Benny's World

Bush's Brain is Only 2 Miles from My House Tonight

2010-03-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Karl Rove, aka Bush's Brain, has been invited by the Champaign County Gross Ol' Party's Lincoln Day celebration.

From the CC GOP website:

“Our goal this November is to challenge every Democrat in all federal, state and local races. It is a privilege and honor to have Karl Rove come to Champaign County to assist in our efforts,” said Jason Barickman, Chairman of the Champaign County Republican Central Committee.

Rove’s visit is part of his book tour promoting his forthcoming memoir, “Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight,” scheduled for release March 9.

‘Courage and Consequence’ is a candid and behind-the-scenes view of some of history’s turbulent and momentous years. It tells how President Bush got to the White House and what happened during his consequential presidency. It’s a frank account of what I witnessed and my often-controversial role,” Rove said."

I agree it probably was a controversial role, considering nearly 5000 men and women are dead from the Iraq war, and thousands of troops still stuck there. I don't think Lincoln would have picked this kind of fight for the good of our country, which is bankrupting our government when we could have had universal health care.

If only this had really happened:

Rove should have been arrested and tried for treason for outing a CIA officer.

Mr. Benny and I are planning to have dinner out of town this evening, to say the least. I don't think I eat my dinner, knowing Karl Rove is crapping only 2 miles from my house.

(cross-posted at the DU, with slight modifications)

Erin go Brough with the Celtic Women

2010-03-17T20:53:00.001-07:00

Did you wear a little green today? I did.

Here's Orinoco Flow from the CW's:

Happy St. Patty's Day, all.

A Couple of Changes at Benny's World

2010-03-15T12:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Readers,

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I've been busy helping Mr. Benny get ready to move to our Plantation, FL rental condo. Takes up a tremendous amount of energy.

Couple of changes at Benny's World in terms of the links. I have added Rep Alan Grayson's website. Alan Grayson is the most progressive member of the House next to Dennis K and supports the public option for health insurance reform. He's also very funny. He did an eloquent smackdown of Sarah Palin recently when she went to Orlando and criticized him. He also blogs at the Daily Kos, which is really kewl.

JREG bit the dust and no longer exists. It appears that JFrew, the blog owner, has redirected the URL to Andrew Young's book, and since I have no interested in publicizing the work, I have removed the link altogether. I'm sorry it went away, but I don't blame the owner either for disbanding it out of respect to Elizabeth Edwards.

In late April, I will be making some other changes to this blog in order to reflect the values of a former Edwards ideas supporter and one that appreciated Elizabeth more than John in the first place. Hopefully, I will have more time to blog then.

Who Will Take an Oscar statue Home?

2010-03-07T15:56:00.001-08:00

Hello BW Readers,

Sorry I've not posted anything in two weeks. I was in Ft Lauderdale helping Mr. Benny find a place to live. He's moving around the 17th of April and has a place to live in Plantation, FL, about a little over 5 miles to work.

Back to the topic. There are 10 films nominated, but still only 5 for individual awards. The nominees are as follows:

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

I don't understand the thinking of the Academy members in nominating the following two on this list: An Education and Up. And epic films such as Invictus and The Last Station left off the list?

I'm watching the last Barbara Walters Oscar special as I type. I realized while watching the guests over the years that I was a regular viewer to her show.

Best of luck, nominees!

Another Bill Maher Classic

2010-02-20T14:42:00.000-08:00

Bill Maher said that last night in the "New Rules" from Real Time. Vintage DUzy (courtesy of Touchdown) and Maher!

EE and Mr. Benny: Nova SE

2010-02-17T18:04:00.000-08:00

Many BW readers know that Mr. Benny has been out of work for awhile, and has been seeking employment in nearly any area of the country except Alaska, Hawaii, California, and New England.

He's about to sign on the dotted line at Nova Southeastern in a couple of weeks.

Now, here's an interesting thing: Elizabeth Edwards is speaking at Nova tomorrow night.

Planets not quite aligned yet, but man, is that coincidental or what?

