Arkansas Tonight

YOUR THOUGHT FOR THE NIGHT

2008-05-17T04:34:00.000-05:00

WE LIKE MATTHEWS MORE EVERY DAY

2008-05-15T20:36:00.002-05:00

DUGGARMANIA RESUMES!

2008-05-10T02:04:00.002-05:00

After all this time, you'd think we'd be on top of a story like yet another Dugger baby on the way. Yep, we read this earlier in the afternoon and figgered we'd wait until now to say something. Of course, we pride ourselves on our extensive Duggar archive, and we still have that Duggar book and photo for sale if anyone wants it.

So, Michelle and Jim Bob have gone an done it again...

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — It's a happy Mother's Day for an Arkansas woman — she's pregnant with her 18th child.

Michelle Duggar, 41, is due on New Year's Day, and the latest addition will join seven sisters and 10 brothers. There are two sets of twins.

"We've had three in January, three in December. Those two months are a busy time for us," she said, laughing.

The Duggars' oldest child, Josh, is 20, and the youngest, Jennifer, is nine months old.

The fast-growing family lives in Tontitown in northwest Arkansas in a 7,000-square-foot home. All the children — whose names start with the letter J — are home-schooled.

Duggar has been been pregnant for more than 11 years of her life, and the family is in the process of filming another series for Discovery Health.

Yes, indeed, it's the story that never ends. Holy crap, 18!

We are continuing our migration to wordpress, and are almost ready to unveil this thing, which will mean more content soon.

Happy mother's day!

THE WHITE HOUSE SPEAKS

2008-04-09T02:16:00.001-05:00

It’s not a secret that General David Petraeus has his job because he was hand picked for it by the President.

When he was introduced to America, the critics praised him for his past service and expertise. Many described him as the person to call when things got bad in Iraq, a man who “wrote the book” on unconventional warfare.

During his first tour of Congress and later, it became clear to anyone keeping up with the news that the General knew – reallllly knew – who his boss was, who signed the checks as it were. He managed to keep his job even when a less cooperative – and likely more objective – superior got hired, and then retired in short order.

So, while watching the most recent testimony today of both the General and Ambassador Ryan Crocker, the only real question was how anyone could listen to what was said and not hear the real message loud and clear.

Senator Jim Webb of Virginia pretty much had it nailed while appearing on MSNBC’s “Hardball.”

Webb said that he at least wasn’t surprised that members of Congress couldn’t get any definite answers out of either men, and went on to draw the conclusion that the next president would inherit some 140,000 American troops on the ground in Iraq.

He handled the matter diplomatically.

The truth is that it appears both men continued to serve a White House directive that has become clear over the past couple of years – George W. Bush won’t pull troops out of Iraq, ever. I appears regardless of the advice of the military, regardless of an endless series of polls and reams of research, Mr. Bush just won’t budge.

Hasn’t he said as much? It won’t matter just how unpopular the war has become, he won’t leave the oval office as the man who “lost Iraq.” And yes, one might wonder if the President the same day thought about any of that as he presented the medal of honor to the family of a Navy Seal killed in combat. It doesn’t seem that any number of American lives will sway him, and it doesn’t seem that any amount of money paid for the continually foundering effort will dissuade him.

Even Senator John McCain seemed to go on the offensive today, however with less gusto than Senators Obama and Clinton. It took Senator Joe Biden of Delaware to really lay down the hammer on Ambassador Crocker, asking Crocker where he thought U.S. resources should really go – Iraq or Pakistan and Afghanistan?

After waffling, the ambassador finally responded that the bigger threat lies in Pakistan and Afghanistan. However, he’d only say that after Biden asked where Crocker would put troops if God sat on the witness table and asked where the troops were more needed. At least someone got a straight answer out of the administration, but only after a lot of frustration.

Regardless, the overall message was simple and clear – President Bush won’t cooperate with plans to withdraw troops, and will make damn sure when it does happen, he isn’t around to sign the paperwork bringing home American servicemembers.

THE GRAND RE-START...

2008-04-06T03:01:00.002-05:00

I just wanted to send greetings to everyone back home in the Ozarks from here out on the shore of the Atlantic. I've been keeping up with the local papers, and even get a chance to listen to Pat Lynch from time-to-time online.

Things out here near the nation's capital are interesting, and the strange thing is that you might not even know you were that far from home. Once again I live in a state filled with Democratic members of congress, execpt in my district, which is represented by a Republican. Go figure. Also, one of the biggest businesses here is Perdue Chicken. I just talked to the PR exec from Perdue today during an awards ceremony, and she sends a "shout out" to Ed and Gary at Tyson Foods, with whom she occasionally works. Yep, you got it -- it smells like chicken crap here too, and you can't get away from Wal-Mart even in these remote parts of America, but I guess you know that already. Oh yes - we also have our mega-church here.

Truly my strangest experience out here has been driving my old Toyota over the bridge and into Washington, D.C. It's just up the street, really. I've also spun around Baltimore and Philadelphia a couple of times in my constantly breaking-down car.

It's been an interesting year or so for me. I returned to the world of local television, and even do a little local radio, so it's not like I've sworn off my media activities - I'm just a lot closer to the source of trouble in DC now.

After working with Cris and others to keep this thing alive in my absence, I've decided to return to it on a semi-regular basis, and yes, we've even spoken about bringing the old radio show back to life, which I believe we'll likely do on something called "blog-talk radio" where it'll only be an hour and you'll be limited to listening to it online here. We'll still focus on Arkansas and national politics, as we did for a number of years, so it won't be much different.

