The answer to that frequent question

This is my blog, not that of the Kentucky Democratic Party. It just happens to be that the name of this blog and the name of the party are similar when you look it up on yahoo or google. This is a personal blog that just happens to be politically oriented and will stay that way for the time to come. Any other questions?

Iowans are comfortable with a midwestern candidate.

We have known this for quite some time now. Of course, Ernie Fletcher lacks leadership. Republicans do not know how to govern with the rare exceptions of John McCain, Rudy Guiliani, Michael Bloomberg, and Dick Lugar.

A former high-ranking state official told a fellow top Republican that Gov. Ernie Fletcher is "unaware of reality" in regard to the investigation into his administration’s hiring practices and should resign.

"The GOP will be set back decades and all of us who have worked so hard for 20 years have worked for naught," said Basil Turbyfill, Fletcher’s former director of personnel and efficiency, in a Sept. 17 e-mail to former University of Kentucky sports announcer Ralph Hacker, who also has worked part-time as an aide to Fletcher.

"If we could get out of this by the Gov. resigning he should do it," Turbyfill continued.

The governor’s communications director likened that approach to "taking a sledge hammer to get rid of a gnat."

"That’s ridiculous," Brett Hall said today. The e-mails between Turbyfill and Hacker, obtained by the Herald-Leader today, have been passed around in Republican circles for several weeks.

Ah, two more years but we must get through 2006 first and foremost.

Don't tell the mainstream media but comedians draw a big audience when they deliver the news.

Real news is so sad, so serious, so all-consuming and often so poorly reported and poorly presented. So increasingly we turn to fake news — the commentator-spoofing newcomer The Colbert Report, the snarky classic The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the late-night monologues of Jay Leno and David Letterman, the weekend updates on Saturday Night Live.

These shows wrap sharp satire around current events. They're funny, and who among us doesn't need a good laugh these days?

"This show is not about me," the incredibly pompous, overly dramatic Stephen Colbert said on his show recently. "No, this program is dedicated to the heroes. Who are the heroes? The people who watch this show."[...]

Co-anchor Tina Fey said on a recent SNL weekend update: "U2 lead singer Bono met with President Bush in the White House on Wednesday and urged the president to help the world's poor. The president urged Bono to get back together with Cher."

Are the general managers doing what I think they are doing? While talking about trading, and with horrible calls this past postseason, they are considering: INSTANT REPLAY!!

That, however, won't stop big-league general managers from debating the issue during their weeklong annual meetings, which opened Monday.

Instant replay isn't on the official agenda for the meetings, which typically serve as a period to lay groundwork for possible trades and free agent signings. But with all the controversial calls, many of which were proved incorrect by network TV, it's certain to be a heated subject before the executives head home Friday.

The Atlanta Braves' John Schuerholz, dean of GMs with 25 years, doesn't budge when the subject comes up.

"I'm 65 years old and have been in baseball 40 years," says Schuerholz, whose club has won 14 consecutive division titles. "I'm certainly not in favor of it. The great thing about our game is that it's a game played by humans. Shortstops make errors, pitchers make bad pitches and every once in a while an umpire might make a bad judgment."[...]

St. Louis Cardinals GM Walt Jocketty says, "All of us who watch games on TV are able to see plays slowed down over and over again. The umpires are trained to make a quick decision based on what they see.

"I would like them, if there's a question, to ask for help. I think they've gotten away from that a little bit — getting together to make a consensus call."

By the way, if you are able to vote today, please do!

Senator Tom Daschle has made no plans for 2008...at least, not yet.

Daschle says, "I'm at a point where I'm enjoying my life, enjoying the freedom, the chance to go around the world and come home again. And I'm going to continue to experience it and see where it all takes me."

Daschle plans to keep giving speeches and start hosting a town hall forum through Georgetown University. He's also writing one book on renewable energy and another about progressive values, which he's working on with his daughter.

Peoplen keep saying that they will only vote for a candidate who voted against the Iraq war resolution. Well, then, I don't know what to say about that because I just don't think Senator Russ Feingold plays well with red state America. To have a litmus test for the 2008 candidate is just wrong. Listen, I'm backing Evan Bayh all the way no matter how he voted in 2002. Americans were misled in 2002. What we know now would have led to a different vote back then.

Yet, despite the latest Washington Post/ABC poll results indicating that 55 percent of Americans believe that the Bush administration "intentionally misled the American public," many Democrats are standing by their yea votes, including most of those mentioned as possible presidential candidates in 2008, including Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Evan Bayh (Ind.), Joe Biden (Del.) and John Edwards (N.C.).[...]

"Democrats can only make the case that they are better able to defend this country than Republicans by being against this war," the liberal blogger David Sirota said in response to an e-mail question.

"The real pro-national security case against the GOP is the one that says wars are sometimes necessary despite their national security risks but that the Bush administration deliberately misled America about the Iraq War's necessity, and thus unnecessarily weakened America's national security. Democrats can make this case without appearing politically opportunistic by stating the honest truth: that after 9/11 Congress and the American people believed the White House's dire warnings about Iraq, and deferred to the president at a time of national crisis."

I have no litmus test in 2008. I don't know how many times I have to say that.