Today is my husband's birthday, even if he refuses to talk about it.  I can't think of a better birthday present than this morning's headlines:

     Clinton Replaces Top Aide Amid Losses

     A Campaign in Trouble

     Clinton v. Obama:  The Lawsuit

     Four-State Sweep for Obama

     Obama Carries Maine Caucuses

     Concludes Weekend Sweep of Clinton

     Clinton is Bracing for A Last Stand

     Clinton Badly needs Virginia Victory

It's not that we want Obama to win, we don't.  And, I ultimately think that Clinton will be the nominee.  But, it is extremely satisfying to watch the "inevitable" candidate having a rough go of it.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall.

About a year and a half ago, my husband and I were adopted by an abandoned beagle who followed me home from my morning walk.  I had seen her before and thought that where I had seen her was where she lived.  That was not the case.  I was told by one of the neighbors that her previous owners had just turned her loose because she was too much for them to handle.  She had been homeless since she was a puppy, taking up residence wherever she could for as long as she could.  Given the fact that we live where the mountain lions and coyotes roam, and where people drive way too fast, the fact that she survived is amazing in and of itself.

Little Girl is without question the sweetest animal on the planet.  I have had animals - dogs and cats - all my life, and I have never had an animal that just loves the way this dog does.  I sit on the floor to read the morning paper, and she'll come over to me and just rest her head on my shoulder.  She follows my husband everywhere and often can be found whining outside the bedroom door when he has stayed in bed past when the Beagle thinks he should have been up and about.

When my husband is gone during the day, she arbitrarily sets up a time when she thinks he should have already been home and begins her vigil on the couch, looking out the window, waiting to see his truck come down the driveway.  When she gets impatient, she begins baying, the unmistakable sound of a hound.  When we've both been gone, it takes about an hour from when we walk through the door for her to calm down.

Having gone through our closets recently to rid ourselves of the excess there, we were stuffing the clothes into trash bags for donation to our local volunteer fire department, which has a pancake breakfast and rummage sale every three months.  Of course, the Beagle was helping.

Somewhere during the event, she saw the "other" beagle in the mirror.  Excitement doesn't even begin to describe it.  She would look in the mirror, head down, butt up, tail wagging furiously.  After awhile, she would run around in circles just to come back to the mirror, head down, etc.  At some point in time, she decided to actually touch the other dog, only to come up against the hard, cold surface of the mirror.  She then decided that the other dog was unfriendly and went on to other things.

Little Girl came to us at a time of great personal tragedy, and we have always considered her our Heaven-sent beagle.  That's the only explanation I can think of that would explain why this little dog, without knowing what awaited her, would follow me for over a mile.

At some point since her arrival, she took over.  My husband and I are no long in charge and, perhaps, it's better that way.

During the recent dust up between the Marines in Berkeley and Code Pink, a glimpse into the mindset of the Left emerged, and it ain't pretty.
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"I was under the impression that we have the right of free speech.  To me, I thought free speech meant you get to say what you want without recrimination."

       Xanne Joi, Code Pink
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The adolescent arrogance behind this statement is so enormous that words have not yet been coined that could fully describe it.

Did she really think she had the right to go through life unquestioned, unchallenged, uncriticized, undisagreed with?  Free speech for me but not for thee?

Once upon a time our granddaughter, who was about 5-6 at the time, was whining because we wouldn't let her do something she wanted to do.  She said, "Why can't I do whatever I want?"

Apparently, there are some who never outgrow this notion.

In a recent interview with Cynthia McFadden of ABC News, Hillary Clinton was asked the following question regarding her husband:

"Can you control him?"

Mrs. Clinton responded, "Oh, of course."

Surely, this is the first time that such a question has been asked of a presidential candidate.

The Clintons love to say that they've been vetted and investigated and that all of "that" is "old news." This question, coming from someone who can hardly be included in the vast right-wing conspiracy,   proves that when it comes to the Clintons, nothing is old news and that Bill's past behavior is very much on everyone's mind. 

Bill Clinton couldn't behave like an adult when he was President of the United States.  What on earth makes anybody think that he'll behave like an adult if his wife is President?  He's already proven that he has no respect for the White House, his wife, and this country.  He's already proven that he's beyond embarrassment.  Other than phony lip-service apologies, he's already proven that he takes no responsibility whatsoever for his bad behavior. 