Who knows, if someone is crazy enough to pick it up, perhaps you'll hear it on a local station in the very near future.

In the meantime, I've got to work on writing something again for this blog, and as you already read here, we're deep into a wordpress transmigration and design project to make this more of a magazine than a straight "blog." We want to provide you with more content and make it so you have an easier time loading the damn thing and spending more time inside.

It's good to be back.

CHANGES...

2008-03-27T02:19:00.002-05:00

Our continuing apologies for the slow pace here. Some of you know that our publisher moved out of state about a year ago, and the remaining staffers actually have lives to lead, and real jobs, so we've been pretty sporadic with the posting.

OK, so our absentee landlord has agreed to take more of a hand in this project again, and do some re-hab.

The slowness will continue, or get worse, because we are migrating from blogger to wordpress, and from a "blog" to a "magazine" or "newspaper" format.

It'll load faster, contain a lot more content and be updated daily upon the unveiling of the new product. However, it does take time to pound the new format into shape. We're laying the entire thing out brand-spanking-new. We've tried to re-build for a couple of years now, but we've finally decided to make the big switch in platforms. There's a bit of a learning curve to overcome with that, but we're well on our way with a demopage up in an undisclosed location.

We'll keep you updated.

LET THE WALOCAUST BEGIN!

2008-03-27T02:03:00.003-05:00

Wal-Mart is the shame of Arkansas. At this point, we wouldn't hesitate to to say it's the shame of the nation and maybe the world. And yes, we don't think that's taking things too far. And what's worse, it's because of a bone-headed move the company made that knocks out a few years of cautious, expensive community outreach and PR.

This picture is of Debbie Shanks, a former Wally employee. Right now, and probably for the rest of her life, she won't be working for anyone. Here, from CNN, is the rest of the story...

Shank suffered severe brain damage after a traffic accident nearly eight years ago that robbed her of much of her short-term memory and left her in a wheelchair and living in a nursing home.

It was the beginning of a series of battles -- both personal and legal -- that loomed for Shank and her family. One of their biggest was with Wal-Mart's health plan.

Eight years ago, Shank was stocking shelves for the retail giant and signed up for Wal-Mart's health and benefits plan.

Two years after the accident, Shank and her husband, Jim, were awarded about $1 million in a lawsuit against the trucking company involved in the crash. After legal fees were paid, $417,000 was placed in a trust to pay for Debbie Shank's long-term care.

Wal-Mart had paid out about $470,000 for Shank's medical expenses and later sued for the same amount. However, the court ruled it can only recoup what is left in the family's trust.

Her husband has cancer, she can't care for herself, can't remember anything, and her son was killed in Iraq. She can't even remember that he's died, so she gets to live that little piece of news over and over.

Wal-Mart, how could you? Is anyone at the wheel up there in Bentonville? Can Rev. Floyd pull something out of his bible and pick up the phone to tell them to knock it off? Wow, one boneheaded action spectacularly destroys several years worth of investment in good PR and community outreach.

That's it -- our Wal-Mart boycott is on, for the workers -- and for the veterans.

Wal-Mart, you're scum - do the right thing, give this money back to this woman, show the other employees you have that you care, that Sam Walton isn't rolling over in his grave because of this.

To add insult to injury, and to swerve wildly off-track, Joe Palermo at The Huffington Post recalled Hiilary Clinton's days on the company's board of directors, and uses it against her AND Wally-World...

Maybe Hillary Clinton should visit Debbie and Jim Shank in Missouri and tell them how sorry she is for what her lovely Arkansas corporate campaign donor has done to them. Maybe she can bring along a Fox News camera crew.

Finally, the Walmartians got trashed in court. Seems a Georgia man won his case and a judge allowed him to print T-shirts bearing the Nazi eagle you see at the top of this post.

A Conyers, Georgia man has won a legal battle with retail giant Wal-Mart who accused the man of violating its trademark for selling T-shirts and other items that featured the phrases "Wal-ocaust" and "Wal-Qaeda."

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten in Atlanta ruled that Charles Smith may continue to run his Web sites, www.walocasut.com and www.walqaeda.com. Smith also can continue to sell his parody merchandise that criticizes Wal-Mart the judge said.

We'll take two, thank you.

OLBIE SPEAKS THE TRUTH!

2008-03-13T00:07:00.002-05:00

We have to say that this was one of Mr. O's better "special comments" about Ferraro and Hillary.

Keith, from your lips to God's ears...we couldn't agree more about what you've said. This is a "must watch" and if you listen closely, you'll notice the quickly dwindling hope Hillary could pull it out.

THE CASE AGAINST HILLARY GETS STRONGER

2008-03-12T01:35:00.006-05:00

(video - Rep. Ferraro makes and ass out of herself on FAUX News...more down the page)

WTF? We've just made the rounds of the cable news outlets, the newspapers and the blogs tonight.

We're still wondering what happened. Earlier, we pontificated about why we couldn't support this state's favorite daughter in this election cycle.

OK, a disclaimer. We're bitter about this. We admired Hillary, and despite a blow-job in the Oval Office, we still admire Bill Clinton. However, Hillary wants this so bad, and has such bad vibes around her campaign that it's turned us off. This isn't the woman who wrote "It Takes a Village" or her memoirs. We don't know who this is now -- we'd still like to think it's Mark Penn and jerks on her campaign doing this. At this stage, someone accurately described her campaign as that of the "Democratic Huckabee."

