Molly, you will be deeply missed.

THE TEXAS OBSERVER is reporting that Molly Ivins has lost her battle with cancer. Please read the obituary of one of America's finest reporters and columnists.

Yes, well, HARRUMPH.

Ahem. It has been brought to my attention that I did NOT have a link in my blogroll to YOUR NFC CHAMPION CHICAGO BEARS, who will be whipping, er, playing the Indianapolis Colts in this Sunday's Super Bowl XLI.

That has been corrected, as you can see.

For more coverage of the Bears, see the following locations:

ChicagoSports.Com

Chicago Tribune

Chicago Sun-Times

Daily Southtown

Daily Herald

WSCR - 670 THE SCORE

and of course, YOUR HOME OF THE BEARS, Newsradio 780 WBBM.

If you can't find coverage there, well, you're just not looking hard enough.

Also, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra invites you to click HERE and listen to their performace of BEAR DOWN, CHICAGO BEARS, complete with chorus, I believe.

Prepare yourselves now, my pick (which you may have guessed already) will be arrving Friday. So that you may sing along with the CSO and Chorus, here are the words:

Bear down, Chicago Bears,
Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear down, Chicago Bears,
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.

We’ll never forget the way you thrilled the nation
With your “T” formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears,
And let ’em know why you’re wearing the crown.
You’re the pride and joy of Illinois,
Chicago Bears, bear down!

He could have been the greatest horse ever to have run

Photo Courtesy Deadspin.com

However, we'll never know. After a long battle to survive, Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner, was euthanized this morning at New Bolton Center in Kennett Square, PA, where he had been treated since his right hind leg came up lame shortly after the start of the 2006 Preakness Stakes.

He won EVERY race that he was able to finish, and looked like a good bet to win racing's first Triple Crown since 1978. However, it just was not to be, and we are all poorer for it.

Even the NATIONAL blogs notice the upgrade!

Jonathan Singer at MyDD has written about our new Congressman and how he is an upgrade from the old one:

Cohen is a great example of how even a Democrat replacing another Democrat in the House can make Congress more progressive. While in this case the change was not accomplished through a primary, Cohen's statement's and pledge to chart a progressive course as Representative for Tennessee's 9th district -- particularly after the district was represented by the unabashedly centrist Harold Ford -- make a fairly strong case for offering primary challenges Democratic members who are out of touch with their strong Democratic majority districts.

Of course, some of the commenters, still deluded that Junior is a Democrat, took umbrage, but who cares?

This comes on the heels of a Kos post, noted by Pesky, that shows that freshman Democratic congresspeople are avoiding Ford's DLC like the Plague:

It's delicious irony watching loser Harold Ford take the helm of the dying DLC, while Democrats who won tough conservative districts (the ones only DLC moderates are supposed to win) gear up for reelection utterly rejecting the DLC accommodationist playbook. Just goes to prove that 1) we're evolving as a party, becoming more effective, and 2) our freshman Democrats are no idiots. Even those elected in solid Republican districts are beginning their two-year re-election drive by -- get this -- establishing clear distinctions between themselves and Bush and his Republican Party.

SWEEEEEET.

The old man can still bring it!!!!

Hat tip to Kleinheider!

Well, the Democratic electorate has spoken.

LOUDLY.

With all 58 precincts reporting and Early Vote and Absentees listed, here are your final, unofficial numbers in the Senate 30 Democratic Primary:

Beverly Marrero 2810 73.4%

Robert Spence, Jr. 925 24.2%

Kevin Gallagher 88 2.3%

Enough said.

You have until 7 PM to VOTE if you live in Senate 30

Either vote, or I'll do a naked hula on your lawn.

If that doesn't turn out the vote, nothing will. One of my friends called to inform me that when she voted at 8:30 AM, 90 MINUTES AFTER THE POLLS HAD OPENED, she was the FIRST person to vote that was not a poll officer or worker.

Maybe we should do the purple finger bit here. As for myself, I voted early (and took a friend to vote as well) and have called every one I know to vote.

So, it's up to you if you live in 30 and you haven't yet voted, do it now.

Before it's too late, and you wake up to see a naked 300-lb man dancing on your lawn.

Think about it.

