Change I Can Relieve Myself In, Yemen and Lebanon, Prop 19 Art

Fareed Zakaria
Paul Krugman
EJ Dionne

"The classic middle-ground voter who will swing this election -- moderate, independent, suburban -- has always been suspicious of dogmatic promises that certain big ideas would give birth to a utopian age. This voter is looking for simpler and more realistic things: a bit more security, a bit more income, and renewed confidence that the future will be better than the past. Such voters still haven't found what they're looking for." - EJ Dionne

It's a good bet that tomorrow's elections won't resolve much, we'll have to wait until all of the recounts to finish before we know who the next Senator from Nevada or Colorado will be. If you have a tea party backed candidate in your area, make a bet with your friends that candidate will demand a recall... Too bad Halloween and the election didn't fall on the same night. The spirit of giving and the cuteness of all of those children in their costumes would help balance the unbridled passions and anger and yelling that comes with election results... Personally, I am going to miss all of the wonderfully wacky candidates, and hope to see even more in the upcoming campaigns, even when it makes you wonder where all of the sober, smart people are in politics. Because we've had our fair share of people disassociated from reality who have already been elected to Congress. Remember, only three or four states ever took Barry Goldwater seriously...

The makeup of Congress will change after Tuesday, that is a given. The results of those changes may not be very much, according to George Friedman of Stratfor Global Intelligence website: "The Democrats will lose their ability to impose cloture in the Senate and thereby shut off debate. Whether they lose the House or not, the Democrats will lose the ability to pass legislation at the will of the House Democratic leadership. The large majority held by the Democrats will be gone, and party discipline will not be strong enough (it never is) to prevent some defections.


Should the Republicans win an overwhelming victory in both houses next week, they will still not have the votes to override presidential vetoes. Therefore they will not be able to legislate unilaterally, and if any legislation is to be passed it will have to be the result of negotiations between the president and the Republican Congressional leadership. Thus, whether the Democrats do better than expected or the Republicans win a massive victory, the practical result will be the same." Whether this develops an impasse for all further legislation, and we end up bickering like five-year-olds for the next two years, remains to be seen. Or commented on by John Stewart and the late night comedians, whom I so dearly love.

I find it amazing how tiny countries like Yemen and Lebanon can cause more trouble and strife to this region than all of the larger countries combined. Lebanon is twice the size of Vermont, yet it is on the brink of a civil war that could drag Israel and every other country surrounding it into war. Any day now, if Hizbollah is to be believed... And now large amounts of oil and natural gas have been found off the coast of Lebanon and Israel, in an area that hasn't really been delineated as a border between the two states, so there is more potential for either war or mutual cooperation, depending on who stays in power in the Lebanese government...

Yemen is supposed to be the largest hotspot for al-Qaeda training, coming up with clever plans to blow up planes, hiding explosives in shoes, printers, and underwear. To be honest, this isn't very high-tech stuff, and the same stash of explosives that went into the underwear also went into the recent cargo packages, meaning that not much money is involved. It may turn out that this stuff was put together in a college dorm room or some similar funky place, under the guidance of one Saudi born munitions expert.

The US wanted to send in some Marine units into Yemen to sweep the desert and launch a few more drones, while the State Dept was busily trying to link the New Mexico born Anwar al-Awlaki to the creation of the cargo bombs, yet more proof that he deserves to be on the CIA assassination list and deserves to die... No matter how far-fetched, it all will be tied to al-Awlaki...

I still haven't gotten my medical marijuana card here in Colorado. If prop 19 passes in California, I wonder how many people will be flocking to the Golden State, it will certainly beef up their tourist rates. So here are some of the images that folks are using to try and legalize marijuana in California. It's all an attempt to make Eric Holder look bad, and put pressure on the tea party politicians, to see if they really will support state's rights over the feds...

Why, it's as patriotic as mother and apple pie...