We just didn't know how nasty she'd get. In days gone by, we'd have applauded her hardball tactics, but some of them smell to high heaven, and we just can't swallow much more of it. We know most of you out there who dream of a Democrat retaking the White House remember the clover days of the Clinton Administration. However, Hillary has gone beyond anything we would ever have wanted to see her do against another Democrat. This is stuff she should have saved up for the Republicans stuff she should never have unleashed within the party.

We can't figure out some of the things we've read today.

Let's start with President Clinton paying a visit to the Rush Limbaugh show to talk about his wife's candidacy during the Texas primary/caucus. Why? Why would he do that? Was he outsmarting Rush's stand-in that day or was he just willing to do about anything with anyone to win? This is breathtaking, and we can hardly imagine it even happening. You can actually LISTEN to Bill on-air on the Limbaugh show. He sounds very cordial.

Actually, from what we've read there isn't too much bad blood between the two -- a bit of professional courtesy.

Still, it boggles the mind.

That's not the worst thing. Geraldine Freaking Ferraro has a big mouth, and we just lost an enormous amount of respect for her. Jesus, what are they trying to do, force us to vote Nader and joint the Green party? And what bites even more than her insane babble is that she went on Fox to defend herself.

Here are some of the remarks that got the ball rolling.

Any time anybody does anything that in any way pulls this campaign down and says let's address reality and the problems we're facing in this world, you're accused of being racist, so you have to shut up," Ferraro said. "Racism works in two different directions. I really think they're attacking me because I'm white. How's that?"

"Every time that campaign is upset about something, they call it racist," she said. "I will not be discriminated against because I'm white. If they think they're going to shut up Geraldine Ferraro with that kind of stuff, they don't know me."

With all due respect, Representative, Shut yer big old garbage spewing yap. And to think...we voted for you.

What a kick in the shorts.

Maybe the boneheads in the anti-immigrant and Klan groups will be happy to welcome you with open arms. Your little stint on Fox was fun too -- yeeeessssss, of course you've fought for civil rights for years...and we can just hear it now, we'd bet Gerry would just love to remind us that some of her best friends are black, too.

Last but not least, the exit polls from today's win in Mississippi are disheartening. Are we really a bunch of racists in the South? Guess we still haven't gotten over that whole civil war thing with people still celebrating Lee's birthday on MLK Day and the DemGaz doing it's annual ode to the defeated rebel general who killed thousands of Americans fighting for the union and the constitution, not to mention emancipation. Perhaps this is an unpleasant turn of the mirror back at us. We're pretty sure the numbers in Arkansas looked a lot like these, and if they didn't, we know the sentiment is the same.

As has been the case in many primary states, Obama won overwhelming support from African-American voters. They went for him over Clinton 91-9 percent.

But Mississippi white voters overwhelmingly backed the New York senator, supporting her over Obama 72 percent to 21 percent.

Do you think race played a part here? We think it did in Ohio, and we think it will in Pennsylvania, mostly because we've lived in those places, and know what many of the white, ethnic blue collar folks might think of Senator Obama.

It's a crying shame. We dinged Bill Clinton for his Limbaugh stint, but he even writes about the "say one thing, vote another" factor he encountered early in his career in his memoirs.

What side are these people on?

Oh yes, it also appears that Obama has won Texas...he now has more delegates than Clinton has. It seems to us President Clinton said Hillary had to get out of the race if she lost Texas or Ohio.

When can we expect her to leave? We hope it's before she damages her own reputation any more and before she harms the party's chances in November more than she already has.

Oh, yes, and Senator, please ask Gerry Ferraro to get out of your campaign, just like you asked Obama to kick Sarah Power to the curb after she called you a "monster" - because it's starting to look like she was right.

REPUBLICAN PLAN FOR VICTORY?

2008-02-28T20:02:00.005-06:00

Here's proof the braintrust at the Republican party will a) lose and b) lose big....they think they're fighting the 2006 election all over again.

This comes from CNS news...

Master political strategist Karl Rove spoke to the American Jewish University this week. He stated that the key to attacking opponents isn't to attack their strengths -- it's to attack weaknesses they perceive as strengths. In 2004, Democratic nominee John Kerry staked his campaign on his perceived strength: his military experience. But, as Rove explained, that wasn't his strength -- he was vulnerable on foreign policy, a candidate with a record of attacking the military. By pointing out Kerry's weakness on the military, the Bush campaign was able to completely undercut Kerry.

Obama perceives his greatest strength to be his "change" message. He never shuts up about "change." His website touts his candidacy as "Change We Can Believe In." "We will change this country, and change the world," he states. His speeches are studded with the word "change." In his January 26 speech after the South Carolina primary, he used the word "change" 12 times. In his February 9 speech to Virginia's Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, he used it eight times. In his February 12 speech following the Potomac primaries, he used it 11 times. In his Wisconsin primary victory speech on February 19, he used it 33 times. For the love of God, somebody buy this man a thesaurus.

While Obama believes he can win the presidency simply by uttering the word "change" like a magical incantation, his "change" message has a soft underbelly. His focus on change means he despises this country the way it is. His wife, Michelle, is crystal clear on this. "Our souls are broken in this nation," she said this month at UCLA. "That is why I am here, because Barack Obama is the only person in this race who understands that. That before we can work on the problems, we have to fix our souls." She went further in a February 18 speech in Wisconsin: "For the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country, and not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change."

Despite all of its problems, America is not a deeply flawed place. It is the greatest nation in the history of mankind. It allows Barack Obama to run for president; it allows his wife to attend Princeton University and Harvard Law School. The Obamas' constant emphasis on change carries the disturbing undertone that the country is a disaster requiring radical reform. This isn't a message of optimism -- it's a message of profound pessimism.