TOMORROW is Election Day

IF you live either in Senate District 30, and/or House District 92, and some of you may live in BOTH.

So, if you didn't vote early, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND GO VOTE! Polls are open from 7AM-7PM as always, and early votes should be announced shortly after 7 pm HERE.

If you are supporting Marrero, as I have, and you want to help tomorrow, show up at IBEW at 1870 Madison. If you can't help, but support her and want to attend the party afterwards, go there anyway, after 7 PM.

If the Spence folks have a place that they want people to go, please email me and I'll update this post. It's sjs1959 at gmail dot com.

If you didn't like either of them but are still a liberal and/or a Democrat anyway, go HERE, you might find kindred spirits! Not that you won't find supporters of either candidate there, you will.

Other note: G.A. Hardaway is unopposed in the Democratic Primary for House 92 but will face a Republican opponent in the general election; once we get this Godforsaken primary behind us, we need to get behind him, he will be a terrific legislator.

THIS is what a REAL Democrat sounds like!

UPDATE: From an MSNBC analyst on Bush: "That wasn't a State of the Union speech, it was a State of Denial speech."

HERE'S the transcript of the Webb speech:

Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Democratic Response of Senator Jim Webb
To the President's State of the Union Address

Good evening.

I'm Senator Jim Webb, from Virginia, where this year we will celebrate the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Jamestown - an event that marked the first step in the long journey that has made us the greatest and most prosperous nation on earth.

It would not be possible in this short amount of time to actually rebut the President's message, nor would it be useful. Let me simply say that we in the Democratic Party hope that this administration is serious about improving education and healthcare for all Americans, and addressing such domestic priorities as restoring the vitality of New Orleans.

Further, this is the seventh time the President has mentioned energy independence in his state of the union message, but for the first time this exchange is taking place in a Congress led by the Democratic Party. We are looking for affirmative solutions that will strengthen our nation by freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil, and spurring a wave of entrepreneurial growth in the form of alternate energy programs. We look forward to working with the President and his party to bring about these changes.

There are two areas where our respective parties have largely stood in contradiction, and I want to take a few minutes to address them tonight. The first relates to how we see the health of our economy - how we measure it, and how we ensure that its benefits are properly shared among all Americans. The second regards our foreign policy - how we might bring the war in Iraq to a proper conclusion that will also allow us to continue to fight the war against international terrorism, and to address other strategic concerns that our country faces around the world.

When one looks at the health of our economy, it's almost as if we are living in two different countries. Some say that things have never been better. The stock market is at an all-time high, and so are corporate profits. But these benefits are not being fairly shared. When I graduated from college, the average corporate CEO made 20 times what the average worker did; today, it's nearly 400 times. In other words, it takes the average worker more than a year to make the money that his or her boss makes in one day.

Wages and salaries for our workers are at all-time lows as a percentage of national wealth, even though the productivity of American workers is the highest in the world. Medical costs have skyrocketed. College tuition rates are off the charts. Our manufacturing base is being dismantled and sent overseas. Good American jobs are being sent along with them.

In short, the middle class of this country, our historic backbone and our best hope for a strong society in the future, is losing its place at the table. Our workers know this, through painful experience. Our white-collar professionals are beginning to understand it, as their jobs start disappearing also. And they expect, rightly, that in this age of globalization, their government has a duty to insist that their concerns be dealt with fairly in the international marketplace.

In the early days of our republic, President Andrew Jackson established an important principle of American-style democracy - that we should measure the health of our society not at its apex, but at its base. Not with the numbers that come out of Wall Street, but with the living conditions that exist on Main Street. We must recapture that spirit today.

And under the leadership of the new Democratic Congress, we are on our way to doing so. The House just passed a minimum wage increase, the first in ten years, and the Senate will soon follow. We've introduced a broad legislative package designed to regain the trust of the American people. We've established a tone of cooperation and consensus that extends beyond party lines. We're working to get the right things done, for the right people and for the right reasons.

With respect to foreign policy, this country has patiently endured a mismanaged war for nearly four years. Many, including myself, warned even before the war began that it was unnecessary, that it would take our energy and attention away from the larger war against terrorism, and that invading and occupying Iraq would leave us strategically vulnerable in the most violent and turbulent corner of the world.