Teh Bayh-Bye

2010-02-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

As just about all BW readers know, Sen Evan Bayh (Dino-Indiana) has called it quits after this year. Lots of speculation about the timing as much as why one has $13M in coffers, has won solidly twice, and waited until nearly the filing deadline.

Well, I'm one of those who isn't going to say good-bye to Bayh as I think he will be back, but maybe for a run in 2016 (which presumes--and I use that term carefully--Obama wins re-election). He's also betting that the left will leave him alone once he leaves.

In order not to pile on all of the negatives, I will say something positive about his decision: I've often thought we had too many career politicians, and yes, including Teddy Kennedy, as well as John Murtha, who is being buried in PA as I type this post. Both were good patriots, but many times, they weren't able to get the job done.

My point being (and at the risk of sounding almost libertarian) is that campaign finance reform won't happen. The SCOTUS made sure of that. Lobbyists will continue to take up more jobs in DC and our voices cannot be heard above the loud music played on K street. So, what is the alternative? Term limits --3 for the House, 2 for the Senate--in order to get rid of the asinine chairmanships that keep Joe Lieberman in charge when he should have been kicked out of the Democratic Caucus years ago.

Evan Bayh may be a career politician too. But yesterday, he activated a self-imposed term limit. That's a good thing.

Floyd Cramer and My Momma

2010-02-15T18:18:00.000-08:00

My Momma, whom I lost in late March, has a birthday tomorrow. She would be 79 years old.

What is not known with my siblings but I did know in hanging out at my pappy's bars with her and him, was her preference for a jukebox to play an old fashioned country-love song that was a "one hit wonder" on any station, Floyd Cramer's "Last Date."

Not certain exactly why my momma (and to a certain extent, my daddy) loved this tune, but it resonates with me with her memory of loving the tune.

Happy Birthday, Momma. First b-day with the heavens without humans. If there is a heaven, I hope Daddy is listening to "Last Date" as well.

http://tinyurl.com/ygc52na

"Be A Clown" Saturday Night

2010-02-13T16:12:00.001-08:00

For some who think I should take down my blog, etc, here's my response, and enjoy:

I was always a fan of the Marx Brothers. Hint.

I'm baking a quiche a la Benny tonight. Should be ready in an hour and not long after that, I'll be checking the net to see how Katherine Reutter did in her first heat in Women's 500 short track.

Be a clown!

O doesn't equate to FDR

2010-02-11T17:42:00.001-08:00

My pal Montana Maven has a salient post over at FDL about our current administration which shies away from liberal positions, even if they try to sell them (then back away, using the moniker "they make me do it).

From FDL:

Liberals, who I like, from Mark Thompson on Sirius Left to Les Leopold invoke FDR and the idea that he told activists to "make him do it". Or that Martin Luther King made President Johnson do it. Ergo, it is our responsibility to push Obama. It smacks of a variation on the "personal responsibility" meme of Bill Cosby and shifts the attention away from the Obama administration and their responsibility. And is it even true?
FDR was a natural fighter (and so was Johnson) and became even more fierce with his ongoing battle with polio. He had the first female Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, and she was often the last person to leave after a cabinet meeting. Who is last now? Geithner and Gates? And quick, who is the secretary of labor?

FDR saw who the enemy was and it was Wall Street or as he said, "entrenched greed." Obama said in his state of the union that he wasn’t interested in punishing the banksters that brought the world economy down. He reinforced this on February 9, 2010 in is latest statement:

"I, like most of the American people, don’t begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free- market system."
But FDR was not only interested in punishing the Wall Street gamblers, he got laws passed to break their kneecaps.

Yeppers, Obama is afraid of the conservatives. FDR was mindful of other considerations, in which his wife was his conscience.

I'm wondering if Mrs. Obama thinks as ER about all of the windows to present to her husband. I hope so but I'm not so sure since she has two little ones to consider. My point is that while she tries to be somewhat like ER (the garden and a few things), ER's children were already raised.

