This morning, while addressing a crowd of his supporters in Norfolk, Virginia, Barack Obama placed his politics above his plans for education reform. His first topic was the lipstick controversy HE created while speaking in Lebanon, Virginia: 

First things first:  It’s not pronounced “LEB-a-non” as in Beirut, Lebanon.  It’s pronounced “LEB-nun.”  My hometown, Richlands, is less than 30 miles from there so take my word for it.  I know the pronunciation as well as I know the people.  I can tell from the reaction of the crowd how they interpreted his “you can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig” comment.  If the crowd misunderstood the meaning of his words, he needs to tell them so.  CALL A SPADE, A SPADE.  (Why didn’t Obama use that simple metaphor, instead?)  It’s perfectly understandable how one could misconstrue the words of this Harvard Law graduate who came to town with stories of pigs and lipstick.  It happens all the time…  What he meant to say was, “John McCain’s economic policy: THAT DOG WON’T HUNT.”  That wouldn’t have created the media buzz, though, so Obama couldn’t play the victim role.

No, instead of clarifying his remarks, the Chosen One has chosen to blame John McCain and Co. for his poor decision to use a poor metaphor.  Today in Norfolk, he admonished the McCain camp and the media, saying the controversy was made-up (think he meant make-up?) and used as “catnip.”  THIS IS THE FISH THAT FELL OUT OF THE FRYING PAN INTO THE FIRE CALLING THE KETTLE BLACK! When Hillary’s campaign complained (correctly) about tactics such as these, Camp Obama indignantly dismissed them as “whining.”  Remember Camp Obama’s “phony outrage” accompanying their charge that Bill Clinton was a racist?  Looks like the three-inch STILETTO IS ON THE OTHER FOOT and Obama doesn’t like it.  In the words of Jeremiah Wright, Obama’s longtime Spiritual Advisor (whatever the hell that is) THE CHICKENS HAVE COME HOME TO ROOST!

In an attempt to exemplify his vision of a clean, issue-oriented campaign, Obama says:

“I love this country too much to let them take over another election with lies and phony outrage and swiftboat politics.”

Who is them?  The same them that Obama claims will try to scare people because he has, in HIS WORDS, a funny-sounding name?  Them is not scaring anyone. Obama is with his constant claims of being victimized.  It’s scary that someone with his education would still feel the need to play the victim card.  More proof that we need education reform?

According to Wikipedia, swiftboat, most accurately refers to the repudiation of a politician’s personal history by people who were present as that history was made. I can see why Obama would have a problem with it.  His own swift boat may come ashore in the next fifty-five days.  I have faith that honorable people won’t be distracted by his claims of victimhood.  After all, there’s still a lot we don’t know about him and we wouldn’t want to BUY A PIG IN A POKE, now would we?

I love to read CatHouse Chat. Kat chooses words as carefully as she chooses the right colors for her quilts and the result, in both cases, is a delight to those fortunate enough to view either. She recently quoted The Virginian-Pilot reporting on Barack Obama’s visit to Martinsville:

“I’m not going to say all the jobs in Martinsville are going to come back if I’m elected president,” Obama told about 300 invited guests - most of them blue-collar workers - who gathered at Patrick Henry Community College.

“I’m not saying the schools will be fixed,” he added. “What I’m saying is that I’m going to wake up every morning thinking about you.”

I agree with Kat:

Yeah. Right. You want to know what he’s gonna be thinking? He’s gonna sit up in bed at the White House every morning, have a good stretch, and think, “I can’t believe those schmucks actually bought it!”

Vote NObama - because if hope ain’t teamed with sweat and guts, it’s just an empty suit of hot air.

And we will be schmucks if we buy it. I’m not buying. Like a used car salesman who knows his car is a lemon, he relies on his skillful oration to close the deal. Obama has a lifetime record of mastering his oratory ability and it shows… He may very well be remembered as one of the great public speakers of our time. Millions of people have apparently bought what he’s selling. Millions of people were apparently willing to sign sub-prime loan documents they didn’t understand, too. They risk losing their homes, we risk losing our country.

I disagree with Kat’s assessment that Obama is an empty suit. I see him as being more like the emperor with no clothes. When he talks and talks without really saying anything, it’s easier to pretend we understand. Who are we to question this world traveler who demonstrates his comfort internationally while we have trouble navigating a mall? Who are we to question the president of the Harvard Law Review? Who are we to question this Chosen One with the ability to form record-breaking run-on sentences?

Here’s the Barack Obama quote you haven’t seen reported by the media:

And thinking about how to make your life a little bit better and if you can trust me to do that and I’m organizing a bunch of smart people like Mark Warner to come up with innovative ideas that’ll give you a little bit of a …. fighting chance, that will make your life a little bit better, you’re still gonna have to work hard, you’re still gonna have to sacrifice, we’re still gonna have some struggles but if I can make things a little bit easier for you and you can trust me to do that, that that’s (that’s) the reason I’m in politics, that’s my orientation, I think we can convince enough people to win this election and then we can convince even more people to start doing the work.

I didn’t go to Harvard but I’m smart enough to recognize BS when I see it and so are YOU! We don’t need the arrogant elitist to “organize a bunch of smart people like Mark Warner” to give us a “fighting chance” - the fight was in us at our birth and given to us by our Creator, not by our government.

Don’t take my word for it. Watch for yourself and decide for yourself. And don’t be ashamed to shout out the obvious: The Chosen One has no Clothes.

Mark Warner introduced him.  A cell phone or two rang during the introduction and Warner encouraged people to leave their phones ON.  Does he make money off of that, too?