I want to share with all of you a picture that I have carried with me for more than 50 years. This is my father, when he was a young Air Force captain, flying cargo planes during the Berlin Airlift. He sent us the picture from Germany, as we waited for him, back here at home. When I was a small boy, I used to take the picture to bed with me every night, because for more than three years my father was deployed, unable to live with us full-time, serving overseas or in bases where there was no family housing. I still keep it, to remind me of the sacrifices that my mother and others had to make, over and over again, as my father gladly served our country. I was proud to follow in his footsteps, serving as a Marine in Vietnam. My brother did as well, serving as a Marine helicopter pilot. My son has joined the tradition, now serving as an infantry Marine in Iraq.

Like so many other Americans, today and throughout our history, we serve and have served, not for political reasons, but because we love our country. On the political issues - those matters of war and peace, and in some cases of life and death - we trusted the judgment of our national leaders. We hoped that they would be right, that they would measure with accuracy the value of our lives against the enormity of the national interest that might call upon us to go into harm's way.

We owed them our loyalty, as Americans, and we gave it. But they owed us - sound judgment, clear thinking, concern for our welfare, a guarantee that the threat to our country was equal to the price we might be called upon to pay in defending it.

The President took us into this war recklessly. He disregarded warnings from the national security adviser during the first Gulf War, the chief of staff of the army, two former commanding generals of the Central Command, whose jurisdiction includes Iraq, the director of operations on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and many, many others with great integrity and long experience in national security affairs. We are now, as a nation, held hostage to the predictable - and predicted - disarray that has followed.

The war's costs to our nation have been staggering. Financially. The damage to our reputation around the world. The lost opportunities to defeat the forces of international terrorism. And especially the precious blood of our citizens who have stepped forward to serve.

The majority of the nation no longer supports the way this war is being fought; nor does the majority of our military. We need a new direction. Not one step back from the war against international terrorism. Not a precipitous withdrawal that ignores the possibility of further chaos. But an immediate shift toward strong regionally-based diplomacy, a policy that takes our soldiers off the streets of Iraq's cities, and a formula that will in short order allow our combat forces to leave Iraq.

On both of these vital issues, our economy and our national security, it falls upon those of us in elected office to take action.

Regarding the economic imbalance in our country, I am reminded of the situation President Theodore Roosevelt faced in the early days of the 20th century. America was then, as now, drifting apart along class lines. The so-called robber barons were unapologetically raking in a huge percentage of the national wealth. The dispossessed workers at the bottom were threatening revolt.

Roosevelt spoke strongly against these divisions. He told his fellow Republicans that they must set themselves "as resolutely against improper corporate influence on the one hand as against demagogy and mob rule on the other." And he did something about it.

As I look at Iraq, I recall the words of former general and soon-to-be President Dwight Eisenhower during the dark days of the Korean War, which had fallen into a bloody stalemate. "When comes the end?" asked the General who had commanded our forces in Europe during World War Two. And as soon as he became President, he brought the Korean War to an end.

These Presidents took the right kind of action, for the benefit of the American people and for the health of our relations around the world. Tonight we are calling on this President to take similar action, in both areas. If he does, we will join him. If he does not, we will be showing him the way.

Thank you for listening. And God bless America.

PD goes where angels fear to tread..

Polar Donkey assesses the Democratic landscape in Shelby County over the last 18 months, and comes to the conclusion that white Democrats may be on the endangered species list, thanks to the Mayor of Memphis and the election of Steve Cohen. Here's a sample:

The collapse of the Fords has contributed greatly to the ascendancy of the Herenton faction. That faction no longer is content to just have local elected positions and is moving on to state level offices after doing especially well with County Commission elections. District 30 was just the first spot open and some of the bloggers think 93 is next. But I don’t think the movement against these seats is driven by race or political ideology. The Herenton faction is doing this simply because it can. Why not consolidate power when you have the political forces to do it? I’m sure Herenton will push on the City Council as well. By the end of Herenton’s 16th year, he will be the sole, political weather maker. It’s Herenton’s world and we’re all just squirrels looking for a nut.

Want to boo W with your friends? Look at this!

Bumped as a reminder..