What do you think about Obama compared to FDR as a sound progressive or liberal?

And please, do not bring up JRE's personal life on this thread but if you think his ideas could have been like FDR's, that's appropriate. Otherwise, this is not an intelligent discussion of ideas, which is what this thread is about. Let's discuss ideas!!!

Congrats Saints!

2010-02-08T16:01:00.000-08:00

I was rootin' for ya all last night. I never gave up hope, just as you didn't. The Defense was spectacular in the second half.

The seal dealer: Tracy Porter (a Louisanan):

As he is running so fast past everyone, watch the change of hands in carrying the ball; they represented joy and good pride. He ran 78 yards in 11 seconds.

NOLA should be proud, especially after Brownie and Bush almost let it drown.

One of my NOLA buds called it the "Year of the Yat."

To the Colts credit, they were close to getting another touchdown. Just wasn't their night.

After the Pokes, I said even midway this past season, it looked to be the Saints' year. Pokes were lucky to win against the Saints in the latter part of the season, but I knew the Saints would likely win a rematch, the Vikings got to the Pokes first.

Thank goodness the Saints' coaches didn't listen to Phil Simms at 3:24 left in the game. And they took some nice risks. Great game, great job.

Update: this is crap from the media about Peyton Manning. He and the Colts do not deserve any big blame for not wanting to speak out. Peyton Manning was correct: it was the Saints' field last night.

Sure Miss this Politician

2010-02-06T08:14:00.001-08:00

http://www.democrats.org/a/2007/02/john_edwards_vi.php

(Flash 8.0 required)

He was right then. Too bad his personal life was different from the politician I wanted in the WH.

Those ideas, likely EE's too, are still on the backburner.

Elizabeth Edwards Supporters Group at the DU

2010-02-05T03:26:00.000-08:00

Well BW readers,

I went over to the DU this morning, and it appears that Skinner renamed the JRE supporters group to the Elizabeth Edwards Supporters group. The group didn't lose any content either.

We love Elizabeth!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=257x12569

DU Forum Name Change?

2010-01-30T11:13:00.000-08:00

Inspired, whom I know from the trails in Iowa, has suggested that the JRE supporters group be renamed the Elizabeth Edwards Supporters group. I actually favor the idea since EE was likely the brains behind the ideas in the last campaign.

I will always feel inspired here though by JRE and I would have not been able to meet his wonderful wife otherwise. I still wish she was POTUS or FL, although I have become a fan of Michelle Obama.

If are a DU'er and want to see that forum's name change, go here.

Soap Opera Media

2010-01-27T13:33:00.000-08:00

Geez, is this the best investigative journalism we can get? National Enquirer types who are attempting to get prizes for exposing a personal affair?

http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/01/27/edwards.split/index.html

When it is pornographic intent from a rejected lover to trap someone (male or female) (unless there is evidence of physical harm) and another issue when sexual or other abuses are done to youth under the age of 17? There is quite a bit of difference.

How one one get a tape of such evidence if there wasn't a plotting to trap someone like John Edwards (vis a vie possibly Young and the Gold Dust Woman) for extortion? I don't have evidence, I just watch Law and Order. I'm glad I was not and still not privy to any of this tabloid journalism. Just a volunteer and an observer.

No one can wait for history, I guess. History was 5 minutes ago if one is a wantabe as a celebrity.

My sympathy goes out to Elizabeth and to John (to a certain extent, but he really got himself into a mess--and my concern is without further counseling, he will continue on this path) , but no sympathy towards the Gold Dust woman. I do feel for Quinn, who is the most victimized due to two very self-absorbed unmarried parents, especially her lazy mother who was a party person with malice. A gold buddha indeed about the child. How sad.

But what happened to health care? Jobs? Economy?

Guess the Gold Dust woman doesn't care about those things at all. No wonder EE is unhappy, and the children are in tabloids' harms ways.

Geesh.

An JRE Ideas Supporter

2010-01-24T00:48:00.000-08:00

Hello John Edwards.

