Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Not That Anyone Here Needs A Reminder...

VOTE.

Election watch to be held here, beginning when the polls close on the East Coast, and lasting until the last ballot is cast and tallied.

84 comments:

  1. Thanks, lady red. I really appreciate having TCKT to read and comment on, especially on such a big day politically.

    Woohoo!

    (I'll be happy if Rossi wins, still praying on that one...)

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  2. I voted on my way to work this morning, and then did an exit poll when leaving.

    One of the questions regarded whether I'd voted as a method of sending a message to Obama - I answered that with a yes, of course.

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  3. We just voted. The election gals said the turnout here has been VERY high.

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  4. Good luck on Rossi, Florrie. Get that tennis shoe wearing lady out of there. Except... I think I may have voted for her before my 9/11 epiphany. :(

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  5. Fox just called a race in Indiana with only 4% of the vote in. Then they called the Kentucky race for Rand Paul with only 4% in. WTF?!? Four percent? Have they lost their marbles?

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  6. I wonder if FOX is trying to suppress the vote by discouraging people from going out, since 'the other guy already won'.

    I am a very firm believer in freedom of speech, but 4% is ridiculously low to call an election.

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  7. We just voted.

    What... you think you're done? You only voted once. Vote again!

    ---

    About the issue of calling races where only a small percent of the vote is counted: there are standard statistical techniques for this.

    (Basically if you have an urn of red and blue balls, and you take the balls out one by one, and the first five percent goes 70 red / 30 blue, you can calculate the likelyhood that red balls are a majority in the urn, and it will be very, very unlikely.)

    The math is sound but the assumptions behind the math (perfectly uncorrelated votes) are sometimes violated because county votes are counted together and votes are correlated within counties. More subtle analysis take these into account; media have been employing smart statisticians since the whole "Dewy beats Truman" debacle a generation ago. (Ignore the exit polls; they are not reliable).

    Bottom line IMHO is that the projections aren't baseless if it is enough of a landslide, but they aren't perfect, either.

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  8. Uh, I screwed up red vs blue above - should read blue balls are a majority in the urn, and it will be very, very unlikely.

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  9. Boozman has won the Arkansas senate seat. No surprise. Bye bye Blanche! You should have listened to us.

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  10. Alan Grayson just conceded! Oh happy day!

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  11. I'm surprised Grayson had the grace.

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  12. Grayson lost??????? Oh happy day! Oh happy day!

    Michigain has a new REPUBLICAN governor, a new REPUBLICAN lt. governor, a new REPUBLICAN attorney general, and a new REPUBLICAN secretary of state. MICHIGAN!!!!!!

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  13. Michelle Malkin has a link to a deranged Dem supporter losing his mind.

    The worst part of that is that it just made me LMAO. It was like watching a parody. I wanted to yell, "DON'T BE THE STEREOTYPE! Resist! Resist the siren call and BREAK THE MOLD!"

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  14. Things aren't looking as good in PA - it is currently Sestak(D) ahead of Toomey(R) by 54-46, and Corbett(R) is behind Onorato(D) by about 1.

    Of course, just like 2008, the damned handout kings & queens in the cities are all voting Dem.

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  15. I'm certain that Beebe(D) will be reelected as governor here. He's done a good job, and has a lot of bipartisan support.

    The polls just closed in Nevada. This is a BIG one.

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  16. Wow, it looks like three out of four of Arkansas' house seats will be (R), and the fourth district is a tight race that could also swing to the (R). Sweet!

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  17. So, I followed a link to an older Salon article about the ten most terrifying Republican congressional hopefuls. Not surprisingly, they had Allen West on there, hysterical about his "biker connections" and the fact that people comment on a magazine he contributes to the same way people comment on Maxim.

    Then I read their screeching diatribe about Ilario Pantano (NC7). What fucking, smug, self righteous assholes they are.

    Oh - and AFG would like, just once, for one of the R pick-ups to address President Obama over one of his pet issues, "Well, Mr. President, to borrow your immortal words after the 2008 election - I won."

