Blue Mass Group

Someone in the GOP didn’t get the memo…

OK, here’s a small item that doesn’t have the word ‘Palin’ in it (by the way, did you know that Sarah Palin is your new Segway?). So, apparently Senator John Kerry can ride a bike.  Well enough to impress an apolitical former bike racer. I’d really like to see Kerry challenge W to, say, a cyclocross race.  The winner’s prize?  Bragging rights, and maybe the presidency from now ’til January 2009?

On Jim Lehrer, Michael Beschloss just noted the great irony of Joe Lieberman’s speech lauding John McCain’s supposed penchant for reaching across the aisle to solve the nation’s problems: most of it was probably written as his speech accepting the vice-presidential nomination, a speech he won’t give because the base rejected McCain’s effort to reach across the aisle.

Author Note: I write a regular newsletter for my company New England Breeze. My latest article seems to have resonated with many of my regular readers so I thought I would share with an audience that might be experiencing a bit of Palin Fatigue. (BTW, this is what I have been doing since I stopped blogging here and DailyKos about 2 years ago).

Do you have an electric doorbell? Is it running? Than you better go catch it. Or even better, disconnect it.

More below the fold…

I predict that Palin will “withdraw”, which is a nice way of saying she’ll be asked to leave and will make it seem as though it was on her own accord, most likely for personal/family reasons. With the catastrophe that has been the Palin choice, it’s not a surprise that many others are betting this will happen, literally and figuratively. What’s your prediction?

A bit of a change from the postings here, but has anyone tried Google Chrome?  It’s Goggle’s browser.  The browser gives you a lot of real estate on your screen for web pages.  I also like the tab feature where it provides a small screen capture of recently visited sites to choose.  For those who like to do the Google like McCain’s team on their vetting process, you can type what you want to search directly in the address bar.  I like it.

Crossposted at my favorite internet playground I’m just amazed at how many conservatives have become so enlightened when it comes to teenage pregnancy!  It was only a few months ago that the ranting at Red Mass Group and by radio blowhards like Howie Carr and Michael Graham were crucifying the Gloucester teens who got pregnant.   Among the drivel you heard from these conservative activists was the need for better parenting of these teens, the need for abstinence only health education and an overall belief that liberal values, such as sex education, was to blame for teenage pregnancy.   And then, POW, they all woke up the day after Labor Day with a whole new outlook, one that resembles…a liberal! “No matter how good you try and be a parent, it’s so hard to keep kids from doing these things,” was the gist of what these conservatives are now saying after it was revealed that a prominent Republican’s daughter is pregnant (ya, we all know who, but they are right-it is none of our business and the family should be left alone).   Funny how we’re not hearing from the conservative cackle anything about abstinence only sex education, but rather [...]

It seems that the Republican convention is looking to invoke Teddy Roosevelt in support of the McCain-Palin ticket.  Historians will note, however, that Teddy Roosevelt was a 1912 Progressive, and judging from the 1912 Progressive Party platform, it’s strange that McCain and Palin are trying to abandon the Republican label for the Teddy Roosevelt Bull Moose Progressives.

The 1912 Progressive Party platform is posted here.  Below the fold are three planks.  96 years later, do you think either McCain or Palin are on board for the beliefs of Teddy Roosevelt and his breakaway party?

Don’t let McCain-Palin turn a Progressive hero into moose stew!

You know, our conservative friend EaBo was telling us how terrific Sarah Palin is, how she's the face of young conservatism, and so forth. And I suggested that to be up to the task, she'd better be “prodigiously awesome”. Well, some anonymous-but-eloquent guy in Alaska says she's got game. What the Republicans missed about Sarah Palin then–and what the Democrats seem poised to miss now–is that she is a true political savant; a candidate with a knack for identifying the key gripes of the populace and packaging herself as the solution. That keen political nose has enabled her to routinely outperform her resume. Nearly two years into her administration, she still racks up approval ratings of 80 per cent or better. … Sooner or later, the Obama camp will realize that the beauty pageant queen is an enormously talented populist in a year that is ripe for populism. For their own sake, it had better be sooner. Say what you like about qualifications, ideology, policy expertise, or whatever … but beware a political killer instinct. En garde!

That would be State Sen. Anthony Petrucelli’s campaign staff. So I’ve drafted a bill regarding education and will be having my State Rep. and Sen. sponsor it come January.  I started scheduling meetings with various officials a couple of months ago.   My representative in the district, Tim Toomey, on the other hand was absolutely fantastic by the way.  He and his staff were very responsive.  Within a couple of weeks we had a meeting scheduled and it went really well.  Kudos. Before proceeding any further to meet with the correct committee members I wanted to meet with both officials and I still have not met with Mr. Petrucelli. After a month and a half of rather poor customer service, I was offered the chance to meet with his policy staff, Greg, instead.  I stated that I would be happy to meet with both of them, but I certainly did not want to meet with Greg instead of Mr. Petrucelli.  I have also never met my State Senator so I was/am looking forward to this meeting for even more reasons than simply my bill. Now, this past week a woman calls me back from the campaign and tells me that [...]