TONIGHT, Drinking Liberally is throwing a State of the Union Watch Party at Sleep Out Louie's downtown from 7 PM until ?

Click on the SOTU Watch Party link for an invite, and more info; click on Sleep Out Louie's for a Yahoo! Map of the place. It will be a blast, so come join the fun!

FEAR OF A WHITE CONGRESSMAN

Or, IT TAKES A CAUCUS OF BLACK CONGRESSMEN TO HOLD US BACK!

The POLITICO, a new political blog created by two former Washington Post reporters, gave an inside story as to why our Congressman, Steve Cohen, was denied entrance to the Congressional Black Caucus. As the 9th District is majority African-American, and that Cohen is a serious liberal, he believed that he shared a great many of their issues. While they agreed about the issues, the Congressman was politely denied entrance.

From the report:

Cohen said he became convinced that joining the caucus would be "a social faux pas" after seeing news reports that former Rep. William Lacy Clay Sr., D-Mo., a co-founder of the caucus, had circulated a memo telling members it was "critical" that the group remain "exclusively African-American."

Other members, including the new chairwoman, Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, D-Mich., and Clay's son, Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Mo., agreed.

"Mr. Cohen asked for admission, and he got his answer. ... It's time to move on," the younger Clay said. "It's an unwritten rule. It's understood. It's clear."

While our Congressman is content to move on and not worry about it, there's an irony here that you can figure out on your own....

Other comments:

Kleinheider here and here
Bob Krumm

Thank heaven for Sharon Cobb, otherwise I would never have known about this...

For the Marrero supporters, there is an event Wednesday night, the eve of the election. Click on the image to see it on a larger scale.

Thanks to Sharon for the tip...

Uh. isn't it Brady who's supposed to come from behind and win?

Photo courtesy NY Times

Yes, Virginia, there must be a Santa Claus because Peyton Manning won the BIG ONE.

COMING FROM BEHIND.

AGAINST THE PATRIOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After Manning had been picked late in the second quarter by Asante Samuel, who ran it back for a TD to give the Patriots a 21-3 lead, I'll guarantee you that NO ONE outside the state of Indiana though the Colts were anything but toast-on-a-stick.

However, they worked and got a field goal just before the half to cut it to 21-6. Bear Bryant often said that the first drive of the second-half was the most important, because it set the tone for that half. Manning proved him right, as he drove the Colts down the field, scoring the TD himself to cut it to 21-13, and from that point the Patriots simply couldn't stop them.

The winning drive went 80 yards in 77 seconds, with Joseph Addai finishing it with a 3-yard TD with one minute left. After Tom Brady briefly scared the crowd by taking the Pats to midfield, Marlin Jackson picked him off at the 35, and that, my friends, was that.

I can hardly wait for Bill Simmons' next column.

BEAR DOWN!!!!!!

Photo Courtesy Chicago Tribune

It wasn't the weather, it was the turnovers that the best defense in the NFL forced on the United States Saints, leading to the first Bears' Super Bowl berth in 21 years, 39-14.

Rex Grossman came up big when he had to, going 4 for 4 for 78 yards to give the Bears a 25-14 lead, and the Bears never looked back.

They await the winner of the AFC title game, either the Cols or the Patriots.

Time, time, time for another peaceful war

For some reason, Steve Gilliard, one of my favorite national bloggers, put this up at the NEWS BLOG. Warren Zevon has been a favorite of mine since the 70s, having written brilliant songs like The Envoy, Excitable Boy, Desperados Under The Eaves, and the top-4o smash, Werewolves of London.

I first heard him perform Roland The Headless Thompson Gunner live in 1979 at the Orpheum, and it was a stunner. Then, in 1994, some crazy guy running for Governor invited him to Memphis to perform for his party at 616, and the candidate invited the state YDs, who were convening here, to come hear Warren. It was a magical night, and the candidate and the performer became friends.

This performance was on the David Letterman Show shortly before Zevon passed away from mesothelioma; Letterman devoted the show to him.

Rick, you tried to warn me....

The first time I met the Freedonian, we got into an argument over Rosalind Kurita, who I insisted would have been elected to the United States Senate over Bob Corker if only Chuck Schumer and the DSCC had not gotten in her way. It was a lengthy but fun argument, with each agreeing to disagree.