    So, that would be nice. But after that, I hope in the name of Santa and Rudolph that both the remaining Dems and the new Republicans figure out that the American people are sick to shit of their party loyalties and want congress to behave like responsible AMERICANS first, with donkeys and elephants relegated to the back of the bus. With whomever else the President has sent back. :)

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  18. Poor Grayson. He can't decide if he lost because of the weather or because of of gerrymandering.

    Will someone please point out to Mr. Grayson that the districts are the same now as they were when he was elected?

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  19. Russ Feingold got spanked! Hahaha! Haley has won in South Carolina too. :)

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  20. Pfft. Grayson lost because he's creepy in an icky sort of way.

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  21. And Acorn file for bancruptcy today!

    It could have been a better day, but I'll take it.

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  22. Speaking of creepy in an icky sort of way...I'm ready to hear some good news from Nevada.

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  23. I want to hear good news from Nevada and Washington.

    Everybody, go back and listen to Dino's Song!

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  24. Okay, you know what? I'm going to admit here that I really kinda wish that Kirk and Giannoulias would both lose.

    Hard.

    Nothing feels good there. Nothing at all.

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  25. Oh - and AFG would like, just once, for one of the R pick-ups to address President Obama over one of his pet issues, "Well, Mr. President, to borrow your immortal words after the 2008 election - I won."

    LOL!

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  26. I'm super sad to read that Real Clear Politics has called NC7 for the Dems. That means Ilario Pantano has lost. With 80% in and a 10% difference, I don't think it was a hasty call, but... poo.

    RCP hasn't updated the West numbers in FOREVER, though. And I want to know that one BAD.

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  27. As of about 40 minutes ago, West is leading Klein 58-43. Yeah, baby!

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  28. From here:

    9:47 p.m. from the West camp:

    The West campaign party has become so packed that people have spilled out into hallways and the lobby. Fort Lauderdale talk radio host Joyce Kaufman, an early and important West supporter, went on stage and congratulated the crowd over what was looking more and more like a victorious campaign.

    "This is not about the party," she told them. "This is about the people."


    9:41 p.m. from the Klein camp:

    The mood is downcast.

    The hotel ballroom has emptied dramatically. There may be fewer than 75 people remaining, down from a couple of hundred earlier.

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  29. Well, Governor Moonbeam won. Good grief.

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  30. lady red - I can honestly say that I blame Meg Whitman's hairstyle.

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  31. lady red - I can honestly say that I blame Meg Whitman's hairstyle.

    Oh, definitely. What was she thinking? And that dress!

    /clucking tongue and shaking head sadly...

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  32. I am following along here, but not much excitement to report in these parts. It looks like the Republicans will pick up one of the three NJ House seats in play. No Senate races though.

    But we did get Chris Christie earlier this year. That was a pretty big win... so really, how can we ask for much more than that?

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  33. ROSSI! ROSSI! ROSSI! ROSSI!

    Up by 8% with 25% of the votes counted according to KING 5.

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  34. Oh my! Go Rossi!!!!

    Alphie, you guys did GOOD with Christie.

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  35. From my link in #28:
    ------
    11:19 from the West camp:

    The cheering went on for a couple of minutes, with everyone on their feet waving West signs.

    West asked before anything started that the crowd join him in the Pledge of Allegiance, which they did, with many raising their voices for the words "under God."

    "This shows the triumph of the American people," West said.

    He thanked his family, saying that for them "it's been a tough race."

    He said he spent time tonight at his church, Community Christian in Tamarac and discussed with his pastor a "little bit of Scripture I want to share with you."

    Matthew Chapter 5, Blessed are you when they insult you and persecute you...Be glad and rejoice because your reward is great in Heaven...You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden."

    "Tonight in Congressional District 22 you all are the salt of the United States of America."

    "A light will shine from Congressional District 22 that will illuminate the way for all Americans so that they'll know that the beacon of light, the beacon of hope for the United States of America starts in Congressional District 22."

    "The honor and the integrity and the character with which we ran this congressional race will go to Washington, D.C."


    "We are going to establish a government that will follow the Constitutional principles laid down by our founding fathers," he said. "Never will there be a day, never will there be a night when you will wonder what I'm doing in Washington DC for you."

    We will make sure that you're safe because I know who the enemy is out there and I'm not afraid of confronting that enemy. I will make sure that everybody knows that the United States believes in peace through strength."

