I just wanted to wish all my friends a very Happy holiday weekend.  Here's hoping you get to spend time with those you love.

I will enjoy a buffet out.  If we can't pull the clan together the next best thing is a huge Thanksgiving buffet.

 Forty-seven years ago today, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was murdered. Those of us, who lived then, will never forget those hours nor the days that followed. They're embedded in our memories.  

JFK may have been flawed, but I cried like a baby the day he died, and I had plenty of company.  

There is much speculation about what actually occurred. Committees have been formed and disbanded, reports written and read, and every time the calendar returns to November 22 we hear the same old song and dance. I am not going to perpetrate that tradition here. 

The pundits retell the story of his last day as if that defines him. It doesn’t.

Suffice to say, he was a great man, who found his calling, and in finding it made his countrymen realize their possibilities. Under his presidency, we embraced the good fortune of being born American and looked forward to what tomorrow could bring. (How fortunate we were to have had him.) 

www.politico.com/blogs/politicolive/1110/Clinton_wont_run_in_2012__or_ever.html

Politico quotes the FOX Sunday show like many others but the comments are what got to me.

first the big quote.

I am very happy doing what I'm doing, and I am not in any way interested in or pursuing anything in elective office,

 

The oBot commenters are simply amazing.

She would have a hard time deciding "which Hillary Clinton" would run. The feminist Clinton? The cookie baking, mom, Clinton? Hillary Rodham? The secy of state Clinton? The moderate Clinton? The "stealing White House furniture" Clinton? The "I made millions reading the WSJ Clinton? The "let's take over the health care system Clinton". Or the one we have seen over and over again : the "ends justify the means" Clinton. She is a flawed candidate (person).

or

Great - why doesn't she just go home to Little Rock and live off of the Clinton Library and Massage Parlors Saudi Slush Fund?

Most of the discussion is in her favor and quite good but I can't believe the Hillat hatred is still out there.

Read on

Many Americans have been sharing their feeling about TSA screeners and privacy, since Michael Adams (The Health Ranger at NaturalNews.com) put his "Don’t Touch My Junk: The TSA Hustle": on YouTube.

In response to invasive TSA screenings, Representative Ron Paul (R-TX) has introduced the “American Traveler Dignity Act” (HR 6416).

During his speech, Paul denounced former Homeland Security chairman Michael Chertoff and said that the American people were being treated like cattle. Paul explained the thinking in the White House this way: “The argument from the executive branch is that, when you buy a ticket you have sacrificed your rights and that the duty of the government is to make us safe.”

Thanksgiving is coming in less than a week. The History Channel is having a three day special on the Real Story of Thanksgiving starting Monday at 9 PM. The picture above depicts some Indians with the Pilgrims but the truth is there were many more Indians than Pilgrims at that first Thanksgiving feast in 1621 and they brought food to share.

Some of my forebears came to the new world on the ship after the Mayflower and settled in New England. Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays even though I have to do most of the cooking. Even if you only have popcorn, toast, pretzels, and candy, make it a festive day.

Here's where I got that picture: Cosmic Log - Pilgrims and Indians in her family tree

Got junk?  This whole business of the primadonnas at the airport is, to me, one of the funniest stories I've heard in some time.

 I'm generalizing here so if you do not think you fit the bill as the male type I'm presenting, please don't get your panties in a knot.

 The reason I find it so hillarious is that these men get upset because certain of their body parts are jostled by theinspectors while they do a body search.  Yet, men in general have been jostling my and other women's body parts at will for years and calling it sport, insisting that women love it.

 In most any group, on a bus, train or subway our breasts may be stroked either openly or stealthy.  Hands pushand prod at our groin and ass.  two men love to squeeze a woman between them so she has no way to escape and their wandering hands and roaming fingers cannot be seen by the other passangers.

 College groupings may call it pinch and tickle and it is always advantage male.  The women who object to thisdisrespect are ostracized.

 And how often is water spilled or sprayed toward a woman to outline her breasts with erect nipples?  There are many, many other examples of this kind of unwanted and unsolicited behavior.

It’s happened before, but this time it became a national story when Americans reacted to the nonsense .

School officials told Cody Alicea that he shouldn’t ride his American flag-decorated bike to school, because some of his fellow students were offended.

The politically correct educators at Cody Alecea’s California school bowed to multiculturalism and limited the rights of the thirteen year old American student. Their official judgment resulted in a firestorm of protest. 