This is the writer's bio -- oh, and yes, it comes from the "Christian News Service"

Ben Shapiro, 23, is a graduate of UCLA and Harvard Law School. He is the author of the recently published "Porn Generation: How Social Liberalism Is Corrupting Our Future," as well as the national bestseller "Brainwashed: How Universities Indoctrinate America's Youth."

Let's point out the obvious logical flaws in this argument, which has a headline (How to beat Barack Obama) written like it's meant to sell soap to people desperate to get clean.

Mr. Shapiro seems to think that America is not a "deeply flawed place" when at last 67 percent of Americans polled think it'll be that way in another four years if the current administration's policies continue. This comes to us from someone apparently well entrenched in the first half of the first decade of the century -- when evangelical christianity was ascendent in government. If you haven't noticed, a new poll shows "unaffiliated, non-evangelical" americans as the largest growing religious segment of the population, perhaps the reason Mr. McCain has managed to get so close the nomination of his party, even while running against someone like Mike Huckabee or Mitt Romney. The evangelicals have lost their cohesion, again, as they did after Carter and Reagan made promises to them and failed to deliver. Hey, if GW Bush didn't give them what they craved, why would they ever have a chance of turning America into a theocracy? The majority of them (and they themselves aren't a majority, as the aforementioned poll pointed out) have lost that burning feeling in the gut requisite to successful organizing and GOTV action.

This piece simply harkens back to the past politics of the Rove machine, something that has turned voters toward Obama...witness the failed recent attacks on him by Hillary ("muslim" picture, "empty suit" argument, etc) - if the Republicans think Mr. Shapiro's approach is the way to salvation, then they should probably stay home. I wouldn't imagine Mr. Rove himself would buy into this one from a 23 year old graduate with some impressive sheep skins. It's the same basic misunderstanding all the Republicans made during their primary debates. The way they talked let everyone realize that the nation has moved on, but they remain stuck in the 1990s and the Bush Administration. Our bet is this plan wouldn't work very well, because it's an example of smart people playing the game based on older rules, many of which appear to have changed with the years, the poll numbers, and the nature of the candidates themselves.

If you'd like a real world example of this, just look at Iraq. It's failed precisely because it has been fought just like we found an older war - Vietnam. There wasn't any victory there, either.

Obama's message IS one of profound optimism -- a response to the obvious extreme pessimism of the American voter after more than 7 years of a bush-Republican controlled washington. They may not have any real hope of changing things that much, but they're sick to death of what they have, don't want more of the same and are willing to do just about anything to "kick the bums out" of DC.

Keep planning, Republicans, you may eventually come up with a plan that addresses a changed electoral environment, but this ain't it.

...VIA

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HOMEPAGE

WHAT WOULD BILL HAVE DONE?

2008-02-27T03:22:00.003-06:00

(or, we continue to piss off our friends as we rant against the hometown favorite in tonight's Democratic debate, and wonder why magic doesn't necessarily rub off when one most needs it to)

What a shame tonight in Ohio.

We could very well be wrong, but what we saw sure looked like the end of the Clinton-Bush presidencies unfolding.

Again, we're not Hillary loyalists here. We respect her, and think she'd make a fantastic president of the United States. She's served as a role model, fought for civil rights for years,is truly among the most gifted and right-thinking citizens in this nation. And, yes, our wives all love her.

However, we simply don't think she can win this, and agree with Newsweek that she should do herself and everyone else in the party a favor, and join the fight against McCain ('cause is sure ain't gonna be Mike Huckabee on the other side.)

She was shrill, she looked out-of-control, she acted and argued far from the woman we'd love to see as President. This person, we're not sure should be in the Senate.

The SNL comment?

C'mon! Very petty.

Where was her passion, her composure, her grace?

She played right into Senator Obama's hands in this one. He wore the mantle of composure tonight, and that's what televised debates are all about - Just ask Nixon or Kennedy (oh, wait a second, you can't...)

What really happened when we watched both of these candidates is something that we assume has happened to many of you over the past 8 years. We asked ourselves how Bill would be handling this if he was sitting up there this evening. We can't imagine he'd behave like Hillary did. He'd have handled this with a lot more grace and composure...Hell, he'd be making his opponent look bad with his smiles and his gentle joking.

That's the visible role Obama took tonight. Hillary instead spent a lot of time gasping and looking just plain frustrated.

That's understandable. Nothing she's done this past week has worked. Each time she tried to slap a below-the-belt jab on her opponent, she got called for it and it's made her look worse. "Xerox" comment? Booed. SNL comment? Drew actual hisses from the crowd. She can't win with the media because now she has the "liberal" and "conservative" msm out against her.

Our tip of the hat tonight to Russert, who made the CNN gang look like rank amateurs by comparison.

That Austin debate? Pretty lame outing by the reporters and Campbell Brown. Tonight? This is more like what political journalism should be. Tim hit it out of the park, and beat up on both candidates. You might notice that he eventually got them to shut up with rapid-fire questions to which neither candidate had good answers and then cut them off when they failed to answer the questions directly. Neither candidate looked like they were ready for the hardball treatment tonight.

And, yes, one of us IS partial to NBC.

However, Hillary loses this one. Online votes in several places say so, commentary rightly says so early this morning. As the Huffington Post writes, "Hillary's Ignominious End" - OK, that's close to a quote, but more likely a paraphrase.