    The crowd interrupted with deafening chants of "USA! USA!"

    "I'm not going to Washington, DC, to seek to be a ruling class elitist. I'm going to Washington, DC to seek to solve the problems of this nation. And then I'm coming home."

    God bless you all and thank you.

    Everyone stood and sang The Star Spangled Banner.
    -------

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  36. Oklahoma has voted to ban sharia law and international law from being considered in court cases. Muslims threaten to take it to court. I wish I could say /sarc, but you know it is true.

    Oklahoma also voted to make English its official language.

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  37. Susana Martinez (R) won the New Mexico governor's race!

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  38. Another female, and one with a Hispanic last name. Those racist, sexist Republicans.

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  39. And Washington State is voting down the state income tax.

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  40. That idiot Michael Steele is taking credit for the landslide tonight. Really, Mr. Steele? Really?

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  41. YAY! WEST! WEST! And I'd like to go on record as having supported West since ALWAYS.

    @32 lady red - I kind of think that's a failure on our part. I mean, we're all girlfriends here. That sort of intervention is our job. We fell down on that one. And now look what happened...

    It reminds me of the former Recreation Director who spent time in prison for pot smoking in Parks and Recreation (the show is AWESOME, btw).

    http://www.nbc.com/parks-and-recreation/video/summer-catalog/1212420/

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  42. Jeebus, Boehner was just on TV giving a short speech, and the dude started crying. At first I thought he was having a stroke or something! I told Noah "he's going down...he's going down...somebody catch him!" LOL!

    Plus, Kasich won in Ohio! That's HUGE!!!

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  43. Toomey just edged ahead of Sestak...it's a nail-biter!

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  44. I put the blanket over my head when Boehner started tearing up. Ugh.

    His orange glow makes me feel vaguely queasy, too.

    Reid has edged ahead, though. Or last I looked. I'm okay with the Senate not changing hands if Reid would just get stomped.

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  45. Nevada, I'm glaring in your general direction.

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  46. You did see where the unions in LV were stong-arming casino employees into voting (for Reid).

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  47. SRSLY, lady red.

    I did not see that, Matt.

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  48. Yeah, I saw that Matt. :(

    Reid's kidlet went down in flames. At least that's something.

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  49. Toomey is projected to win. That's good news.

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  50. Kirk slithers by Giannoulias in Illinois. Talk about a slap in the face to Obama! That HAD to hurt.

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  51. @52 lady red: Yes. But that slap hurt my hand, too.

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  52. Yeah, no kidding...replacing one worm with another.

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  53. "Toomey is projected to win. That's good news."

    Woohoo!

    I'd love to stay up and see how the rest of this ends, but sleep I must.

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  54. Oooooooo. Jim Judd, the guy I knew in high school, is losing 64-34.

    That is with only about 5% of the vote counted, so hopefully that will change. That is a big difference to overcome -- but sometimes it makes a differences as to what precincts have been counted.

    But I won't hold my breath. We are talking southern Sonoma and northern Marin counties, afterall.

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  55. Me too, Alphie. Tomorrow comes early!

    Good night everyone...if Reid wins, don't tell me. :-o

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  56. I just did.

    But it looks like the Rossi/Murray race will be close enough for the Dems to steal it.

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  57. Nikki Haley is the victory that surprised me the most. And also the one I felt the most, I don't know, sense of justice? in.

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  58. I've got to head to bed, too. Big doin's tomorrow.

    Yay for LTC West! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

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  59. Yeah, i need to getg to sleep as well. Good night everywon. We did not win everything, but we sure put up a good show. It will get better from here.

    As many people have said, at least with the Republicans not getting the Senate, The Mesiah will have trouble blaming everything on Republicans.

    Not that he won't try. After all, he did that when he a super-majority in the Senate and a large majority in the house. Now everyont will get tired of his whining and he will be voted out in 2012.

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  60. Oregon governor's race too close to call right now. CNN has Dudley ahead of Kitzhaber 50/48 with 75% counted.

    Close enough to steal.

    Won't make much difference here, anyway.

    Big, BIG cheer for for LCT West.

    If Boehner tries to co-opt the newbies he needs to be called out. As long as he races to the front of the column and "leads", he'll do OK. Wonder if he's smart enough.