The media loved you when you won big lawsuits for the little person. The media loved you for being the underdog in a senate race 12 years ago. They sort of liked you when you garnered Al Gore's attention for a potential VP nominee in 2000. But they didn't like you in the 2007-8 race for President.

Now, they despise you for stepping out on your wife, thanks to your mistake of being involved with someone not at your social-economic status that you brought your family to due to being a great lawyer. I guess your greatest mistake was underestimating a person who was lazy and never wanted to work --- an antithesis to your own beliefs. I don't like what you did either but I still think it wasn't my business--it was between you and the families involved.

Now I will bring this post to a third person mode.

I never liked John for just being a good looking politician, even if the media did for awhile. I was inspired by him for his ideas, especially being for bold change. As someone who was never involved in politics before, I got involved, and if one talks to other JRE ideas supporters, they will tell you the same story in feeling inspired to help our country. I might add I became a more informed citizen about our government. My hair stylist fires questions at me than anyone else because she trusts my views about various events. We had a big discussion yesterday about what happened in MA and she listens to my opinions since I plug into the blogs. And like me, she doesn't care about JRE's sex scandals. She cares about our country in general.

John helped define the other leading candidates (exception, Dennis K) who were more about identity politics than having ideas. I liked what one of my fellow supporters said about the three candidates in 2007: if you want an engineer of change, you voted for Edwards. If you wanted a shop manager, you voted for Clinton. If you wanted a great salesman, you voted for Obama.

And guess what the media wanted?

John went to Haiti this week and brought back 31 refugees. And the media thinks this is a gimmick? It's not. I know John Edwards in this regard: he cares about the most impoverished. He took the time to meet with me in 2006 privately and was interested in my family history of a family who struggled, just as his did.

Thanks, John Edwards for going to Haiti. And I still wish you were President at times because I think you would have obtained more change that we needed. But America forgives rich Republicans for their un-puritanical mistakes, and not well-heeled Democrats.

Back to MA--a final note: guess what, MA voters were pissed at our POTUS? Why? Here's the answer. John Edwards would have already had health care in the bag and moved on.

Teddy RIP

2010-01-19T19:05:00.000-08:00

Tonight, a very unusual thing happened: a teabagger campaigned and won Teddy Kennedy's seat in a special election in MA.

Unbelievable. I'm not going to point fingers, but I will point out complacency and entitlement of this campaign--indicative of what the voters probably feel about Congress. Kos at DK seems to have a similar thought of my quick take.

Peter Daou opines: Liberal Bloggers to Dems: We Told You So.

However, there seems to be some in-fighting w/in the MA Dem Party in some circles.

Update (h/t DK): this is not so cool by Obama to tell the world he called newly-elect Senator Brown in congratulating him. I know, Obama thinks he can charm him, but I suggest otherwise; Brown is owned by the teabaggers' message which is "We hate government and therefore anything you stand for, except for helping Wall Streeters."

And apparently, newly-elect Senator Brown doesn't mind using his new status as Senator-elect to solicit dates for his "available" daughters. Real classy.

Wanker of the Day

2010-01-11T07:39:00.000-08:00

To borrow from Atrios, here's the wanker of the day by former IL Gov. Rod Blagojevich:

""I'm blacker than Barack Obama. I shined shoes. I grew up in a five-room apartment. My father had a little laundromat in a black community not far from where we lived," Blagojevich said. "I saw it all growing up."

I think Blago realized today the error in firing off another ball from his loose cannon arsenal.

JRE Still Helps the Needy

2009-12-27T02:59:00.000-08:00

NCDem Amy alerted me to latest JRE's helping again the needy:

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1209/30968.html

I don't care who you are, this man doesn't do everything because it's political. It is because it is just in the name of poverty.

JRE and my personal history inspired me to team up at work to help a needy family in our area, as one saw a couple of weeks ago.