Once Rick is your friend, he has your back. Despite his concerns, he agreed with us that Ford was not a good candidate, and fought the good fight on Daily Kos, warring with those who had drunk the Kool-Aid for Ford right alongside us crazy bloggers.

He was also there for us when Rosalind Kurita stunned us all by casting the vote that elected Ron Ramsey as Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the Senate, not once wagging an "I told you so" finger when clearly, it was his right to do so.

Today, however, angered at how Kurita's move A) gave the Goopers the majority and the Senate chairmanships that will injure all Tennesseans making less than six figures a year, and B) angered at how her Memphis supporters (his friends) had been hurt by this, our Freedonian went medieval on Kurita. Here's a taste:

First, her "reasoning" is ludicrous. More from her email: "The most basic tenet of democracy is that the majority rules. In the Tennessee state Senate, Republicans have held the numerical majority for three years. Yet, we were in a "peculiar" situation where the minority continued to keep the majority in the form of the Lt. Governor. That is not our democracy."

As AC Kleinheider pointed out, if that was the case... Then wouldn't she be helping the Republican majority out on every vote? And since when is it incumbent upon a state senator elected as a Democrat to help level the playing field for Republicans? Does Alex Rodriguez feel the need to help out the other team because the Yankees' enormous payroll puts them at an unfair advantage (Okay, given A-Rod's record last year, that could be a bad example)?

If Wilder was so incompetent/corrupt/whatever negative description you want to apply to him, wouldn't the proper time to have voted against him be the caucus? She couldn't be bothered to do that--- In caucus, she voted for Wilder. Earlier in the day, she voted again for the Democratic senators to stand as one behind Wilder--- And then cast the crucial vote for Ron Ramsey. And what of Ramsey?

What about the man calling the dances on this legislative landscape that Kurita and her conscience helped to create? "We'll have a little more of a pro-business agenda. I'll make sure the Commerce Committee leans toward the business side. Things like tort reform that we've sought will be brought to the floor. "

First, it would be difficult for the law in Tennessee to carry "a little more of a pro-business agenda". We are already a state where just cause for termination sounds like some crazy liberal ideal. There's not much to Tennesee Employment Law, and what little there is can be subverted by the current system of "at will" employment. "No, I didn't fire him because he's black/Hispanic/gay--- But I don't have to list an official reason".

(snip)

And what happens to someone that IS terminated unjustly? Well, that's where the second part of his statement comes into play: "Things like tort reform that we've sought will be brought to the floor". Tort reform--- The Republican stealth campaign to destroy the rights of the working class. Wrongfully terminated? Too bad--- Tort reform will restrict your rights to legal recourse. Hurt in the workplace? Welcome to the wonderful world of Republican-imposed damage caps. And no one is isolated from having to pay the high cost of tort reform--- Even if your job is "safe", you will, through your taxes, absorb the cost. After all, what happens to the employee who's injured too badly to work again? Rather than his medical costs being absorbed by the employer that provided the unsafe working environment, the tab will be picked up by you and me.

Sexually harrassed in the workplace? Too bad. Tort reform. Women's groups would do well to remember this the next time Kurita comes around begging for money.

These are the priorities of the man that Kurita handed the Senate over to. Well, that and maintaining a Tom DeLay-style money laundering operation. This is the product of Rosalind Kurita's "conscience".

How bad is it? The new chair of the Judiciary Committee, where "tort reform" will be hashed out, is Mae Beavers, who doesn't even have a freaking law license!!!

Oh, we got chairmanships, Thelma Harper is at Government Ops, Tommy Kilby, who is not running for re-election in 2008, will chair Conservation, and Joe Haynes will chair Ethics. Did I mention that, for her thirty pieces of silver, Kurita was named Speaker Pro Tem? How delightful.

Rick, thanks for having our back and not going medieval on those of us who believed in Kurita when you had every right to do so. We had to learn the hard way, I guess.

What a fun two years we will have!

7-1 and rolling!

Yes, I'm tired of dealing with this damned Senate 30 race, and I'm ready to make my predictions, which have been close to perfect, except for the Colts suddenly having a defense not seen since the late '60s, and not ever in Indy. Here we go....