    There was no Newt Gingrich this time around. Boehner didn't lead the House landslide; Michael Steele sure didn't either.

    Leaderless, decentralized insurgency rocks.

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  61. OMG - I was watching the news and Eric Cantor was on and was congratulated on being the new House Majority Leader.

    And I had that moment of realization - he *IS* minority whip, isn't he? So he is the logical choice, isn't he?

    OMG. O.M.G. And I almost ran in circles.

    Because I'm not particularly excited about Boehner at all. I don't know what it is, but I'm not a huge fan. At most, I'm really "meh" about him. And I really wish we could put Cantor in the Speaker's position. But at least if Boehner suffers a freak tanning accident, Cantor can step right up.

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  62. Leaderless, decentralized insurgency rocks.

    Yes. Now I hope the GOP and Dems both figure this the hell out - America first, people. Party should be dead last on the list of loyalties.

    Listen to your constituents. To paraphrase my mother, "We brought you into this world, and we can take you out." Don't pull the, "I know what's best for you,"crap, because you are not our parents, you are our political servant. SERVANT. Not the boss.

    I wish that I had the confidence in the newb GOP congressmembers to be more than tentatively hopeful that this idea has hit home.

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  63. Wow, the governor's race is something of a nail biter. Been hovering at a twenty thousand vote lead for Dudley. Kitzhaber is optimistic that "late returns for Multnomah County (Portland)" will win it for him.

    Yeah, I bet they will.

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  64. afw - this is just one battle, not the whole war. I look at the "insurgency" battling the Republican party apparatchiks as much as the Democrats.

    (Apparently I'm a political junkie. I can tell because I spelled "apparatchiks" correctly, first try, without looking it up... and I'm an indifferent speller, at best).

    Anyhoo.

    Feet. Fire. Hold. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

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  65. I'm thinking of an dld David Lee Roth quote:

    "Young musicians are always coming up to me and asking 'how do you know when you've made it?' When you can spell 'subpoena' without thinking about it, that's when you know you've made it."

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  66. Jim Judd lost 65-30 Ouch. That's with 100%.

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  67. Lewy said: "this is just one battle, not the whole war. I look at the "insurgency" battling the Republican party apparatchiks as much as the Democrats."

    A-Men. Times 10.

    The "test" will be how politics proceeds from here. Dictatorial, closeted, and arbitrary will not fly with John Q voter. I am deliriously pleased that Mizz (Pass it so you can find out what's in it!) Pelosi is toast, now your essential back bencher...may she succumb to ego and resign ... please. Harry Reid without Pelosi is a eunuch.

    I'm a little discomforted by how even last night I watched pundits portray Palin as 2012 Presidential material. As a "mamager" she is primarily responsible for virtually giving a Senate seat to the Democrats (Delaware) and nearly doing so in Alaska (such arbitrary moves is Pelosi style, damn the outcome)....If Murkowski really wins, Palin will have failed in that ridiculous (Miller who?)power stunt. I think it is significant because the Senate is where the Republicans failed to take a majority. How do you try to win a body by 10 and give up two otherwise assured seats? Local (District) influence is NOT equivalent to statewide influence. Whoops. If Murkowski wins...who does she owe?

    Of course, I am stunned by the Republican victories in Michigan...NOW I cling to a faint hope that it won't be more of the same Republicrat & Demlicans BS. Snyder (Governor) may the best hope for a difference....he has actually held real day jobs. If he turns "moderate Republican" in Milliken (tax whacko, and born millionaire) terms, we're toast....give us to Canada....er, you might have to pay them to take us.

    As for the rest of the purported sweep....I await in silence. Let the rhetoric die down and see if new and old can work together. If not, gain is zero....with filibusters to boot.

    I am not holding my breath.

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  68. Dino still has a very good chance and the lawyers are there awaiting any of the shenanigans the Seattle dems like to pull.

    It will still be several days before we know the results.

    It will also be interesting to see how many of those write in votes in Alaska are actually for Murkowsky. That will take even longer...

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  69. Hey, florrie! I was just wondering what happened everyone. I figured you were all out partying into the wee hours and had to sleep it off.