Christmas Day Reflections

2009-12-25T08:25:00.000-08:00

Good morning BW Readers,

It is nippy but our ground is whiteless. We had snow a few days ago, but the rain washed it away. That's OK, I enjoyed the little bit we had.

Last night, I attended a candlelight service at the UU church in town. I went to the 5:00 one in order to be back in time to make a regular dinner for Mr. Benny and myself. The service was very spiritual--as I anticipated--full of readings from the gospels, poems, a children's book, and of course, familiar Christmas hymns which we sung together. The songs brought tears to my eyes as I hadn't sung them in quite awhile, and they evoked memories of my mother singing songs with us when we were little. It was difficult for me to sing the First Noel as it was one of Momma's favorites next to "Silent Night."

I needed that spiritual fellowship at the 5:00 service rather than the 7:00 for another reason: Momma often called me by 7:30 on Xmas Eve, and I needed to console myself ahead in order to get on with our family dinner, knowing the phone call would not come. I needed to be emotionally available for Mr. Benny who has been feeling glum due to looking diligently for work for 3 months. On Tuesday, the best prospect for employment, after Mr. Benny had interviewed 3 weeks before, retracted the position. I had predicted that might happen, but Mr. Benny held out hope. Now, he has to work harder than ever as job pools in his field are shrinking.

The bright light of the night was getting a phone call from my JRE friends, Animal and Karen about the time my momma would have called. They got engaged. You can see the announcement here. The news lifted my spirits as I've known these two for 5 years, and they have been dating long distance for 3.5 years. I said that John and Elizabeth brought them together. They concurred.

This morning, Mr. Benny and I exchanged cards and DVDs. Simple, but what we wanted. I'm doing some slow food today: Peking Roast (cooked in Caribbean coffee), roasted potatoes, asparagus, a berry salad, and french bread. I'm going to try making an Apple Crisp from the South Beach desserts menu.

Next stop: Daily Kos to participate in the WGLB Presents Family Diary.

Happy Xmas all, i will add more later.

Pax.

Two Families: So Different

2009-12-18T17:25:00.000-08:00

One woman of a family thinks of entitlements for having sex with a wealthy politician; the other is a recent widow and has two sons with cerebral palsy. For the second family, my workplace raised over $1200 and bought most of this following wish list:

Mom

Tide laundry soap
Baby wipes
Shampoo
Cascade Action packs

Oldest Son, age 24, confined to wheelchair

Shirts, adult size L
Jeans, 32 W, 32 L

More visual, can’t use hands very much, enjoys animated movies

Younger son, age 12, also confined to wheelchair

Shirts, child size medium or size 8
Pants or jeans, size 10

Hotwheels, just the cars
Transformer toys
Transformer II movie

Household

Both boys could use new sheet sets for bedding, twin size, no flannel

Bath towels, wash clothes

Kitchen towels

Pots and pans

In addition, staff brought cards, postage stamps, etc. I bought for them one of the sets of sheets (some nice all cotton ones).

Can you imagine wishing for laundry detergent and shampoo as personal gifts?

BW readers, we asked what the mom wanted for herself. She said she liked scented candles.

Mind you we are facing furloughs and layoffs.

The Gold Dust Woman in JRE's life is something else to demand 18K a month and doesn't even try to work. She is selfish and lazy.

I call her that based on this song by Fleetwood Mac:

http://www.kewego.com/video/iLyROoafteck.html

Poverty will always tug at my heart strings. I will not understand why John got involved with such a low class (in spirit) woman and put his family through the tabloids. This woman is capable of working and chooses not to. She is not the working poor when she demands $2100 for babysitting expenses and doesn't try to work.

Standing on the Side of Love and Competence: Annise Parker Wins Mayor Elect in Houston

2009-12-13T09:12:00.001-08:00

(photo courtesy of the Free Press Houston)

This morning, I awoke to several e-mails from our GLBT friends in which they were estatic about Annise Parker's victory in the mayor election last night. Ms. Parker did win in a similar way to Harvey Milk as one of the supervisors in the sense she proved her competence first as being a member of the city council, then became comptroller (the bean counter).