Educators at Cody’s school said some students made threats directed at Cody, because he flew the American flag on his bike. (Cody’s grandfather is a veteran, and Cody hopes to join the military someday.) Instead of confronting the students making the threats, the educators rewarded their bullying by making Cody change his behavior.

Cody Alicea was told by his school that he could not fly his American flag on his bike while on school property, but there was an outpouring of support for Cody Alicea from all across the nation in response to that disciplinary action. When Cody returned to school this past Monday, he led a motorcade of bikes with flags freely waving in all of their glory. Hundreds of other bike riders followed him.

Many of them were veterans, some from out of state; all wanting to show support for a young boy, who loves his country. Supporters from both within and outside his community  lined the streets, waving American flags, waiting for the procession to make its way to them so they could cheer their support.

In 2008 Nancy Pelosi was part of the evil cabal that corrupted the Democratic primary process to force the election of a man with a less than stellar resume. She and Ted Kennedy were a formidable tag-team, and it didn’t hurt their cause that DNC leaders and corrupt journalisto-types were in their back pockets.

The cabal’s disdain for the democratic process and American voters was an eye-opener; its disenfranchisement  of 1,600,000  Michigan and Florida voters, as their annointed one kept repeating “every vote should count,” was the kicker.

For a lot of people, it's all water under the bridge, but I’m not one of those.

The fact that it was allowed and indeed enabled is the salient point. It sticks in the craw and the anger about it doesn’t go away, because this is America and we were led to believe it's not suppose to happen here.  But it did (Damn It). Our Progrssive-Democratic leaders forgot their purpose, ignored their duty, and encouraged it, while our media perpetuated it, as the world watched.

I like the look of President Barack Obama’s new Middle East envoy, a person with broad experience, the trust of Israelis, growing support among West Bank Palestinians and a fierce personal conviction that a peace accord is essential not only for the parties but for United States national security.

 

The surprise appointment reflects the need to bring maximum heft to U.S. mediation efforts at a time when Obama himself, major international powers and the Palestinian government led by Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad have all set a target of achieving Palestinian statehood by the second half of 2011.
 

You missed the announcement? Well it was made so quietly, more through osmosis than anything, that overlooking the change was easy. So here’s the administration’s Middle East shift: Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has taken charge.

Those are the words of Roger Cohen in the New York Times here

Yes, I did miss it, but I haven't missed the fact that Hillary Clinton is the single shining star of the Obama administration.  While the boys, and a few women, have spent two years taking over Washington and lining the pockets of their friends,  the Secretary of State has done what we all knew she would.  She buckled down and got busy.  She worked and works hard getting things done and rarely tooting her own horn.  Hillary Clinton is a rare thing in politics.

Hillary Clinton is a Doer.  She can make a good speech but her strength is in the doing rather than the bullshit.

I am more confident in peace than I have been in many years.  The reason for my confidence is Hillary Clinton in charge.

h/t to Sharyn for sending me the NYT link.

Wuerker over at Politico

ps. K Street is the home of lobbyists.

Oklahoma voters have overwhelmingly approved an amendment to their constitution that bans Oklahoma courts from considering international or Islamic law when deciding court cases. Using their power at the ballot box, Oklahomans voted “no” to both Sharia Law and UN world governance.

The amendment, which is also known as the Save Our State Amendment, was approved by 70% of Oklahoma voters.  The amendment prevents courts from looking “to the legal precepts of other nations or cultures." It does allow state courts to look to the legal precedents of other states for guidance, as long as that state does not use Islamic law.

Oklahoma has a very small proportion of Muslims (only 15,000 out of a population of 3.7million), so why the amendment?

It turns out, a large majority of Oklahoma voters wanted to stamp out the Sharia problem before it begins.The Oklahoma law was sponsored by State Representative Rex Duncan (R), who called it a preemptive strike against the use of Islamic law in his state. “I see this in the future somewhere in America,” he said. “It's not an imminent threat in Oklahoma yet, but it's a storm on the horizon in other states. It should not matter what France might do, what Great Britain might do, or what the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia might do. Court decisions ought to be based on federal law or state law.”

So the amendment passed, isn’t that the end of the Oklahoma story?

