Tom Hilton, Hortense Lake.

Tom Hamill, Grand Teton.

Email me a link to your one or two favorite pics on a photo site like Flickr (do not send the image itself please) and I will put up favorites in open threads. Send a short caption if you want one.

Click on the photos for a link to the photographer’s website. To see all photo threads, click on ‘photo blogging’ at the bottom of the post.

If your computer cannot read our email links at top right, my email is (remove the zeroes): portus0jackson0ii at yahoo dot com.

It is starting to become clear to me what the GOP strategy is- they are trying to turn the entire country into California- an ungovernable mess where the majority is incapable of governing because of an obstinate and insane minority party and ridiculous procedural hoops.

And when you realize that, it makes complete sense why no one in the Republican party stands up to the lies spewed by Sarah Palin, like, for example, this nonsense about mammograms and death panels. She is flat out lying, as she does most every time she opens her mouth, but no one in the GOP will call her on it because it is to their advantage to make the country ungovernable. They like it when there is so much bullshit and disinformation out there that the public is incapable of being informed. Sarah Palin is cheaper and far more effective than all the bullshit factories the Koch Foundation and others have been funding for decades.

And our media elites, desperate for access and a way to fill a 24 hour news cycle, comfortable with their village status, and cowed by decades of being called liberal, rather than calling obvious lies for what they are, will instead sit by and act like play by play announcers and color commentators at a football game, with a he-said she-said approach: “Sarah Palin claims mammogram guidelines are legally binding, Kathleen Sebelius says this is not true. What do you think? Our roundtable next with Stephen Hayes, Karl Rove, and James Carville, where we will discuss what this means for Obama and the 2010 midterm elections.”

Just depressing. On any given day, if you just quickly read a newspaper or watch cable news for fifteen minutes, there is a very solid chance you will leave the experience knowing less than when you started.

Why do we allow the people who choose to vote against even debating a bill participate in the debate and offer amendments later on in the process? Didn’t they already decide they didn’t want to debate the bill? Can’t we take them at their word and ignore them?

I’m a glutton for punishment, but I have no intention of ever reading this book and will leave it to others:

In brief, chapter 3 is a cumbersome, hundred-page turd that covers Palin’s campaign for the governor’s office; her first 18 months as chief executive, including her push for ethics reform and a natural gas pipeline; all the people who were mean to her for one reason or another; her last pregnancy, including the letter Palin wrote to her family in which she pretended to be God; and her family’s random exploits from 2006-2008, including Todd’s 4th place finish in the Iron Dog snowmachine race and Bristol’s 1st place finish in getting knocked up.

At this point, would it not be easier to track the honest statements in the book?

Way back in 2007, as a nice gesture, I wrote a conciliatory post towards RedState after they came in second (to us) in a top category at the Weblog Awards.

I don’t have any particular beef with Erick and RedState, and even if I disagree with practically every post I respect what they’re trying to do. It seems to me that they’re up against an institutional disadvantage that runs deeper than just having to defend government rather than criticize it. With luck some years in the wilderness will improve Republican leadership the way it (sort of) did for the Democrats. It will only be good when when the party treats well-intentioned members trying to effect change from the inside like a squeaky wheel rather than like an unhammered nail.

My friends, this small dishonesty has weighed on my conscience long enough. It’s time to come clean. Even by 2007 everyone knew that RedState was a fruitcake factory. They drove John off in, what, 2005? I knew perfectly well how badly the GOP needs to keep stupid, angry people like Erick Erickson on the DL. If Schiavo taught us anything, it’s that Malkin’s wing will steer the party into a traffic barrier and laugh while it burns down with them inside.

So, um, yeah.

I am down near the Borders where the Palin book signing takes place later today. Quite a crowd, the line is close to a quarter mile long. This is to get wristbands that entitle you to get a book signed. There is one news crew there following it too.

The crowd is in good spirits and they aren’t really teabaggers per se by and large. I saw one Don’t Tread On Me flag and a couple weird bumperstickers, but other than that, not much. I wouldn’t have known it was political. It could easily have been a Kenny Chesney concert crowd or something like that. Except that the crowd is a little old for that. There are lots of families but it is probably a quarter retirees.

Everbody looks like someone you would meet at the Appleby’s salad bar so don’t be surprised if Bobo changes his tune about Palin at some point.