We're actually sad, because we agree with that assessment. However, we're also excited because we've been listening to Obama, and reading his books, and we don't understand where people don't think he has any substance - we've seen quite a lot, and it's a substance that would seem to yield a formula that could actually unite the country. I know, sounds like we've taking a few sips of the "Koolaid" - but it's true. He has some fantastic ideas.

And remember, he's been selling hope when no one else has, and everyone wants to have hope. McCain has been selling more time in Iraq, more screwed up tax cuts for the rich, and Hillary has been too busy calling anyone who supports Obama a fool and other unkind things.

A couple of observations.

So far, he's still the only one selling hope. We again bring up Reagan, whom we detest. But it was hard to resist his promise of "morning in america" during the early 80s. We think the nation needs that from time-to-time to stay young.

Also, we've noticed that most recent winning campaigns have picked a winning storyline and stuck to it -- Clinton, "It's the economy, STUPID!" - Bush, "He's dumb, but getting better, and you'd rather have a beer with him than with Al" - etc and so on and so forth, if you're old enough to remember back to World War II, nearly every winning election came up with a storyline that the nation wanted and needed to hear, something worth watching. Obama truly has that now, and nothing Hillary has done has managed to dent that, whether you like her or not.

Tonight wasn't a good night for her. We sincerely hope she has better ones in the future.

...VIA

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HOMEPAGE

DEBATE UPDATE

2008-02-21T20:18:00.001-06:00

Hillary appears to be getting annoyed, and seems to be grasping and gasping...both went after each other on the "words" and "plagiarism" issue, Obama handled it quite well with some humor. By far he appears more calm and collected here tonight, and she looks likes she's feeling the pressure.

WATCHING THE DEBATE

2008-02-21T19:44:00.002-06:00

Watching the debate right now, nothing major has happened, both candidates seem like they're playing nice again at this point, simply making their points. CNN's folks trying to stir the pot. Not sure Hillary is making any big points with her talk about the border and English. Obama may have taken a slight hit by saying he'd meet with Raul Castro without preconditions...but again, this ain't Miami, so maybe no big deal.

Why We Won't Back Hillary (at least this year)

2008-02-21T02:24:00.003-06:00

My, it's tough to write something against Hillary in Arkansas, the state where she apparently had her highest winning margin against Barack Obama.

After all, she was this state's most famous first lady, and married to Bill. Ah, the good old days,yes? We sure can't back a black man, and even the state's most liberal website, the ArkTimes, for whom we have the highest respect, can't seem to bring itself to accept that Hill has all but lost the nomination. That site has gone so far as to publish what amounts to a "swift-boat" style condemnation of Obama's oration put together by someone we can only deduce is a paid hack for Hill or a member of the "newsmax" set. However, why not let you in on why we can't buy Hillary this year?

First, she sold out to the same "vast right-wing conspiracy" that tried to go after her husband. Her campaign (and we use that term loosely here) leaked material to the right wing Drudge Report. She kissed Rupert Murdoch's ass, and had her husband do the same. Murdoch even hosted a fundraiser for her.

She voted to enable Bush to get us into a war based on outright lies, a war that has costs the lives of thousands of Americans, and a war that is extremely unpopular with voters. She still hasn't decided if that was a wrong decision, and she's flip-flopped about bringing home the troops. She screams and yells about Obama being an empty suit, but if you listen to her speeches, she really doesn't say anything more than he does about policy. One might conclude they even try to sell the same programs and promises to Americans, but that he does it in a more convincing way.

One shouldn't take that as any indication he's leading a "cult" of any kind.

Also, to diminish the desire for change and hope expressed by those 20-thousand plus crowds at Obama events is to insult the voters, and adds up to telling them they don't know what's best for them. As for experience, we don't see where her "experience" adds up to much more than his. If anything, her vaunted 35 years in public life has just made voters aware she's been part of the problem. And also, who, if anyone, wants to continue the American Dynastic Clinton-Bush tradition that's helped bring us to where we are now...in an unending war and on the verge of a major enconomic collapse? Who wouldn't want change - any change - at that point?

We don't think the voters who support Senator Obama have any illusions about what he'll deliver when he takes the oath of office. Those who do are making a fatal mistake we hope they'll continue making through November. To make that mistake is to buy into Hillary's sales pitch. We're not convinced Obama is the "messiah" as some critics have said he'd like to be portrayed, but he does bring the chance for change with him, just like JFK did. Hillary can't bring that with her, and we're convinced that's what a majority of voting Americans truly hunger for, and that includes many Republicans and Independents.

Some have tried to compare Obama's campaign with that of Eugene McCarthy. We think the appeal is much more along the lines of Ronald Reagan's promise of "morning in America" in the late 70s, if not stronger. President Carter lost because of malaise, high energy prices and a lack of respect for America worldwide. President Bush has brought us that and more, including a deadly war and an all-out assault on the constitution.

Is it any wonder Americans don't want more of the same? If so-called "experience" divided this country into red and blue states and intensified the partisan and religious conflicts among Americans, why would we want more of the same? And that's just for older voters. Can you imagine how pathetic all that looks to voters who've just earned the ballot, who will vote for the first time? We know more that one person under the age of 30 who've expressed deep misgivings about the "Vietnam" generation and what it's done to our country. More than one of those people has expressed a deep, non-partisan desire to see that generation get the hell out of Washington for awhile so we can forget Vietnam. We have our own failed war to deal with, our own Richard Nixon to get rid of, and Hillary doesn't have the key to getting any of that done.

Our apologies to the native sons and daughters of this state who remain loyal to the Clintons this year. We understand that loyalty, but that's also the same kind of thing King Bush has done with Rumsfeld, Meirs, etc., etc., and so on.