From the Houston Chronicle:

Annise Danette Parker was elected mayor of Houston on Saturday, winning her seventh consecutive city election and becoming both the first contender in a generation to defeat the hand-picked candidate of Houston's business establishment and the first openly gay person to lead a major U.S. city.
Parker, Houston's current city controller who first emerged in the public arena as a gay rights activist in the 1980s, defeated former City Attorney Gene Locke on an austere platform, convincing voters that her financial bona fides and restrained promises would be best suited in trying financial times. Parker, 53, will replace the term-limited Mayor Bill White on Jan. 1.

Annise is gay and has been with her partner for 19 years. They have 3 adopted children. Unfortunately, social conservatives, including many pastors in town tried to make Ms. Parker's sexual orientation an issue. I was heartened to see that the First UU in Houston (my former church) invited her and other ministers to join the congregation for fellowship last Sunday, and she/they accepted the invitation. I suspect this spurred many UU'ers to get out the vote about Houstonian issues, not just the focus on being gay. Ms Parker earned her spot.

I'm thinking Molly Ivins and Ann Richards are smiling today, and I bet Jim Hightower is too.

Congrats to Mayor -elect Parker and her family.

Yalies Push Back on Hate

2009-12-05T13:31:00.000-08:00

(photo courtesy of D. Carvalho, Yale Daily News)
I noticed that UU's got left off the poster's list.

Forever a classic, just like the new hate mail Markos got this past week at DK.

(h/t TN)

Senator Jeff Merkley Understands Concerns about the Surge

2009-12-01T20:34:00.000-08:00

I got this e-mail from Senator Merkley's office this evening about Obama's plan for the surge of American troops in Afghanistan. Jeff Merkley gets it. Read on:

“I appreciate that President Obama has taken the time to fully examine this issue and consider the available options. However, I’m not convinced the case has been made to add more than 30,000 new troops. Significant questions remain about our strategic goals in Afghanistan and the human and financial costs involved in achieving them.

He continues:

“I have a number of questions about whether the Administration’s goal in Afghanistan is realistic, and how that goal advances our national security. How will our strategy overcome Afghanistan’s history of decentralized power exercised by regional warlords, its systemic corruption, the insurgents’ ability to use the presence of a foreign force as a rallying point, the geography and topography of the country, and the Taliban’s easy access to explosives and funding? Does this strategy reduce or increase the number of extremists motivated to strike at our nation? What will prevent al Qaeda from finding other safe havens in other places from which to plot attacks against the U.S.? Are there other approaches that can meet our national security objectives?

And to ensure he will be asking for accountability:

“I look forward to discussing these questions with the Administration and learning not only the full details of their plan, but also reviewing how the sacrifice in lives and resources serves our national interest.”

Senate Merkley rocks. To repeat: he gets it.

All of the JRE supporters are likely to agree with Senator Merkley on this issue. I can't find one e-mail in which a JRE supporter can be supportive of the President unless he addresses the issues Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders raise in the Senate, or Dennis Kuchnich raises in the House.

Diversions from a public option for health care and the insipidness of insurance,

I don't like it. I bet those progressives don't either. And I think Obama is unwise to think to get Rethugs on this issue will buy him votes (or delays from fillibustering) on health care. I hope I am wrong, but so far, I've not been. Obama's inexperience in the Senate makes him appear naive.

And the Rethugs count on it.

Looks like Law & Order SUV Tonight on TV

2009-12-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

Tonight, our POTUS is announcing a surge in troop levels in Afghanistan. He sent more troops in the spring and summer, and now he wants 30K more. He won't fight for health care, but he is sending more of our men and women in uniform to get in the middle of a budding civil war.

This is not likely a war we can win or "to finish the job."

If you want to read some interesting opinions, look at the following:

David Mizner's diary at DK
TomP's diary at the DK
Digby
The Widderskins (h/tp to Corrente Wire)
And just about anything at the DU

I cannot stomach watching LBJ and Bush all over again.