Before the election, many Muslims in Oklahoma said they were outraged at the proposal and called it an overreaction. For example, Saad Mohammed of the Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City said: “There's no threat of Sharia Law coming to Oklahoma and America, period. It's just a scare tactic.” The society’s president Saleem Quraishi added: “It’s just fear mongering; it's nothing. What's Sharia law have to do with Oklahoma?”

Was the outrage sincere? Maybe, but it is hard to believe that Muslims, who belong to Islamic organizations and hold leadership roles within them, do not know the Muslim Brotherhood’s Blueprint for Cultural Jihad, which outlines the measures for an Islamic takeover of the US and the establishment of Islamic Law. So many non-Muslims are aware of the plan, it is hard to imagine that Muslims in leadership roles in their communities are clueless. ( You’ve never read the plan? Well, open up your mind to the reality of the stealth "cultural" jihad: http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/2671 )

I love these videos and this one brilliantly explains this second round of quantitative easing:

Inflation is happening so take advantage of sales and buy now.

Oh No - He's Your Son of a Bitch - Anglachel's Journal

This posting is a must see.  We've all written it many times in our hearts, but speaking for myself, not with the great talent and choice of words.  It's short and very much to the point.

anglachelg.blogspot.com/

I started to reply to BJ's comment regarding Sarah Palin and decided to expand it here instead.  Aside from my comments in the past that I could not listen to her voice, I have not completely made up my mind, as some of you have, on whether I like her or not.

Because of my "voice" comments, I was seen by some to be sexist because women have high voices and men do not.  My response was that women could do something about that.  To check on whether something was wrong with my ears, I went to women friends of various ages that I know.  Not a single voice among them hurt my ears - I do not think this is just a Vermont thing.  The ones with children did offer their opinion that children were shrill and Palin's voice reminded them of their own girls.

On Veterans Day, we respectfully remember those who have served our country and who took the oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign or domestic. The You Tube video below was created by mrImusicweb in honor of them. 

This is what stateswomanship looks like.  Who do you think made more friends for America out East recently?

www.youtube.com/watch

As some of you may know, I am no fan of the squeeky, screamy Palin voice.  I also recognize that some believe we should support all women - I do not.  Palin has put herself forth as a force to be reckoned with in the Republican Party and the bridge to the Tea Party. 

She is the Repugs Great American Staking Horse.  She may believe herself running for president but when push comes to shove, the boyz will not move aside for or tolerate a woman anymore than the late non-lamented Dems did.  But now she has great value to them as a battering ram against thinking, independent women.

Non-Repubs, call them what you may, know she is not for women's rights.  Her mama grizzley sctick is a blow against women's rights by promulgating the one true course for women - husband, home and family.  Many women appear to cower before her when they should be standing up for their own beliefs.  The media handles her with kit gloves.

The Republican sweep this week, as well as Sarah Palin's latest video, has made it clear that the Mama Grizzlies theme is one that isn't going to quietly disappear post-election, even if a good number of her grizzlies (O'Donnell, Angle, Fiornia) lost their races.

ShareThis

"Would we be better off under a President Hillary Clinton?"

We knew it was bound to happen and today Dana Milbank has made the obvious comparisons.  When you read this opinion piece, be prepared to get very pissed.  Pissed at the 20/20 hindsight of so much of the 2008 primary campaign.  Why were so many of us able to see the obvious back then, yet supposedly smart journalists were totally blind?

As I sat in the East Room last week watching a forlorn President Obama account for his shellacking, I listened with concern as he described the presidency as a "growth process" and suggested that the midterm setback was somehow inevitable. "You know, this is something that I think every president needs to go through," he said.

 

It brought to mind Hillary Clinton's 3 a.m. phone-call ad from the 2008 campaign, and her withering criticism of Obama: "When there is a crisis . . . there's no time for speeches or on-the-job training." I wondered whether Democrats would be in the fix they're in if they had chosen a different standard-bearer.

<snip>

Clinton, for example, first called for a 90-day foreclosure moratorium in December 2007, as part of a package to fight the early stages of the mortgage crisis with a five-year freeze on subprime rates and $30 billion to avoid foreclosures. But an Obama campaign adviser dismissed Clinton's moratorium, saying it would "reward people for bad behavior."

 

Calls for a moratorium returned a few weeks ago with news of lenders' foreclosure abuses. Polls indicate public support for a moratorium, but Obama ruled it out. It's a safe bet Clinton would have done otherwise.

emphasis mine.  Read the whole piece here.