NFC Championship Game, New Orleans at Chicago, Sunday, 2 PM, FOX (WHBQ - 13)
On a neutral field or in New Orleans, given how strong the United States Saints (per TMQ) have played all year, this probably wouldn't be close. The Bears defense has not been the same since losing Tommie Harris off the line and Mike Brown, the best safety in the NFL when he's healthy (which is to say, RARELY). Of course, you're well acquainted with Rex Grossman, the NFL version of Sybil, who defines erratic on the field.

Not to mention, that, except for a few diehards and Chicagoland transplants around the country, NOBODY outside Chicagoland is going to root for the Bears, for obvious reasons. I just hope the Saints' players don't look at each Bears and see George Bush; we're doomed in that case.

However, the Bears have done the only thing they could do in such a situation, they have gone to their last hope: Tom Skilling. It is he who brings news of BEAR WEATHER! The legendary WGN-TV weatherman has forecast THIS for Sunday:

Sunday
	32 25		Overcast lowers/thickens. Blustery SSE winds gust to 20-25 m.p.h. at times. Snow develops mid/late a.m.; Accumulation possible. Bears/Saints game wind chills: 10s.

Alrighty then! Ever played in a blizzard, Deuce? Ever seen snow at all, Reggie? Don't answer that, Drew, we KNOW you went to Purdue. Your brethren, however, used to warm and dry in the Superdome, will have problems executing ANYTHING in the blowing and drifting snow, and your marvelous and uplifting run comes to a slushy stop at the Spaceship on the Lake.

PICK: Bears 17, Saints 13

AFC Championship Game, New England at Indianapolis, Sunday, 5:30 PM, CBS (WREG - 3)

You know, this third playoff meeting between the Pats and the Colts has a different feel about it. Things have changed, what with this game being in Indy rather than Foxboro, indoors instead of out, the Colts RUNNING the ball consistently and throwing to tight end Dallas Clark down the middle instead of going deep to Harrison and Wayne. For heaven's sakes, they're even STOPPING the run.

Oh, and they have Adam Vinatieri, too.

The Patriots are not the Patriots of old, I keep telling myself, even though 81-year-old Rodney Harrison has gotten out of his walker to practice these last two days. I suspect that's more to get in to Peyton Manning's head than anything else. They still have a great DL with Richard Seymour, but Vrabel and Bruschi are slowing down, and Asante Samuel is the only reliable DB.

The Patriots often fire themselves up by claiming no one respects them and they have to stand up for themselves. Right, guys, what kind of respect do you expect? THIS?

Well, I am torn. Yes, I remember that BELICHICK AND BRADY HAVE NEVER LOST A PLAYOFF GAME IN FOXBORO, AND HAVE ONLY LOST ONE PLAYOFF GAME OUTSIDE FOXBORO, AND ARE 12-1 TOGETHER, 2-0 AGAINST INDY.

You know what, I could be Charlie Brown thinking Lucy will actually hold the ball so I can kick it, I could be a sap, but I believe the only Peyton Manning face we'll see this weekend is one of joy and relief. It's upset time at the RCA Dome.

PICK: Colts 28, Patriots 17

What's that about Ethics in the Senate?

Well, well, well. It seems that in the last two election cycles, new Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey and his RAAMPAC may have used another PAC to launder campaign contributions, according to this AP story at WMC-TV. Timeline is HERE, more details at the TENNESSEAN.

According to the story, his PAC maxed out contributions to three Gooper Senate candidates, then gave money to another Pac known as SALT PAC, who then took the amount given and distributed to the same three candidates, Bill Ketron, Mae Beavers and Don McLeary.

Per the story and timeline, this was also done in 2004 with the same two PACs for Senate candidates Diane Black, Jim Tracy, and Jerry Sharp.

Gee, who's going to handle the investigation on this?

Lt. Governor Ramsey, let me put it to you this way:

DON'T START NONE, WON'T BE NONE.

MemphisBlue reports on the Debate

Jon over at MemphisBlue observed tonight's Senate 30 debate involving Democratic candidates Rep. Beverly Marrero (D-89) and Robert Spence, along with Gooper nominee Larry Parrish.

Go read it!