My last day at 21...

If someone had told me last year on my 21st birthday that I would be meeting both Al Franken and Tucker Carlson for my 22nd birthday, I would have said, "Your kidding, right?" Well, sure enough, I am meeting both of them tomorrow with NKU's 7th annual Alumni Lecture. Here's a list of prior speakers.

2006: Political pundits Tucker Carlson and Al Franken
2005: Former Democratic Vice Presidential Nominee John Edwards and President and CEO of Forbes, Inc., Steve Forbes
2004: Former Republican Presidential Nominee and Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole and former Democratic Presidential Nominee and U.S. Senator George McGovern
2003: Political Strategist Paul Begala; former Assistant to President George W. Bush Mary Matalin; and Washington Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward
2002: Political Strategist James Carville and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich
2001: Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo and former Republican Presidential Candidate Alan Keyes
2000: Political commentators George Stephanopoulos and George Will

This is my third consecutive alumni lecture in a row that I have attended. That said, I already met Paul Begala when I attended a taping of Crossfire in the summer of 2002!

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean wants to know if you can work on election day.

Senators Evan Bayh and Blanche Lincon have announced a new initiative: the formation of the Senate Parents' Caucus.

"Parents are virtually the only group of Americans who don’t have a lobby in Washington ," the senators wrote in their letter to colleagues. "The Parents’ Caucus will strive to reflect their concerns and give them voice. It will examine the impact of government policies on parents and kids, and work to develop a progressive, pro-family agenda that supports them in their crucial work."

The caucus will work on several issues of particular interest to parents, from economic issues and tax policy to preventing school violence, teen pregnancy and drug abuse. Senator Bayh said that while the challenges facing American families have changed dramatically during the past decade, public policies have not caught up with these new realities.

"As a parent myself, I understand that today’s families are confronted by challenges that my parents’ generation never even dreamed of," Senator Bayh said. "As technology continues to evolve and an increasing number of children are exposed to social pressures like gang activity and drugs in their schools, it is more important than ever to promote government policies that support parents in their efforts raise strong families and healthy children."

Now for another public service announcement.

On Wednesday, October 11 (8 p.m. ET), FOX Sports provides a split-national telecast of Game 2 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the NLCS between the St. Louis Cardinals and the New York Mets from Shea Stadium. Areas of natural geographic interest receive ALCS Game 2 on their local FOX broadcast affiliate, while a simultaneous live feed of NLCS Game 1 is available on the FX cable network. Those areas of the country receiving NLCS Game 1 on their local FOX broadcast affiliate are able to watch ALCS Game 2 on the FX cable network. FX is widely available in over 90 million U.S. households.

Colonel Weaver has called the Republicans who covered up Foleygate as being "very liberal."

When asked to clarify whether he was equating predatory behavior toward children with being liberal, Weaver said that had Foley been a Democrat, the entire party would have been branded as liberals.

"I think that is despicable conduct and that if anybody in the Democratic Party had done that, it would be: 'Those damn liberals are doing it again. We can't trust them,'" he said.

At one point, his campaign manager, Robert Kellar, interrupted the interview to interject that Weaver was "not saying liberals are pedophiles."[...]

On Monday, Weaver said he would not vote for Pelosi to become speaker of the House if Democrats take control of the lower chamber.

Although Weaver bristled at Lewis' characterization of him as being liberal, he insisted on Monday that he wasn't saying that leaning to the left was a bad thing.

State Rep. Kathy Stein, a Lexington Democrat and self-described liberal who serves with Weaver in Frankfort, said the Foley issue has been "fraught with danger" politically for members of both parties, but she said she's confident that Weaver didn't mean to imply that liberals condone Foley's behavior.

Overall, Stein said Weaver's explanations shouldn't hurt him. "I don't think that his statements or what he's doing will alienate the base enough to not vote for him."

I understand where Col. Weaver is coming from on this issue, even if I disagree with how he would vote for the position of house speaker.