing all things news and political. The New Yorker is regarded as a reputable media outlet therefore there isn't much room left for satire, in my opinion. If anything, that should have been the cartoon in the Op-Ed section, not the cover. At any rate, I hope you guys love Colbert and Stewart as much as I.

Well, I'd say it's mighty damn convenient ...

... that Sen. John McCain wants to suspend his campaign to focus on this "historic" economic crisis our country is being faced with at this time. He plans to return to Washington, D.C., to help resolve the issue of whether or not to bail out these Wall Street companies that are really far in debt. CNN reported that he plans to suspend his campaign meaning he won't run commercials or participate in Friday's debate unless this thing has been resolved. **A-choo** You'll have to excuse me, I'm allergic to bullshit. Wouldn't you all say that it is mighty damn convenient that McCain all of a sudden wants to run to D.C.to resolve a problem 10 years in the making? Wouldn't you think that he's simply not ready for this debate because he knows he's going to get a bunch of questions like, "how come a Republican-run House and Senate didn't see this coming 10 years ago?" The funny thing is Democrats just became the majority two years ago so a lot of this they have inherited. Then again, they should have been trying to do something to prevent a fall out of this magnitude. At any rate, I can not be the only one who thinks McCain is just doing this to save some money and to have more time to prepare himself for this debate. Think about it, this week, he has a couple of points on Obama in the polls and he's had some problems maintaining his momentum in the past. Add to that the fact that Campbell Brown obliterated him and his cronies for their sexist treatment of her. I tell you that the man is a-skeerd! Shoot, wouldn't you be? He's debating Barack Freakin' Obama, who would want to be in opposition of that man when he's speaking? Ol' McSame ain't as senile as I initially thought. This was a skillful move - a very skillful and calculated move. You're a good politician Charlie Brown!

OK, I take it back ...

... Tina Fey is the best Sarah Palin.

I've figured it out ...

... Sarah Palin reminds me of the Vancome Lady from MAD TV, seriously. Take a look:

Is that not Palin? They have the same annoying voice and for whatever reason, I think Palin is just as offensive.

And now ...

... meet your other Presidential Candidates for this year's election. For so long, America has been known as a bi-partisan "democracy." We've always had Democrats and Republicans. Well, somewhere along the lines, folks started getting fed up with the foolishness that is this bi-party system and we now have Independents, Socialists, Constitutionalists, Libertarians, Prohibitionists and a partridge in a pear tree. OK, so I did throw in that last one, but you've gotta admit, that's a lot of political parties. I always wondered what the basis of them all are, and lucky for you, I've done the research for you. First up, you got the Independent American Party. Beliefs and Principles According to Wikipedia *ahem* they believe that freedom is founded upon faith in God and the existence of moral law and that our rights come from God, not government and the function of government is to protect those rights. They also believe that the Constitution of the United States is inspired by God. It is a compact between the peoples of the states of that union which the officers of government have a duty to obey. Everybody oughta be familiar with Ralph Nader. He's only been a candidate in the last five or six elections. He's never really had enough folks voting for him to make him viable, but he did have enough votes in 2000 that could have possibly swayed gotten former vice president Al Gore elected or President Bush elected fairly. The remaining candidates are Kelcey Wilson, Frank Moore, Alan Keyes, and Jackson Kirk Grimes. The only one I know of is Alan Keyes and that is because that is the black guy the GOP got to run against Sen. Barack Obama for the Illinois Senate seat in 2004. I'm surprised he's making a run at the White House since he's never even made it to Capitol Hill, but hey, to each his own, right? Next up is one Cynthia McKinney. If her name sounds familiar, it should. She's the state representative who punched a Capitol Hill police officer after he tried to stop her from entering the Longworth House Office Building without passing through the security check point. According to reports, she was not wearing her lapel pin that identifies her as a member of Congress. He went to retrieve her and she punched him. Anyway, the Green Party is apparently a fan of her right hook and extended her the invitation to be their nominee for President of the United States. Here's what I found on the party's Web site about their beliefs. "In the United States, the Green Party has been active as a third party since the 1980s. The party first gained widespread public attention during Ralph Nader's presidential runs in 1996 and 2000. Currently, the primary national Green Party organization in the U.S. is the Green Party of the United States, which has eclipsed the earlier Greens/Green Party USA. There are Green Parties in many nations, with total membership being about a million people. Greens emphasize environmentalism, non-hierarchical participatory democracy, social justice, respect for diversity, peace and nonviolence." Onto the Socialists, their candidate is Brian Moore. I have never heard of this guy. The Web site states that the party: "strives to establish a radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control -- a non-racist, classless, feminist socialist society where working people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically-controlled public agencies; where full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work; where workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions; and where the production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few." I couldn't find a pic of him that was worth using so you'll have to click the link to get a look at him. Next up are the Constitutional and Liberatarian parties. All I know about the parties and candidates is what I got from Google and their sites. I lumped them together because both parties have managed to get candidates who look like pedophiles. The Constitutionalists have Chuck Baldwin. According to Wikipedia: "the Constitution Party is a paleoconservative United States political party. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers Party in 1992. The party's official name was changed to the Constitution Party in 1999; however, some state affiliate parties are known under different names. The Constitution Party advocates a Bible-based platform which it claims to reflect original intent of the U.S. Constitution and the principles of the U.S. Declaration of Independence.[3] The party seeks "to restore American jurisprudence to its original Biblical common-law foundations."[4]" The Libertarians have this guy, Bob Barr. Wikipedia says, "The Libertarian Party is an American political party founded on December 11, 1971. It is one of the largest continuing Third parties in the United States, claiming more than 200,000 registered voters and more than 600 people in public office,[2] including mayors, county executives, county-council members, school-board members and other local officials. It has more people in office than all other third parties combined.[3] The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects that group's particular brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, and non-interventionism in foreign policy that respects freedom of trade and travel to all foreign countries." All of that is fine and good, but they still look like pedophiles. New American Independent Party Frank McEnulty The New American Independent Party is a political party in the United States, founded by Michael Thompson in Wayne, Pennsylvania on election day in 2004. The New American Independent Party claims to seek a more sustainable, self-reliant America through a platform of both liberal and conservative views. The New American Independent Party focuses heavily on middle class issues and government reform. Party for Socialism & Liberation Gloria La Riva/Eugene Puryear The Party for Socialism and Liberation is a Marxist party in the United States founded to promote revolutionary change.[2] It was originally created as the result of a split within the ranks of the Workers World Party. The San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle and Washington, D.C. branches of WWP left almost in their entirety to form the PSL. The PSL has since established branches in several additional urban centers across the United States. Prohibition Party Gene Admondson/Leroy Pletten The Prohibition Party is a political party in the United States. The party advocates effective action concerning the use of beverages containing alcohol including dealing with the starter/gateway drug, tobacco Socialist Workers Party Róger Calero/Alyson Kennedy The Socialist Workers Party, or SWP, is a communist political party in the United States. The SWP claims that most of its members are industrial workers and trade union members. One of the SWP's main priorities is supporting Pathfinder Press, which publishes titles by past and present SWP leaders (James P. Cannon, Farrell Dobbs, Evelyn Reed and Jack Barnes) as well as by revolutionaries from Vladimir Lenin and Leon Trotsky to Malcolm X and Che Guevara. Now, with all that said, who do you guys think will actually be on the ballot come November? The more important question is do you even care?