We disagree with the New York Times and think the time has come for a change and for Mr. Obama to take the helm and show us a different way of doing business.

Rather than showing nitwit videos of Obama that are specious and make not a bit of difference to the voters, we think the more enlightened partisan media should get behind this change, as they were behind change in the state house, rather than more of the same in the form of a Republican governor. As an old-timer up here likes to say, it's time to fish or cut bait.

However, remember -- as progressives, we reserve the right to change our minds at any time and admit the error of our ways. But it won't happen this time...

VIA

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OBAMA '08

2008-02-20T10:58:00.004-06:00

OK, so a couple of things - first, we've listened to Hillary rain all over Obama for his "words" and "empty eloquence." We'll bite - go ahead and show us what you have, oh mighty queen of details. Sorry, after listening to her stump speeches on two occasions, we haven't heard her saying anything different, no more detail, nothing, nada, smack! He says the same things, and says them better, that's why he's winning. And she seems full of shit when she criticizes him, like she's criticizing him just because her advisors tell her she has to.

She's lost this one, she should be supporting him - they want the same things.

If anything, Hillary (who we've respected forever) has managed to alienate some of her base with this run for highest office. We're just wrapping up reading Obama's books, and we're convinced he'll do the better job, at least for now. We hope Hillary doesn't damage her viability for future higher office. She'd still be a good president, just not this year.

We can't believe we just wrote that in Arkansas...but again, we always were crazy about Howard Dean...

NOT DEAD, JUST WORKING ON RE-FORMAT

2008-02-18T14:17:00.002-06:00

OK, Ryan brought this up, so I'll respond. We aren't dead, just resting, and working on a way to trim this website down so it actually loads, loads quickly and can be updated by any one of us on a regular basis. It's a few years old now and it's become a little bulky and verrrrrrrry slow to load. yep, we're going to trim some of the shit we have on the sides away. There's some great stuff out there right now, and we'll have it coming your way, if not by the start of March, then earlier, maybe in the next few days. In the meantime, we're watching both the Rev. Gov screw things up for the Republicans, and so sorry for you Hillary fans hereabouts, we're watching as Obama gets ready to drag her over the coals in Texas to take the nomination. Just remember, "Yes We Can!" - Peace out.

WHY REPORTERS ARE SKEPTICS

2007-11-26T19:46:00.000-06:00

Now you know why the media never trusts anyone in power...it's because most of them lie even as they draw breath. Politicians, lawyers, even agents of big-timey football coaches.

>"There is no truth that, nothing, nothing," Sexton told The Morning News on Friday afternoon. "There is no truth to that whatsoever."

So, there you go...we were right, so was 40/29 (at least originally) and here's your freakin' proof....the video of Nutt's resignation tonight.

DING DONG, THE NUTT IS, WELL, YOU KNOW...

2007-11-16T19:00:00.000-06:00

Har-de-har-har...no matter what the writers at the Morning News seem to think, we tend to believe the sports director at KHOG on this one. Mr. Nutt, it would seem, isn't long for NWA...

Multiple sources have confirmed with 40/29 sports director Mark Lericos that Nutt will be leaving at the end of the season. Sources could not confirm whether Nutt would offer his resignation, be fired or possibly accept another position.

OK, perhaps it's just wishful thinking here that this might be true. Frank and Houston should buy airline tickets and pick out drapes in Ft. Lauderdale for all we care...place would be better without 'em. Here's the more skeptical approach to this story...

FAYETTEVILLE -- University of Arkansas officials have not yet made a decision on the future of embattled football coach Houston Nutt, refuting media reports that circulated throughout the state on Friday.

Several sources familiar with the situation said that the university's top officials have not been informed by Nutt that he plans to leave at the end of the regular season.

Jimmy Sexton, Nutt's agent, strongly denied reports claiming that Nutt intends to leave Arkansas for another school after next Friday's regular-season finale at top-ranked LSU.

"There is no truth that, nothing, nothing," Sexton told The Morning News on Friday afternoon. "There is no truth to that whatsoever."

Yep, and Larry Craig ISN'T gay.

Hurrah!

VIA

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HEY LAURA BUSH, SHUT THE F*** UP!

2007-10-28T13:45:00.000-05:00

OK, that's the harshest headline we've ever posted, but it was unavoidable. Laura Bush, for whom we generally feel sorry, crossed the line this week. She opened her mouth, and pretty much impaled herself...

“It’s really easy to blame people for so-called voting against children,” Bush said in an interview on Fox News Sunday. The first lady went on to say that the bill would cover children who are not poor and added that the program is often used to cover adults.

Laura, it's "easy" because it sucks, and because your husband and a minority in Congress did so, and there's no excuse for it, especially not the one you've offered here. What's wrong with covering children who "aren't poor" espcially if the price of medicine is going higher than that of the odd barrell of oil? And, if it is often used to cover adults, how about your husband coming up with a healthcare plan that will take the pressure off of families (yes, including adults) about a third of which in this country don't have healthcare coverage, even though they earn stagnant middle class wages? This isn't friggin Victorian England, you putz! Fix the problem! Why don't you tell your husband that he made a big enough mistake in Iraq that he'll have to go a very long way to making good on it in the history books. If he wants a legacy, he can do something now by listening to the Democratic candidates who have at least recognized healthcare as perhaps the top issue of the upcoming campaign. Maybe he can incorporate some of their ideas and come up with his own plan that could make it easier to live in this country.

In the meantime, do as our headline suggests, and zip your yap.