Control him?  That's a full time job.  How on earth could Hillary give her full attention to the needs of this country while, at the same time, she's trying to control the ADHD adolescent she's married to.

Should the unthinkable happen, who's going to be in charge of babysitting Bill?

With severe winter storms hitting California and snow in Baghdad for the first time in memory and freezing temperatures throughout much of the midwest - with 6 more weeks of winter coming according to Punxsutawney Phil - Al Gore has resurfaced with his pronouncement that global warming is worse than he feared.

Afraid that people might be starting to catch on to his scam and unable to face the loss of all those millions he expects to come rolling in, the High Prophet of the Church of Global Warming has taken his spiel to the Christians.

Speaking before the New Baptist Covenant Celebration in Atlanta, the portly pontificator was heard to utter:  "This is not a political issue.  It is a moral issue.  It is an ethical issue.  It is a spiritual issue."  Further, "The evidence is there.  The signal is on the mountain.  The trumpet has blown.  The scientists are screaming from the rooftops.  The ice is melting.  The land is parched.  The seas are rising.  The storms are getting stronger.  Why do we not judge what is right?"

The latter bit of drivel is a paraphrase of Luke 12:54-55, which says:  "He (Jesus) also said to the multitudes, 'When you see a cloud rising in the west, you say at once,"A shower is coming"; and so it happens.  And when you see the south wind blowing, you say, "There will be scorching heat"; and it happens."  (RSV)

So, what do we learn from these two verses?  That there was rain and scorching heat in biblical times, centuries before global warming.  And if memory serves, there was a heckuva flood some years before Jesus.*

Gore once again criticized the United States, the country that has been so good to him, for not signing the Kyoto Protocol.  Firstly, he was Vice President of the United States and, therefore, President of the Senate, when that treaty was rejected 98-zip by that democrat-controlled body.  Second, despite having not signed the Kyoto Protocol, America has done a better job of reducing its emissions than most countries who did sign.

The ultimate proof that Big Al has gone around the bend and should be sharing a room with Britney Spears lie in his comments that America has proved in the past that it can solve big problems, i.e., winning freedom from England, freeing the slaves, and putting a man on the moon.  He claims that political will is all this nation needs to solve great problems.

Is he kidding?  Not one of these accomplishments is anywhere near as big a problem as controlling the climate of the entire planet.  I venture to say that playing God is a whole lot tougher.

Gore's comment, "When did people of faith get so locked into an ideological coalition . . ." is breathtaking in light of the fact that he's the one locked into an ideological coalition that refuses to allow dissent.  But, the Left never recognizes its own hypocrisy.

Global warming is not a spiritual issue.  "In the beginning, God . . ."  (Genesis 1:1)  Christians know that God created the world when He felt like it.  Is there any reason to believe that He won't destroy it when He feels like it?  And if He does, trust me, there's not thing one we can do about it.

Frankly, I don't know how He's put up with us for so long.
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*  Gore has recently come out in support of gay marriage.  Obviously, there are several other parts of the Bible with which he is similarly unfamiliar.

Three lunkhead legislators in Mississippi - W.T. Mayhall, Jr., (R), John Read (R), and Bobby Shows (D) - have introduced a bill - No. 282 - that would make it illegal for restaurants to serve food to obese people.

Why stop there?  Why not make it illegal for stores to sell them food?  Why not make it illegal for insurers to insure them?  Why not make it illegal for healthcare providers to treat them?  Why not make it illegal for stores to carry clothing for fat people?  Why not make it illegal to rent or sell to them?

Hell, why not just take them out and shoot them?

Problem solved.

A favor I would ask of you before you go to vote.
Of certain things worth mentioning, I ask you to take note.

If you would vote for Hillary because she is a girl,
then by all means please stay at home and give Fox News a whirl.

If Romney, Mitt, is more your style because of his good looks,
forego the vote, you need more smarts, so go and hit the books.

If Mr. O. has caught your eye because his skin is brown,
this country would be better served if you would just skip town.

Perhaps you're liking Johnny M. because of Vietnam.
Then please feel free to surf the web at gotnoclue.com.

