Thanks for stopping by my blog. As you can see, I haven't posted in more than a month. I've taken a little summer break...and things are changing with my host Know More Media. They've disbanded the company as I knew it, but are allowing me to blog here until I decide what I want to do. I have a new blog in the works, but the design is not ready yet. I'll leave a post on this blog when I'm ready to launch.

Anyhow, fasten your seatbelts...today should be a lot of fun. Mac doesn't allow me to take email questions on the air when he is gone, but you can leave a comment here. Be sure to leave me your email if you would like a response.

For those of you who live outside of Des Moines, the show will be streaming live from 1:30 to 3:40 p.m. CST. Just click here and click on the "Listen Live" button on the upper right hand side of the page.

Claire, "The Demo Diva"

P.S. Go Obama!

While being interviewed during a campaign stop, a female reporter asked McCain about his lack of support for women's reproductive health, specifically his vote in the Senate on a bill that would have required insurance companies to cover birth control pills. Note that insurance companies already cover Viagra. Here is the embarrassing video:

McCain used his hand as an invisible shield and tried to wipe off all the dirty cooties he got by talking about ishy-gishy girl guts.

Just for the record, McCain has been consistent throughout his career. He also voted against family planning funds for teenagers and young poor women, supports overturning Roe v. Wade, and supports abstinence-only education.

On so many levels, this is wrong. Just wrong. The image of the militant woman (ostensibly Mrs. Obama) disturbs me more than the parody of Obama in the traditional African garb. The images tell two different stories about how the Obamas are being perceived, even by the most liberal people in American.

Barack Obama's image is almost so literal that it doesn't meet the parody standard. It's simply a cartoon image of something that already came out. Michelle Obama's image is so far off base, so outrageous, it defies explanation. What, just because she has a voice and an opinion, and chooses to use her voice, she all of a sudden becomes a gun-toting Black Panther? It takes a small mind, indeed, to portray her in this way. Parodies are supposed to remind us of some sort of truth, however stereotypical, of the individual portrayed. The recognition of the irony unconsciously makes us laugh, even if it's inappropriate. I don't recognize this image as Michelle Obama. There is nothing in it that even slightly resembles her persona, even though the drawing itself is a remarkable likeness of her face.

I'm glad that most members of the media have come out denouncing the cover. I used to enjoy the New Yorker, but will purposely avoid it now. I don't want to read the prognostications of such juvenille writers and editors. Shame on the editor of the New Yorker for not knowing the difference between satire and racism.

Tony Snow was only 53, way too young to die in anyone's book. But he managed to fill those years with meaningful work and lifelong friends.

He was also not a shrinking violet, which of course, I admire the most.

In a November 11, 2005, column, Snow wrote that Bush's "wavering conservatism has become an active concern among Republicans, who wish he would stop cowering under the bed and start fighting back against the likes of Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and Joe Wilson."

"The newly passive George Bush has become something of an embarrassment," Snow's column said.

"I asked him about those comments," joked the president at the time of Snow's appointment. "And he said, 'You should have heard what I said about the other guy.'"

Bush said Snow's long career as a journalist helped him understand "the importance of the relationship between government and those whose job it is to cover the government."

Even if his microphone had been shut off, did he think he was going to find sympathy from anyone at FOX News? Has this man gone off the deep end?

As my friends over at Jack and Jill Politics have said before, this is one of the reasons why black folks are so sick of Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. They're just out of step with the rest of the world. Their shenanigans more than erase any good they accomplish on behalf of the black community. The stark cold truth is, perception is reality. The perception is that Jesse Jackson is past his prime representing the black community. So it is reality.

Obama has come out many times and said that he was against giving immunity to the phone companies, who violated their own privacy laws and subverted procedure due to pressure by the U.S. government in the national paranoia that followed 911.

I think Obama did the right thing. The Bush Administration was whipping everyone into a frenzy after 911. People were scared of terrorist attacks happening in America. Remember the rush on duct tape at Home Depot tha resulted in a family taping up their air ducts to the point that they suffocated to death? Remember the color-coded terror alerts that could affect the stock market one way or the other?

Some of Obama's fair weather supporters are angry with him, but Obama knows that these companies were all operating under the assumption that those being wiretapped were suspected terrorists. It's law enforcement that are using the Patriot Act improperly to go after two-bit thugs that should be chased down and arrested. The telecoms, while not lily white during this episode, I'm sure, have a process to follow and I'm sure hoardes of their lawyers are all over it.

Obama is NOT the second coming of Christ. He will probably make a lot of decisions that his uppity white supporters will not like. That's the part of compromise that always sucks. Get over it.

Poverty, the environment and stopping the war in Iraq are all now issues that animate this group. None of those issues are John McCain territory.

The new movement even has a leader. No, it's not Jesus. He's a dreadlocked, veggie-oil bus driving hippie named Shane Claiborne.

Tuesday July 1st is the first day that smoking is illegal in Iowa in all but a few workplaces. That includes restaurants and bars. I have a long mental list of places that I stopped going to years ago (because of the clouds of smoke) that I can't wait to visit again.