Update A couple thoughts: (a) a lot of people really hate Palin—lots of whispering about that here (b) I cannot believe how inconsiderate the whole thing is for Palinites—most will probably be in line at least three hours today.

“Even through a veil of censorship and propaganda, the Chinese people managed a clearer view of Obama’s visit than the US media did.”- Tish Durkin

(via James Fallows)

Mary Landrieu, on the big advantages of bribery “leverage”:

In recent days, Landrieu has sounded more and more open to voting for Reid’s measure. She told reporters earlier in the week that she was leaning against the vote, but shifted to neutral on Thursday and earlier Friday. By Friday night, with a stack of health care briefing papers under her arm, Landrieu said was leaning in favor of supporting the procedural motion.

She acknowledged that she had fought for changes to the bill to help people in her state. Reid included an extra $100 million in Medicaid funding for states hit by Hurricane Katrina, which includes Louisiana.

“I’m using as much leverage as I have for the issues that I think are important not just to Louisiana but to broad constituencies throughout this country… In some ways, you can’t fix anything unless you keep the debate moving forward but in the other ways, you’ve got to use the leverage when you’ve got it to get some things that are important,” Landrieu said.

At what point does this shit become indictable under RICO statutes?

I’m sitting here watching Rachel Ray make a quick Thanksgiving dinner that working moms and dads can easily whip up in no time, with gravy, and apple pie, and all sorts of things, and all I can think is “I can’t believe they tried to turn her into a symbol of pro-Jihadi anti-Americanism.”

It really was just crazy, and after reading @tcot on twitter today, and reading my usual wingnut blogs while also stopping on the Bill O’Reilly show while channel surfing and watching him interview Glenn Beck about buying gold, and I realize they have just gotten worse since the United Pastry Jihad.

John +1 (Black Box Shiraz FTW. What’s another torpedo in a sinking ship, I say…)

Read this:

In its largest reconstruction effort since the Marshall Plan, the United States government has spent $53 billion for relief and reconstruction in Iraq since the 2003 invasion, building tens of thousands of hospitals, water treatment plants, electricity substations, schools and bridges.

But there are growing concerns among American officials that Iraq will not be able to adequately maintain the facilities once the Americans have left, potentially wasting hundreds of millions of dollars and jeopardizing Iraq’s ability to provide basic services to its people.

The projects run the gamut — from a cutting-edge, $270 million water treatment plant in Nasiriya that works at a fraction of its intended capacity because it is too sophisticated for Iraqi workers to operate, to a farmers’ market that farmers have not been able to decide how to divide up space for, to a large American hospital closed immediately after it was handed over to Iraq because the government was unable to supply it with equipment, a medical staff or electricity.

I sure could go for another lecture about fiscal conservatism from Republicans right about now.

I honestly have no idea what I want to do tonight. Read? Watch the boob tube? Game? Go out? Feh.

*** Update ***

Just heard Chris Matthews refer to this administration as the “egghead” administration because they are too smart and aren’t in touch with the common person’s emotions. I wonder what Luke Russert thinks?

Just found my evening plans- I’ll be drinking.

Sorry, but I don’t feel bad at all about any moran who stood outside in the cold all day just to get Sarah’s autograph and then got stiffed by her. You got what you deserved, and please tear up your voter registration card in protest.

On the other hand, maybe you will get luckier on the Carrie PreJean book tour.

It was almost exactly 23 years ago that Ronaldus Magnus signed the Simpson-Mazzoli Act granting amnesty to millions of illegal aliens.

Consider this an open thread.

Matt Yglesias claims this isn’t a parody:

I love the voice-over guy. Almost NFL Film quality.

How many of you have read Harrison Bergeron?

It was tragic, all right, but George and Hazel couldn’t think about it very hard. Hazel had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short bursts. And George, while his intelligence was way above normal, had a little mental handicap radio in his ear. He was required by law to wear it at all times. It was tuned to a government transmitter. Every twenty seconds or so, the transmitter would send out some sharp noise to keep people like George from taking unfair advantage of their brains.

That is sort of what it is like trying to work while following the top conservatives on twitter (#tcot). Every twenty seconds or so, tweetdeck will chirp, and up comes something so stupid that it just jars you, and by the time you have recovered, lo and behold, another top conservative will want to share their deep thoughts.