Man of hope is explaining how bad things are under Bush… I better go listen.

Starnews has live streaming video HERE.  Watch if you can - my guess is that he doesn’t have a teleprompter….

According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the Chosen One (Barack Obama) has chosen you, too!  Unlike his visit to Martinsville, his campaign has announced that he’ll be at John Tyler Community College in Chester, Va.  His campaign tried to keep his Martinsville location(s) “undisclosed” but learned the hard way that there are no secrets in Martinsville…

Like us, the event will be “invitation only.”

1) It’s a good thing that my dad and his buddies (as well as most people I know) don’t watch MSNBC.

2) Andrea probably best keep her bony ass out of the Bristol Mall.

Sheesh. Some people marry a Fed Chairman and think they own the world.

(Okay, three thoughts came to mind.)

Hat Tip to Short Like Yoda!

Congratulations, Jeff!  (I think.)

John Hager conceded.

That’s all I know.  Except for it’s crazy loud at the convention and that if you ever need to borrow a cell phone, ask Jim Gilmore’s son, Ashley.

Thanks, Ashley!  (I think.)

Instead of being in Richmond this weekend having a big time with my fellow political bloggers at the RPV convention, I’m home hearing about it via borrowed cell phones.  Seems most bloggers batteries gave out before the convention started.  Business matters kept me in Martinsville but at least I have WiFi!

Anyway, I’ve just been informed that Jim Gilmore (5,218 votes) has narrowly beaten Bob Marshall (5,156 votes) for the unenviable opportunity to run against Mark Warner for Virginia’s junior senator.  This is assuming that Warner doesn’t get asked to go to the Vice-Presidential Prom with Barack (think CHANEL) Obama.

Sorry folks, I just can’t get a woody for any of these guys.  While I prefer Gilmore over the other two choices (much more over Marshall) this race interests me about as much as grits with no cheese.

Hey!  Ham Sandwich would make a great Senator!

Stay tuned.  I should be getting the exciting results of the RPV Chairman vote, soon.  The choices are Jeff Frederick and John Hager.

Back to laundry detail…

To the old...

and everyone in between...

MARTINSVILLE

is part of

the HOKIE NATION!

Now is the time for healing: A grieving family, friends and community knows no politics. They only know that suddenly there is a giant hole in the place where their hearts used to be . . life as they knew it, as recently as this past Sunday, will never be the same. To them, it doesn’t matter if the cowardly murderer who will not be named on this blog was influenced by the far left, the far right or far away space aliens. It simply does not matter.

Yesterday, at the convocation at Virginia Tech, Governor Kaine reminded us of what sets Virginia apart from other states - we are not just lines on a map, we are a commonwealth, a community. That is so very evident here in Martinsville. If I wasn’t still reeling from the shock of this tragedy, I’d swear there was a VT football game being held here. Everywhere you go you see old men in VT baseball hats, kids in VT t-shirts and hoodies - even some car flags!  I guess scenes like this are being played out all over our commonwealth.  If any good can be drawn from this horrific event, I hope that it can be a continued spirit of unity.

Certainly bickering over blogrolls at a time like this is not only petty, it’s absurd.

My Yoda sent me this message after she paid her respects on the drill field at Tech today:

Today was sad and yet hopeful. I was not the only alumnus there. I saw people that graduated 30 years ago and just as recently as last May. One girl standing next to me by the big VT erected by on the edge of the Drill Field. She graduated last year and we both exchanged smiles and tears and shock. Many alumnus brought their children. I am grateful to the person that erected this VT. It gives all of us Hokies a place to focus the pain.

Maybe I am sounding selfish when I say this (or naive) but I still can’t understand…Blacksburg? On a campus where ROTC, hippies and frat kids can exist peacefully for all these years (one friend of mine a few years ago mentioned “one nation, under the Hokie Bird.”)? And the guy was an English major! Those were the most laid back people I knew (except for their OCD belief in correct spelling…BAH!). Of course, after seeing the video tape, for an English major he did not seem to speak or write very well.

This is sad…and it sounds like to me after all this latest news that the system at VT for tracking issues like this needs to be updated. And hopefully other schools will learn a lesson from this. Of course, weren’t schools supposed to learn something after Columbine?

I, like so many others, keep wavering between anger, sorrow, and hope…

I write that the day was hopeful not only because of the sun that was shining but I saw so many people reaching out to help. As I said earlier other alumni were there…to heal wounds and to just listen. Ivan asked me “Is it normal for all of these people to wear the school colors like this every day?” By the looks of it, until you got to the Drill Field you would have believed it was football Saturday. There is a pride there that I can’t fully explain. So many students stayed as if defiant against this aggression…this is our school and we are not leaving!

I have never felt more proud to be a Hokie.

This unity may be tested in the days to come as Scott has heard “distant rumblings” that a nasty hate group might try to spread their venom at the funerals of our fallen:

I have heard some rumblings throughout some law enforcement circles and others that Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church hate group (www.godhatesfags.org) are planning to disrupt as many Virgina Tech funerals as possible with protests.

This is the group, that has in the past, disrupted funerals of fallen service members from Afghanistan and Iraq as well as other conflicts.

I have contacted the Patriot Guard Riders, and although this is outside of their charter, I am hoping they can shed some light on the rumor and if true, position some Riders to shield the families.

Legally, there is very little law enforcement would be able to do as long as the protesters did not interfere with the funeral or create a disturbance.

If you hear of something like this please let me know.

To them I say, “Bring it on!” We’ve only just begun to unite and you ain’t seen nothin’ yet . . .