That big government that Rand Paul and other conservatives hate brought you this:

Cheap hydro electric electricity.
Lakes for boating and fishing.

Stunning mountain lake views.

If libertarians had their way no dams that generate electricity for people would have been built. No lakes would have been made to feed the system of TVA dams and therefore there would be no fishing, boating, swimming, or water skiing.

Big government works.

And when it's done right, like it was under FDR, it works for all Americans.

Sarah Palin wants her country back

And we all know which country that is. It's the country where:

• all sorts of white folks, whether your skin color is ecru or eggshell and everything in between, can get ahead.
• black folks know their place.
• Latinos work in the fields and not in the front office.
• women are second class citizens.
• homos stay in the closet.
• where the comedy stylings of Rich Little and Dennis Miller reign supreme.
• you keep minorities from voting and then you say, "Hey look, those people never vote anyway, so why should we have laws to protect their right to vote?"
• big corporations get to write the labor laws and unions are outlawed.
• you're free to go to the Christian church of your choice, as long as they don't preach or practice social or economic justice.
• the only food that's good for you is the stuff they douse with pesticides and grow on factory farms.
• any rich white child can grow up to be President if he so chooses.
  

Me, I don't ever want that country back. The country I want is the one envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, Thomas Paine, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR, Martin Luther King Jr, and Dennis Kucinich.

Pity the poor conservatives

I was mulling over the huge legislative legacy of the late Sen. Teddy Kennedy (Immigration Act of 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1967, the Fair Housing Act of 1968, the Occupational Health and Safety Act and Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program in 1970, The Cancer Act in 1971, Title IX, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and the School-to-Work Opportunities Act and the Crime Act, all in 1994, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, the Children's Health Insurance Program, the Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education Act, the Pediatric Graduate Medical Education Act, both in 1999, etc, etc, etc. Hat tip to Vikkitikkitavi for reminding me of all the great stuff Kennedy did.) and over all the other things that liberals and progressives have done for working and poor people (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Workman's Comp. laws, work place safety rules, 40 hour work week, paid vacations, collective bargaining, etc, etc, etc.).

So we on the left side of the political spectrum have much to be proud of and that's one hell of a base to work off of as we try to get single payer not for profit universal health care for all in the USA and as we work to reign in big business and bring sanity back to the market place.

Then I got to thinking, what do conservatives have to be proud of? What accomplishments do they have to write about on their blogs? The denial health care to their fellow citizens? Being on the wrong side of yet another civil rights fight in the gay marriage issue? Do they clap their hands with glee when taxes on the rich are cut once again, even though most of them will never see one of those tax cuts? Are they proud of the hundreds of thousands dead Iraqi's? Are they proud of the torture and lies of the Bush/Cheney administration?

Fox Noise and talk radio may constantly trash liberals and progressives but year after year, time after time, we're the ones who have helped the most people, while the conservatives have helped only the wealthy.

A tale of two candidates

Who's having a better week?
Sen. Obama draws over 200,000 people in a square in Germany and gives a speech for the ages.

Meanwhile Bush McCain spent the day shoring up his base and crusin' for some action.

Sen. Obama looked as Presidential as they come as he charmed our former allies in Europe and worked his way across the world.

Bush McCain just looked sad as he posed in front of a fudge store with a man who refuses to come out of the closet.

Yeah, I'd complain too if I was Bush McCain. Sen. Obama's poise, diplomatic demeanor, and rock star reception all over the world gave him an incredible edge this week, meanwhile Bush McCain's gaffes, clumsy attacks, and misstatements made him look like a doddering confused old man.

Couple this week's triumphant world tour with Obama's unprecedented fund raising, his commanding lead among Hispanics, and his grasp of the issues and boy howdy you've got one hell of a Democratic party candidate. If I was in the Republican party I'd be running scared right about now and I'd be praying to that non existent god of theirs who hates gays but loves fetuses and guns that their losses in November are as huge as some are predicting they'll be.

I get all my best ideas for posts from women (part 2)

I saw Pam over at Musings of a Working Mom had taken this quiz, so I did it too.

My Liberal Identity:

You are a New Left Hipster, also known as a MoveOn.org liberal, a Netroots activist, or a Daily Show fanatic. You believe that if we really want to defend American values, conservatives must be exposed, mocked, and assailed for every fanatical, puritanical, warmongering, Constitution-shredding ideal for which they stand.

Take the quiz at http://www.fightconservatives.com/Inside-the-Book/What-Breed-of-Liberal-Are-You.html

I may be a bit old to be called "new" left, hell I remember shilling for Jimmy Carter even though I was too young to vote in '76. And if you knew me there would be no way you could classify me as "hip." But all in all, I'd say that's a damn accurate description of me.