If Mr. Edwards gets your nod because he has nice hair,
your vote will not be needed, anytime or anywhere.

This brings us now to Rudy G. of 9/11 fame.
That's not enough for him to stake the White House as his claim.

Just ten months hence will be the time to choose from all of these.
Decisions this momentous have forced many to their knees.

Yet some will vote with no more thought than what I've mentioned here.
And for this country, for this reason, there is much to fear.

It's not too hard to get informed, to learn what's going on.
Ample are the sources from which knowledge can be drawn.

The vote is much too precious and this country worth the time.
So, get the facts, make up your mind, and then get off the dime.

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All rights reserved.

Why on earth is the Left so surprised at the behavior of Bill Clinton as he tries to help Hillary get him back in the White House?

He's not acting presidential?  Hello, he never did, even when he was President.  Where were you for eight years?

They don't like his tactics?  Would those be the same tactics he used against Republicans?  You didn't object then.  Yes, you say, but now he's using them against one of your own and that's just so unseemly.

To the Clintons, people are only objects to be used for their benefit.  Use, manipulate, and discard, as the case may be.  If someone's in their way, run over him/her, and the Clintons have left more than their fair share of bodies in their wake.

BO is in the way of their shared goal.  Therefore, to their way of thinking, he's got to go and whatever they have to do to make that happen, they're going to do.

It's really rather pathetic for the Left to pretend that this is something new or that they're shocked after all, there is precedent.

We have been told ad nauseam that the sub-prime mess, among other things, is leading us into a recession.  At the same time that the President and members of Congress are moving swiftly to pass a stimulus package, and the presidential candidates are falling all over themselves explaining how they would solve the problem, Bush is proposing a five-year, $30 billion give-away to people in other countries who have AIDS.

If we can afford to give away this kind of money, then we are not having economic problems and cannot be heading into a recession.  If, on the other hand, we are heading into a recession, then we cannot afford to give away this kind of money.

These are mutually-exclusive positions.

What about the healthcare crisis here?  What about Social Security?  What about Medicare?  What about our aging infrastructure?  What about our homeless veterans?  What about the collapse of the real estate market?

The American taxpayers have first claim on all monies that pour into the United States Treasury.  Not one thin dime should flow out of this country as long as there is one American in need.

I am not heartless.  I am not without compassion.  I am not a racist.


I wouldn't respect a man who let his family go without because he was spending the family's money elsewhere.  I wouldn't respect a man who helped other kids with their homework while ignoring his own.  I wouldn't respect a man who let his own home fall apart because he was working for Habitat for Humanity.

I wouldn't respect a man who treated his family that way, and I'm certainly not going to respect a President who is treating this nation that way.

Well, Barack Obama is getting an education in how to deal with the Clintons.  Honestly, did he think he was going to come through unscathed when nobody else has?

"I can't tell who I'm running against sometimes".  Number one, it doesn't really matter.  They're interchangeable.  Two, did he really think that Bill would just stay in the background and let his wife have all the face time?

"He (Bill Clinton) continues to make statements that are not supported by the facts."  He's kidding, right?

"I think it's important that we try to maintain some, you know, level of honesty and candor during the course of the campaign."  The Clintons are incapable of this.  How could he not know this?

For reasons that escape me, both of the Clintons have egos that enter the room several hours before they do.  They want to be President again simply for their own egos.  They want the power and the prestige.  Not the power to do good, Bill has already demonstrated that, just the power. Just the rush, the heady, heady rush.

The Clintons may not have brought the politics of personal destruction to Capitol Hill, but they have certainly turned them into an art form.  If BO doesn't know that, then he hasn't been paying attention, and he shouldn't be whining now that he's on the receiving end of the onslaught that everyone else knew was coming.

The last victim of Ted Kennedy has died.

Gwen Kopechne, mother of Mary Jo Kopechne, passed away in December and was laid to rest beside her husband and only child.

Mary Jo Kopechne was only 28 when her life ended at the hands of a vain, self-centered, and ambitious politician.  A man who drove her into a body of water and walked away, leaving her to die, killing her just as surely as if he had put a gun to her head.  A man who never once sought help on his walk back to where he started.  A man who refused to report the incident for a substantial period of time.  A man who, when it finally hit the fan, showed up wearing a neck brace in order to elicit sympathy for himself.