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  70. Hmmm... perhaps florrie was just turning in after a long night & day of partying : P

    Anyhow, you just have to love the headlines that have been popping up all day...

    Analysis: Voters to President Obama: Slow down

    WASHINGTON – America spoke. So what exactly did the country say it wanted beyond an end to one-party rule?

    Smaller government. Less spending. More jobs.

    "Slow down" was the overriding message to Barack Obama, a first-term president with big ambitions who used his big Democratic majorities in Congress to try to transform the nation. He attempted that feat while simultaneously trying to thwart economic catastrophe with government bailouts that he inherited or initiated of failing banks and teetering automakers.

    But it turns out that his type of change was too much, too soon. And voters told him as much Tuesday.


    Oh my goodness... can you possibly get it more wrong? The message isn't "slow down" the message is "STOP!" Pull over. Get the hell out of the driver's seat. Let someone with a clue can get in so they can turn the damn bus around and go in the right direction.

    The really funny thing is that when you read down the article...

    To the extent that the GOP does have a mandate, an Associated Press analysis of exit poll data shows that it would be to limit the government's reach and scale back spending.

    Republicans won because most voters — and particularly swing-voting independents who decide elections, thought that:
    -Government is intruding too much into decisions that should be left to people and businesses.
    -Washington isn't working.
    -Reducing the deficit should be a main focus of the next Congress.
    -Obama wasn't doing a good job, and his policies were harming the country.


    How... how could anyone possibly look at that analysis and conclude that voters merely want Obama to slow down?

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  71. I missed this little gem at the bottom of he article...

    But the electorate will all but certainly shift to the left as 2012 approaches and Democrats rally behind the incumbent president. [emphasis mine]

    Yeah, good luck with that.

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  72. OMG. Well, I'm glad I missed THAT article.

    I think the AP could have asked any second grader to interpret the feelings of the voters and the second grader would have summed it up perfectly with, "YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!"

    Dude - we're the boss of YOU. Once you get that idea in your head and keep it there, things will go much more smoothly. I promise.

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  73. Alphie - Glenn Reynolds has been running a slogan in a bunch of his posts - it's not an election, it's a restraining order.

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  74. Alphie, I keep missing you, it's like internet phone tag :-)

    I stayed up until about 1 am hoping to see our WA situation resolved. Rossi sent a very positive email out to all his supporters and after reading it I felt much better about the whole situation.

    Heh, I'm too tired to partay anymore, I don't get enough sleep as it is since I get up early for their majesties.

    You're right on about AP's "anaysis". During Obama's press conference, one of the reporters - NBC, no less! - suggested that the voters think he "doesn't get it". *snickerin*

    As if the hour-long exercise in self-delusion wasn't enough, after dinner here he is again doing a new PSA! I swear, you can't duck the guy.

    img:" http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/concentrate.gif"


    (at least Bush had the sense to hide out his last 2 years...)

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  75. Oh my goodness... can you possibly get it more wrong? The message isn't "slow down" the message is "STOP!" Pull over. Get the hell out of the driver's seat. Let someone with a clue can get in so they can turn the damn bus around and go in the right direction.

    I think the AP could have asked any second grader to interpret the feelings of the voters and the second grader would have summed it up perfectly with, "YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME!"

    I love it!!

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  76. I love this thread. This thread is wonderful. I'm going to read it all again before I turn in.

    You guys rock.

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  77. Spencer Bachus is not your friend.

    “The derivatives provisions in Dodd-Frank alone... as they stand now they’re going to take a trillion dollars out of our economy. Think how many jobs that’s going to kill,” he said.

    Complete and utter bullshit.

    If Bachus thinks the Tea Party has given him a mandate to fellate the banking class he should think again.

    It may well be that aspects of the FrankenDodd bill need scrutiny but likely because they don't go far enough.

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  78. I meant to mention earlier- as florrie said up on the top of the thread- I am quite grateful for having TCKT to read and on which to gripe... I mean comment. Thank you, lady red (and the rest of you* too)

    *epsecially those of you who post cool music links, and stories, and interesting articles on topics I know nothing about.

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  79. And we love having you here Alphie.

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  80. Alphie, you're so sweet! Thanks so much. I echo Fay's comment...we love having you here! :)

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