Let’s face it, the entire system for compensating Virginia General Assembly members if FUBAR.  First of all, it’s utterly absurd that House of Delegates members only receive $17,000 a year, and that Senators get only $18,000 a year, for their time and effort. Even if you throw in the $15,000 Ryan Nobles talks about in this story, it’s still only $32,000 or $33,000 a year.  How about we increase General Assembly members salaries while making it all completely transparent?  And when I say “transparent,” I also mean all the gifts and donations that come from special interests, corporations, lobbyists, etc.  As for this tiny $15,000, just tack it on to their salaries, make it 100% transparent (no more “wink wink”, to quote Paul Goldman), and be done with it.

h/t: NLS

A palindrome reads the same backwards as forward. This video reads the exact opposite backwards as forward.  Not only does it read the opposite, the meaning is the exact opposite..

If you have not seen this, or heard it, this is amazing, and gives this oldtimer an unexpected sense of wonder and hope for the future if this is the “next generation.”

This is only a 1 minute, 44 second video and it is brilliant.   Make sure you read as well as listen…forward and backward.

This is a video that was submitted in a contest by a 20-year old.   The contest was titled “u @ 50” by  AARP. This video won second place. When they showed it, everyone in the room was awe-struck and broke into spontaneous applause.  So simple and yet so brilliant.

Take a minute and watch it.

Rand Paul is the political gift that keeps on giving.  Rand may be an effete country club snob and a doctor, but he is also an idiot. He says Obama’s remarks about BP sound “un-American.”  Apparently, Rand Paul doesn’t know the BP acronym is for British Petroleum.  

What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of, you know, “I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.” I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business. I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it’s part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it’s always got to be someone’s fault. Instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen. I mean, we had a mining accident that was very tragic and I’ve met a lot of these miners and their families. They’re very brave people to do a dangerous job. But then we come in and it’s always someone’s fault. Maybe sometimes accidents happen.

Aside from the outrageous statement that the president sounds “un-American,” Randy doesn’t get that the president is doing his job, which is to administer the government, which legitimately must balance the competing demands of citizens v. industry, citizens v government, and citizens v citizens.  Randy furthermore is so tone-deaf that he rips the President who must assure Americans that this company is held to account for its degradation of our coasts.

As 19% of our nations’ fishing and seafood businesses are destroyed by, their rebranding of “Beyond Petroleum” notwithstanding, a British multinational conglomerate, Rand Paul focuses on the big guy and not all the small businesses hurting.  The massive spill amounts to real harm to real people and businesses.  Should the damage spread up the Eastern seabord, the damage to natural resources, business large and small –and to people– would be unspeakable.

Of course, when you believe big corporations should get to do whatever they want, any statement by Obama appears to the warped Randy like the wrong thing to say.  And that is why Barack Obama is president and Rand Paul is not. It’s just another reason why Rand Paul should be routed from his Senate run this November.  

The above video is an excellent example of how Sestak frames his (and our) message.  Despite ample evidence that Joe is more than up to the task of flattening opponent Pat Toomey’s case, Toomey keeps setting himself up.  Toomey, the Club-for-Growther running against US Rep. Joe Sestak keeps laying the groundwork for Sestak’s first-rate comebacks.  Here’s the video of Sestak’s response to Toomey’s tongue-in-cheek suggestion that Sestak take a vacation.

What a great foil Toomey is!  He’s a Congressman too, but besides his drown government in the bathtub shtick, all he’s got is that he’s running as an “outsider” (Tsk). It’s getting to be fun listening to Sestak carefully put Toomey away in the campaign back-and-forth.  And the question is: Why can’t other Dems do this?  

For now, it’s a pleasure to hear Sestak perfectly make the Dems’ case. He’s delightfully effective and quick with his responses(slow-talkers drive me daffy–time is a resource and there’s precious little of it to make that sound-bite). But give Sestak more than a sound bite and he is spectacular. This is the kind of framing we have been waiting for.

I urge you to stay engaged with the Sestak campaign.  Here is his congressional home page. Here are some of his positions. It’ll give you that little thing called hope, for real.

The fusion of entertainment and information meets the no spin zone in Norfolk tonight. The residual chicken sh*t will not be the kind Terry McAuliffe champions. It is all about fertilizing an audience; an audience that pads the entertainers’ pockets by buying their schtick, their sponsors’ products, and their memorabilia.

This is a rescheduled Bold and Fresh Tour appearance. The first cancelled by a January blizzard that shut down Hampton Roads and continues to serve as a superficial proof source for the counter-climate change mob. These are the same science challenged minions who buy the “non-hybrid seeds, stored above the Arctic Circle” that Beck proffers.

Beck and O’Reilly saw an opportunity to double down on the local market for unsupported and base assertions by offering a 3PM matinee appearance today. They claimed the evening show was “sold out.” The good news is that there was no market for the additional show. Beck vigorously worked to hype the appearance to no avail, despite oodles of money spent on local advertising (a drop in the bucket for Beck but a windfall for local radio). They tried arranging appearances on local talk shows. His marketing crew couldn’t pull it off despite telling every area radio station’s sales manager that he or she was the best they’d dealt with anywhere. Good news: it seems it is a fiercely loyal but definitely finite market being strung along. But when the matinee was cancelled, the spin began. Suddenly it was a scheduling conflict that prevented the appearance. Bill…no spin?

Michael Savage refers to this as the Bald and Fat tour. You can be sure who the losers are in this P.T. Barnum goat rope. You can also be sure who the shameless clowns are. The good news if you have a bridge to sell is that the ball caps, tote bags, and travel mugs mark your prey. Tickets still remain for this evening’s show.