Mr. Kennedy's career never went further than Massachusetts and the people stupid enough to keep voting for him.  So, in one of the ironies of life, Mary Jo Kopechne dead ended Mr. Kennedy's career in a way that Mary Jo Kopechne alive could never have done.  Death will always trump dalliance.

Hard enough to lose a child, especially an only child.  Harder yet when the death is senseless.  Harder still when senseless is coupled with  lack of remorse.

Rest in peace, gentle people.

Those of us who were listening to talk radio yesterday got treated once again to Hillary Clinton's take on the dark days of the Monica Lewinsky matter.  Oh, the pain of it all.  However did she make it through.  Doesn't it just make you want to throw up when you hear her talk about this.

First of all, us cynics out here don't believe for one second that she was surprised.  Let's face it, it wasn't the first time, and it's not like it wasn't going on right in her home.  And secondly, we believe the only thing she was angry about was that he got caught and their dirty little secret was now going to be played out on the world stage.  Their usual arsenal of threats and intimidation would not work here.

The most galling comment Mrs. Clinton made was that she "never doubted Bill's love" for her.  This golden chestnut makes my skin crawl.

Newsflash, Mrs. Clinton.  Men who love their wives don't cheat on them.  They don't deliberately cause them pain, and they don't wilfully subject them to international humiliation.  Perhaps if you had ever been married to a man who loved you, you would know this.

Either Mrs. Clinton is still, 10 years later, in a huge state of denial, or she thinks that there are actually people out there who believe this bilge, in which case she has a markedly low opinion of the intelligence of the American population.

Hillary Clinton must be reading my blog.  Within a day or two of my saying that it was humiliating for President Bush to go begging for oil, she said that it was pathetic.  She's right, and I'm right, it is.

However, I'm not at the forefront of the party that has made that begging necessary.  I am not a member of the party that has blocked drilling in ANWR, or wherever else necessary to meet this country's needs and get us on the way to energy independence.  I am not a member of the party that is demanding the development of green technologies for down the road all the while ignoring the here and now.

And as is usual for the Left, Mrs. Clinton can do this without a trace of irony or even introspection.  Children never accept responsibility for their actions.  It will always be someone else's fault, and they'll never understand when you try to tell them otherwise.  Children simply cannot grasp the fact that something could be their fault.

Too bad that the White House, the one thing that should be beyond the grasp of anyone on the left, isn't.

Just read that inflation was up 6.3% for all of 2007, the largest amount in 26 years.  Why?  Energy costs such as gas for our cars and heating oil for our homes.  And, of course, the price of things in the marketplace goes up because of the increased cost of getting them there.  And round and round it goes.

Meanwhile, the President of the United States, Leader of the Free World, The Most Powerful Man on Earth is over in Saudi Arabia begging for more oil.  Such humiliation should never have occurred.  What on earth is wrong with the Powers That Be in this country that they won't let us mine our own resources in order to take care of our own people?  What on earth makes them think that this involuntary servitude to hostile powers is in any way, shape, or form good for our country?

I've heard all the environmentalist garbage I can stand.  If drilling is really bad, why don't these people, who suck up more energy than the average citizen, seem to care what drilling is doing to the environment of other countries?  If they really cared about the environment, they would be protesting drilling everywhere it is happening, instead of just here.  But as boneheaded as they are, they realize that something has to fuel their cars and their private jets and heat their homes.  So, as long as it happens somewhere else, they don't care.  The racism of the Left strikes again.

With all the Chicken Littles of global warming running around spreading their propaganda, it's likely that the situation will only get worse.  These morons seem to think that we can keep on doing more and more with less and less and, of course, we can't.

My cousin, Bob, says that anarchy will begin at $10.00 a gallon.  He may well be right.  I say that the problem will begin to resolve itself when, and only when, the pompous, pampered, privileged, purveyors of pork see their chances of re-election start to fade.

Time will tell.

The latest spat between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama concerns civil rights and Martin Luther King, Jr., and Lyndon Johnson, democrats all.

As usual, politicians are stepping all over the real truth, which is:

Civil rights legislation passed because of Republicans over the objections of racist, southern democrats.

Democrats were then, and are now, the real racists.