Apparently, Barak Obama is a bit pissed at Fox News after they aired a laughable incorrect story that Obama attented a Madrassa when family lived overseas.  So pissed that Fox News reporters are feeling a little chilly.  I say good for Obama.  You  got to love the conceit of the Fox News Channel when they say a candidate like Barak Obama will need Fox News to reach out to the “red and purple” voters.  I say bullshit!  Obama already does that without the help of Fox News.  No voter in their right mind is going to pass on voting for a candidate simply because they don’t see him or her on Fox News, and if they did then they never planned to vote for that candidate to begin with.

You have to wonder just what the hell is up with the people of Venezuela and their elected officials.  They’ve pretty much handed control of the country into the hands of one man, Hugo Chavez.  Whatever the impact of the socialist reforms Chavez plans to force on the country, if the people of Venezuela suddenly wake up and find they frittered away what little democracy they had, they will only have themselves to blame.

The more I read about President Bush’s plans to change the tax code to encourage people to purchase their own insurance, the more I feel the need to scream, “BULLSHIT!”  The president is under the delusion that a lot of us hard-working Americans have “‘gold-plated, deluxe’ health insurance” which encourages us to over-use our insurance and drive up the cost for everyone else.  Well, the president and members of Congress may have so-called “gold-pated” insurance but the rest of us sure as hell don’t.  What a complete load of crap. 

Under this plan, employer-provided health insurance would become income subject to payroll taxes, which I’m sure would be a thrill to employers would have to pay their portion of FICA and Medicare on that income.  Granted,  it also creates a standard deduction and only coverage in excess of that amount would be subject to tax, but the problem is that many people cannot afford to go out and pay for insurance on their own.  Too many people depend on employer-provided insurance for themselves and the deep discounts employers can negotiate for spouse and dependent coverage.  Even with a tax break, I don’t see how lower-paid employees could afford to buy coverage and still put food on the table and clothes on the backs of their children.  What they will be forced to do is skip insurance or purchase a plan with fewer benefits and higher deductibles.

I haven’t really said a lot about the Libby trial.  Nothing has really come up that we didn’t already believe and/or suspect, but I found this little tidbit to be quite telling:  apparently the White House, and specifically the Vice-President’s office, believe Tim Russert was their man.  I don’t watch Meet the Press anymore, but this revelation only backs up the opinion I already had.   Anyone who has watched Russert since Bush came into office can see bias; a bias Russert himself would refuse to admit.  I remember watching an episode that featured husband and wife team Mary Matalin and James Carville in which Russert gleeful allowed the shrewish Matalin to rant and rave while going out of his way to undermine everything Carville said.  Now, I’m no fan of James Carville; much of the blame for that particular interview rests squarely on his inability to stand up to his wife when she was knowingly fudging the truth.  And that’s just one example.  Russert continually softballs it with Republicans and then plays “gotcha” with any Democrat by pulling out years old statements in order to trip them up.  Russert may have credibility at NBC, but he long ago lost any credibility with me and many others who used to watch Meet the Press.

The first time I saw young actress Dakota Fanning it was in The Sci Fi Channel’s fantastic mini-series Taken.  Since then, as we all know, it seems like no child-centric movie can be made without the young starlet.  I’ve always dound Fanning to be an interesting young actress.  She always comes off being wise beyond her years no matter what role she’s playing.

Her latest film, Houndog, is getting a lot of negative attention because it features a rape scene with the 12-year-old girl and puts her in some very adult situations.  From the description the film is about child abuse and the affect that can have on the victim and those around her.  Without even seeing the film, as usual, Christian groups are outraged and one Catholic group is calling for a Federal investigation.  Oddly, it’s Fanning who comes off sounding the most adult in this situation.  Just read her defense of the film and what it depicts.  If this young lady can survive Hollywood into adulthood she is going to be one hell of an actress — hell, she already is!

John Kerry will not run for president.  Probably the best decision he ever made.

How cool is it to see Nancy Pelosi sitting behind the president?

Why does Dick look so pissed?

The speech?  Yadda, yadda, yadda, meaningless.

UPDATE:  You know, I’m just not a fan of State of the Union addresses — I don’t care whose in office they just bore the hell out of me.  Rarely are they more than a bunch of talk that never follows through to fruition and I have no doubt this one will be forgotten in the dustbin of history.  The responses form the opposing party are rarely better, but I have to say Senator James Webb’s (D-VA) response for the Democrats was damn good.  Bravo to whomever made that decision.

You have to wonder just what the hell Qantas is thinking.  Citing national security issues (ring a bell?), the Australian airline refused to allow a man wearing a t-shirt depicting President Bush as terrorist to board his flight.  While I may think a t-shirt like that is beyond stupid how can Australia call itself a democracy when shit like this happens.  When did Australia become a vassal state of the United States?  I hope someone steps up to help this man file a lawsuit because there is no way a free country can allow something like this to continue.  If you allow a company to curtail speech of any kind you are opening the flood gates to censorship.  Stupid, stupid, stupid.

As I was surfing through Yahoo News this morning I flew right past a couple of headlines about the loss of 25 soldiers in Iraq, one of the most deadly days to date.  Are we getting to the point where seeing these types of headlines are becoming so common-place that we just move right past them?  I hope not.

You know it’s starting to become the norm with Republicans to screw over what’s left of the middle class in this country.  Apparently, are “esteemed” president is going to propose offering a tax deduction to Americans who pay for their own health insurance (a good thing), but will tax health insurance benefits exceeding the national average cost.  What kind of bullshit is this?  The very people this will affect the most are the ones who continue to get screwed over by this president.  I doubt seriously this will ever the see the light of day; even Republicans are going to have a hard time selling this one.