VIA

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RADIO SHOW REVIVAL

2007-10-26T02:36:00.000-05:00

We've been discussing resurrecting the radio program. It was last broadcast on KFAY-AM in Fayetteville toward the end of 2006. It ran for about three years. First, we finally have copies of many of the older episodes, and plan to put them up here as podcasts.

We've also talked with Don Elkins about doing a one-hour version of the program to go up here each week as a podcast, and possibly broadcast over a streaming site like Live365.com, where it used to simulcast.

Mr. Elkins has been doing other things over the last year, and we still haven't firmed up his desire to return to do the program, but things look good right now. We don't have any radio stations lined up, and we're not optimistic because it was tough enough getting people to tolerate the show on the stale airwaves of local AM radio.

We're curious what any of you might think about this, should you care to comment. Like it or not, we'll still put the older shows online and have started working on producing a new episode.

NEW PRISON DRUG MADE OF HUMAN WASTE

2007-10-24T19:15:00.001-05:00

Ok, this was too strange to pass up. Someone slipped us a confidential memo (or purported to be one) from Pennsylvania.

Seems the inmates have become very resourceful in how they get high. However, we're not sure we'd really ever think anyone would go this far. Here's the memo...

COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA
Department of Corrections
Central Office Security Division
(XXX) XXX-XXXX
October 18, 2007

SUBJECT: Security Advisory

Re: New Drug - “JENKEM”

TO: Superintendents, Intelligence Captains

FROM: Dennis P. Durant, Major Chief of Security

Please see the attached Information Bulletin from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office concerning a new drug called “JENKEM”. JENKEM is a new drug that is a mixture of fecal matter and urine. After it ferments, it is inhaled, typically through a balloon and causes a euphoric high within approximately 10 seconds.

The Security Division would like staff to be aware of this dangerous substance. JENKEM can be easily made in the facility or in the community.

The Central Office Security Division would like to thank Major Jay Lane and Captain Michael Turner, SCI Laurel Highlands, and Captain Gregory Mohring, SCI Pittsburgh for bringing this information to our attention.

DPD/jrf

Is it real? Wikipedia says so...

According to Fountain of Hope, a non-profit organization, Jenkem is used by street children in Lusaka, Zambia as a substitute for ordinary inhalants such as glue or petrol. The news reports give no information as to how or when the children first began manufacturing jenkem. According to BBC News it has been around since at least 1997.

What the hell?

VIA

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CHUCK N' HUCK...PANTS-ON-FIRE-WRONG

2007-10-23T04:01:00.000-05:00

It has become more of a job to keep up with Mike Huckabee these days. He feels like he's so close to convincing "social conservatives" he's their man in the upcoming race. After all, he essentially tied with Mitt Romney for first place among those casting ballots in a straw poll at the Family Research Council shindig in D.C. the other day.

So, do all the other pointy-headed ones here in the Natural State support Mikey in his quest for world domination? The answer might leave you scratching your head...

The Hutchinsons, Divided

Support for Huckabee's presidential bid does not run deep in the Hutchinson family.

Jeremy Hutchinson, a former state legislator and son of former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, is helping Fred Thompson's campaign for the GOP nomination.

His father and his uncle, former congressman Asa Hutchinson, have endorsed Huckabee.

"I wish Governor Huckabee well, he's doing very well, and I'm confident he'll continue to do well," Jeremy Hutchinson said. "I don't think my support matters much anyway. It's not going to affect either one of their fortunes."

Jeremy Hutchinson said he thought Thompson had a broader base of support and could better compete in the general election.

Huckabee, when asked about the younger Hutchinson's endorsement, said: "The more mature, seasoned and experienced Hutchinsons are with me, and I'll leave it at that and thank them for it."

Yeah, hmmmm...the other interesting thing, Huck, is that Jeremy is the only one out of y'all (dad, uncle, YOU) who still holds elected office. Seems like he might have more of a bead on what's happening here than you.

Still, mighty funny especially in light of all the hilarious hatred the Hutchinsons have long held for Governor Mikey.

While Asa and Tim say they support Huck, a dime gets you a dollar that they're rooting for Thompson as well, but don't feel like they can get away with it without getting taken to the woodshed by the tattered remnants of the state version of the Republican Party (they are still around, aren't they? and we mean outside NWA)

You might be able to gather that from Huck's comment, as if he couldn't give a damn less about the Hutchinson clan (or is that "klan?")

CHUCK LIKES HUCK!

(WARNING! NAUSEA ALERT) Yep, you probably heard by now that martial arts-slash-fitness guru-slash actor Chuck Norris has extended his seal of approval to Mike Huckabee. We're not sure we consider that a ringing endorsement. Doesn't Chuck play someone from Texas on TV? Anyway, Chuck provided an exclusive editorial to the wingnuts at "World Net Daily" to explain his endorsement...

I won't leave you in suspense. Though Giuliani might be savvy enough to lead people, Fred Thompson wise enough to wade through the tides of politics, McCain tough enough to fight terrorism and Romney business-minded enough to grow our economy, I believe the only one who has all of the characteristics to lead America forward into the future is ex-Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

Mike is also a respected and fearless leader, and he does not cower to the cries of any majority or minority. He doesn't abandon his values for what's expedient. Like our Founding Fathers, he's not afraid to stand up for a Creator and against secularist beliefs. At the same time, he doesn't fear offending Christian leaders who give up their values in pursuit of electing their "team leader" just like everyone else.