I just came back from a visit to Mack's Apples Farm Stand where they are holding a showcase of local artists.

This fellow Tom Abruzese, paints wonderful scenes on fresh maple leaves, then scans and prints the art before the leaves turn brown.

Click the image for more.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheat-sheet/item/olbermann-gave-to-dem-cand...

MSNBC host Keith Olbermann was suspended indefinitely without pay Friday for violating company policy by contributing to political campaigns. The Countdown anchor gave the maximum amount to three Democratic candidates last week—Jack Conway in Kentucky and Raul Grijalva and Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona. The latter two donations, each for $2,400, came on the same day that Grijalva appeared on Olbermann’s show. NBC has a rule against political donations. In a statement, Olbermann said, “I did not privately or publicly encourage anyone else to donate to these campaigns.” But MSNBC President Phil Griffin responded Friday afternoon: "I became aware of Keith's political contributions late last night. Mindful of NBC News policy and standards, I have suspended him indefinitely without pay."

To quote from Slate..

...it's the first time in 30 years that Americans have seen a net loss in the total number of women in political office. As Lawless explains, Democratic women lost a lot of seats, and Republican women—despite all the hype —did not gain enough seats to make up the difference. Hence, we have backslid in the year of the woman.

The Jennifer Lawless post on Slate's XX Factor

The results are in and we can now officially conclude that it is not the dawn of a new era for women in politics. Republicans Meg Whitman, Carly Fiorina, Sharron Angle, and Christine O’Donnell lost their high-profile races. Democratic incumbents, including Blanche Lincoln in the Senate and Betsy Markey, Carol Shea-Porter, Suzanne Kosmas, and Dina Titus in the House also saw defeat last night. Given the political landscape this election cycle, there were really few opportunities for women to gain political power. But now that the votes are counted, it looks like women actually experienced a net loss in their numbers on Capitol Hill.

 

.....This might not seem like a major loss, but it is the first time women have seen a setback in their raw numbers in the last 30 years. Despite all the attention devoted to high-profile female candidates this election cycle, we did not even come close to experiencing a “Year of the Woman.”

Kelly Ayotte ran away with my state of New Hampshire.  Some women, like Sharon Angle, lost because their extremism even scared Republicans.  Our Congresswoman, Carol Shea Porter, lost like many good dems.  Carol was an early Obama supporter but she is a good woman caught in a red storm.

I don't have the time to list all the women who won last night.  Some races are not even done yet.  In Alaska, Lisa Murkowski may well have pulled off a write-in campaign. They say it will take weeks for the final count.

In the Senate

Barbara Mikulski - You go Alegre!!.  Our old friend works in Mikulski's office.
Kelly Ayotte
Kirsten Gillibrand
Patty Murray

House to come later unless someone wants to add it or comment.  BJ has permission to edit this post at will, in which case you can remove this note.

Thanks to Rentarainbow for reminding us of Tom in Paine's excellent post about the history of this country, the history of liberalism and the zero history of conservatives.  Tom in Paine

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence ... called the United States at its inception, a "liberal Democracy".  Not a "conservative Democracy" but liberal.

 

it was the liberals in the colonies, radical liberals like Franklin, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton and Thomas Paine who wanted revolution and separation from England. It was the conservatives, or Tories who were loyal to King George and opposed revolution.

 

Every shred of progress the country has made, from Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" whose ideas inflamed and began the revolution, to the revolution, the constitution itself to the civil rights act, equality for women, environmental laws and questioning authority, is the product of liberal thinking.

 

There are no conservative ideas that either created the country, sustained it, or made it better than it was before. None. All conservative ideas have ever done is what they have been doing the last two years -- stand in the way.

 

The entire Tom in Paine post

Please look at the banner up above then read the words that appear along the bottom.

era, a mother president, women's rights, primary reform

That has been the focus of Partizane since I started the site during the great liberal blogs diaspora of 2008.  Yeah we talk about other things, Ron's new bathroom and Creeper's fishin'.  Partizane is and was intended to be a place for people of all political stripes to carry on civil discourse about any issue that popped up, but always underlying all discussions has been that core focus of women's rights and changing the electoral processes.

Women's Rights the ERA.  Do you think either matters to the GOP?  Yes we very well may have a Republican woman President in 2012.  Whoopee!

era, a mother president, women's rights, primary reform

Think about it before you vote tomorrow.