To all the "government is controlling my life" wackos out there...I'd rather have the government come in and legislate this issue because smokers are addicted to a drug and they can't control themselves. When people do not consider the rights of others before engaging in a harmful behavior, then government has the right and the responsibility to come in a take care of the problem. That's exactly what they've done. I thank the Iowa legislators who passed this law from the bottom of my grateful lungs.

It seems that he was angered by media reports that said Clinton did not support Obama and would not campaign for him. On the contrary, say sources for both the former president and Obama's campaign. Clinton is "excited" to campaign with and for Obama.

Bill has a hot temper, everyone knows that. He just needed some time to cool down after the intensely personal primary battle. One thing that is still missing...the sign on Bill Clinton's office door that said, "America's first black president." The sign will turn up at the White House in January 2009 when Obama takes the oath of office.

Today, Obama came out of that corner swinging like a champ.

He expressed what so many Americans feel. Patriotism is NOT blind loyalty to political leaders. Patriotism is loyalty and defense of the ideals that once made this country great. Shame on those leaders, both democrat and republican, who did not stand up for our constitution when its prinicples were under attack.

He also addressed the flag pin issue. Well. Let me tell you, I can relate. Before the U.S. invaded Iraq, I proudly flew the flag outside my home every day. Now, the dusty flag is folded in my closet. I refuse to fly it until we get out.

Good for Obama! I hope people listen to his words and hang this unpatriotic talk. Patriotism is intensely personal.

I wonder if business on the Strip is picking up, since you can just call the hooker and she will drive to your location. I was going to say "come to you," but that didn't sound right.

I really could care less if business picks up for the Chicken Ranch per se, but this is a great illustration of the trickle-down effect of high gas prices.

1. African dictators: From Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe to Issayas Afeworki in Eritrea, the continent is slowly slipping into anarchy while the world waits in vain for American leadership. Meanwhile, Bush touts his legacy of helping the AIDS crisis in Africa. Throw in the ongoing humanitarian disaster in Darfur and stir, and you have a recipe for disaster on a bibical scale.
2. The American healthcare system: The frayed patchwork quilt that passes as a nationwide healthcare system in this country is tatty and ready to be thrown out for good. Individuals and businesses of all sizes are suffering from the lack of a comprehensive healthcare plan that can work for everyone. Zero leadership from Bush and Co. ZERO. Oh, maybe a mention of healthcare lawsuits as the cause. But that's about it.
3. A long-term energy independence plan: We don't have a strategy to ease or eventually end our dependence on foreign oil. Nor do we have an agreement on how to move our alternative energy plans. States like Iowa have taken the responsibility and the lead in the vacuum of leadership.
4. Infrastructure funding: Despite  pleas from the nation's governors to use federal money to stimulate the economy by fixing the crumbling infrastructure in the U.S., Bush ignores the idea.
5. Family planning: Poor women and uninsured women have no friend in this president, who apparently has checked out on the issue of women's reproductive health.
6. The widening income gap between the rich and the poor: Bush's tax cuts, while great for CEOs and those making more than 250k annually, are eroding public confidence in our economy's ability to offer income security to all full-time workers.
7. Poverty has increased in the past 7 years. Bush made a lame attempt to address poverty in this country after it smacked him in the face after Hurricane Katrina, but he is silent on the issue now.
8. Teen pregnancy has increased for the first time in 25 years under the idiotic "abstinence only" funding under President Bush's moral police.
9. College education funding is increasingly fragmented and unavailable, while costs spiral out of control, largely due to health care costs for college faculty and staff.
10. America's reputation on the world stage: Without a doubt, our great country has suffered a black eye due to George W. Bush's complete and total incompetence.

What did I miss? Got anything to add?

They'd see an increasingly frantic public, hoarding staples and staying off the road, with our fancy cars safely ensconced in our huge McMansions.

They'd see people who are scared to be in their homes without guns, locked and loaded.

They'd see media saturated with sexual images and inuendo, but young people who don't know how to prevent pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases.

I'm sure it would be very confusing. Especially if you looked to our fearless leader for guidance.

As Thomas Friedman so optimisically puts it...we're in a 34-year slump.

But just exactly what is happening behind the scenes of the Obama campaign?

Obama has already hired Hillary's fired campaign manager, Patty Solis Doyle. Word now has it that Hillary's health care team has now reassembled on Obama's side. Will Obama let former Clintonistas run his health care effort, running the risk of tainting his health care policy with Hillary's failed attempt to do so in the 1990's under then President Bill Clinton?

I think it's a sign that Obama is shrewly cherry picking the best and the brightest away from Hillary and using them to his advantage. But don't hold your breath. I think Hillary will campaign her heart out with Obama, but then Obama will pass her up for VP.

This means that an individual will be able to legally purchase and register a handgun, but it will still be illegal to take the gun anywhere. Basically, a person will be allowed to defend their own home.

Oh, if only it were that simple.

I cannot imagine trying to be a police officer in D.C. over the next few months, while the mayhem ensues. They have enough trouble keeping thugs with guns off the streets, let alone people who may now have their guns robbed and used against them in their own home.

I guess the debate over the 2nd Amendment's definition is alive and well. And all the more reason we need another smart liberal on the Supreme Court. Oh, and not one republican accused the judges of being "activists" and "legislating from the bench." Huh.