With all due respect (which ain't much) Mr. Norris, we find this paradoxical...

he's not afraid to stand up for a Creator and against secularist beliefs

Mr. Norris linked this line to a video, which we'll show you here. Funny thing? We find the video outstanding evidence to compel us NOT to vote for Huckabee, or anyone who thinks like him. Watch for yourself, decide for yourself (though we will offer this tip...he's lost a screw someplace, that much is obvious...calling Alice Stewart, get the man back on his valium...)

OK, you just lost the election righ there. And of that isn't bad enough, Mikey, you have an accuracy problem. Sounds a little "Bidenesque" of you, or maybe "Bushish."

During the Republican debate, Mike Huckabee said he believes one of the defining issues facing the country is the sanctity of human life. Arguing that the issue is of historical importance, he invoked the Declaration of Independence's rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness and said that most of the signers of the declaration were clergymen.

Not even close.

Only one of the 56 was an active clergyman, and that was John Witherspoon. Witherspoon was a Presbyterian minister and president of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University).

A few more of the signers were former clergymen, though it's a little unclear just how many. The conservative Heritage Foundation said two other signers were former clergymen. The religion web site Adherents.com said four signers of the declaration were current or former full-time preachers. But everyone agrees only Witherspoon was an active minister when he signed the Declaration of Independence.

One issue that may contribute to the confusion about which signers had a history in the clergy is that during the time the Declaration was written, people who studied at universities often received doctorates of divinity, a common degree designation, even if they were not working clergy, said Mary Jenkins of the Independence National Historical Park. As for religious affiliations, all of the signers were Protestant Christians with one exception, Charles Carroll of Maryland, who was Roman Catholic.

We'd like to give Huckabee every benefit of the doubt, but even if you consider former clergymen among the signers the best you could come up with is four. Out of 56. That's not "most," that's Pants-on-Fire wrong.

...much the way voting for Rev. H would be..."pants-on-fire wrong."

Oooops...there goes that interview we wanted with Mr. Huckabee. Not a good week for him.

VIA

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FINALLY MAKING A BUCK? NOT US...

2007-10-23T03:50:00.000-05:00

Nothing would make us happier than to make some green like Max at Arktimes.com, or like Kos or like Crooks and Liars. We'd love it. In fact, we expect some income during the upcoming election season, but we still don't know what makes these other "wonder-blogs" work. Perhaps its a more narrow approach to content, perhaps a non-political/non-scandal focused publication. However, Drudge does both. Does our hatred of browsers not-native-to Microsoft have something to do with it? C'mon now, you can pile on the abuse here! But, fellow bloggers, read below for encouraging news for independent media. We'd like to think we're the alt-weeklies of the new age...

More quickly than most anyone imagined, blogging is growing up. From the blogosphere's anarchistic roots, a professional cadre is emerging that is creating an industry whose top-performing businesses now earn serious money. The industry is expanding at warp speed. Blog-based media could just be poised to elbow aside traditional print and broadcast outlets to become one of the dominant sources of news, information and opinion, many observers believe.

"As traditional media continue to contract, this stuff is going to expand," said Steve King, senior fellow with the Society for New Communications Research, a Palo Alto think tank. "The business models have caught up and you're starting to see little blog publishing companies that frankly are becoming not so little."

Would horoscopes and Zippy the Pinhead, or "Best of NWA" things improve the situation? How about "Best of D.C." -- we'd love to do that one, get out of Dodge for a couple of weeks.

VIA

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MORE "CHRISTIAN NATION" CRAP IN D.C.

2007-10-23T03:08:00.000-05:00

It never fails and it never ends. Everyone wants the big J.C. to be "J.C., American SuperHero!"

Representative Musgrave has a long history of wasting taxpayer dollars on stuff like this. We wonder how many of her constitutents realize she's suckling off the teat of the taxpayer, getting nothing done and also kissing up the Tony Perkins and Jimmy Dobson set. After all, they are her REAL constituents, aren't they? Heaven help us if they can't be heard above the din of American discourse. After all, with all those radio stations, newspapers and cable shows, who could ever hear them? This is another pathetic excuse to "Christianize" our government.

A Republican congresswoman wants to ensure the long-delayed Capitol Visitor Center reminds tourists of America's Christian heritage when it opens.

Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-CO) has introduced a bill that would place on permanent display the Pledge of Allegiance -- with its mention of "one nation under God" -- and the motto "In God We Trust." The bill also would prohibit the Architect of the Capitol from excluding exhibits and materials that contain "a religious reference or Judeo-Christian content."

Don't get us wrong, we've got no problem with J.C., we just don't think he'd give a flying fish about religion at the Visitors' Center. His Dad knows he has enough houses of worship where he's the real focus of attention nearly every day of the week.

Marilyn, you know you're playing politics with this, right?

VIA

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THE DEVIL, YOU SAY? ACTUALLY "THE DEVIL?"

2007-10-23T02:58:00.000-05:00

Yes, this is almost as funny as the random poster who called the SCHIP program "socialism." Oral Roberts has moved back to Tulsa in an attempt to clean up the fecal mural left behind by his son at ORU. Oh, seeing as we took a few days off this week, we didn't have a chance to gloat over Dickie Roberts announcement he'd "step away" from his post as top freak at the school. Now daddy has returned. Here's a taste from the outstanding Breitbart site...

Oral Roberts returned to his namesake university Monday and denied the lurid accusations that have threatened to engulf the school, telling students and employees in a chapel service that "the devil is not going to steal ORU."

Would "the devil's" first name be "Robert" and would he happen to be married to a woman with a southern hairdo and an insatiable jones for young teen boys?

Man, we know some great folks from OK, but the hypocrisy there is as thorough-going as the chicken shit on a Tyson farm.

VIA

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