err,
Didn't Obama to visit all 58 states or something like that?

The fact is people make mistakes.

Thanks
JK

Yep, people make mistakes, and China is trying to make Nuclear Weapons, according to Pizza Man.

Does Jim Karlock understand the difference between ignorance and a slip of the tongue? It seems not. Does anyone here have an explanation to offer as to why the Republicans can't or won't field a qualified candidate?

The media loved McCain so much, it got him nominated.

Meanwhile, Rove is throwing big money into ads deriding Elizabeth Warren for being a fancy-pants professor with -gasp!- intellectual theories. Being uninformed seems to be a selling point with some in the GOP these days.

Qualified is in the eye of the beholder.

Funny that of all things, you pick on THAT!

As if the current occupant got in there based on his qualifications.

Refresh my memory, his qualification were:
1) ability to read a TelePrompTer.
2) community organizer.
3) HLR President
4) State Senator who voted Present over 100 times
5) US Senator who himself admitted he did not have enough experience to be US President.

Me thinks that "shares my politics" is qualification enough for some sycophants.

Ex-bartender,
I agree with your Karl Rove reference here. I think he was crucial in what happened.

The Republicans can't or won't find a candidate because they're not the Republicans anymore. They're a stampede of morons created by Karl Rove to get the party to take George W. seriously.

It's become fashionable to say, "How can you blame George W. for anything when it's been 3 years?" Another way to look at it is how can there be an 8-year president who doesn't have some impact on the years afterwards? It doesn't make sense, especially when we're still in 2 wars, W started.

The Republican Party has dumbed down. Think of Dwight Eisenhower walking in a room and encountering this group. Could you imagine introducing Sarah Palin to him and saying, "Sir, this was the Republican nominee for Vice President last time around. What do you think?"

Can't you just picture Eisenhower - especially after talking with Sarah for a while - saying, "You've got to be kidding"?

Oh well, it's bad for America, but it's good for my comedy writing business: Did you hear the latest for Thanksgiving? It's the Rick Perry Recipe. You just ask the turkey questions until it's cooked.

Ba-dum.

There's no point in blogging about him anymore. You can only pick on an ignoramus so many times before it feels sadistic.

Thanks for the morning laugh Bill. At least one good thing is coming out of this. :)

Yep, people make mistakes, and China is trying to make Nuclear Weapons, according to Pizza Man.

Puhleeze. What Cain was referring to there is China's program to develop nuclear aircraft carriers and possibly nuclear submarines. Cain's career includes work as a mathematician in ballistics as a civilian employee of the US Navy. You seriously believe he didn't know China already had nuclear weapons?

To me the guy has proven repeatedly that he's wicked smart. I'm not too worried about a brainfart here or there when speaking extemporaneously.

And I can only imagine what William F Buckley would say about this current crop of dolts.

Really? That was worth going viral over?This is Cain done?

How in the world can people around here who are surrounded by possibly the worst elected people in US history be so critical of a distant candidate for the Presidency who is far better by magnitudes than any of the locally elected buffoons. And certainly no worse in gaffs or depth than the rest of the parade of candidates including Obama.

What sort of gage does one have to apply that enables them to inflate Obama into a man of zeppelin sized stature?

The suggestion here seems to be that candidate Obama was far more intelligent than Cain. So much so that Cain is already disqualified while Obama has somehow earned his stature?

And then there's our friend Bill who can't let go of W. For a good laugh OK.

But this is Portland arena of severe public-private cronyism where a Haliburton-like racket runs wild with help from many progressive elements.

There's plenty of real world local Cheney and Rove characters around here engaged in all of the scurrilous & conniving behavior that progressives should be outraged over.

Perhaps someone can explain why nearly every local progressive is either AWOL or helpful with the local cabal which should be despised as Blackwater and Water boarding?

My only guess is that they have been played by the PDC et al for so long they can't see the racket through the charettes.

I really thought SoWa would be a tipping point. Then maybe Milwaukie Light Rail?
UR debt eating 26 cents of every property tax dollar? Portland losing 30K jobs?
The planning bureaucrats hefty compensations?

Nothing matters AT ALL.

Perhaps someone can explain why nearly every local progressive is either AWOL or helpful with the local cabal which should be despised as Blackwater and Water boarding?

Perhaps you've already forgotten the recent showdowns in Clackamas County? Local progressives helped push the defeat of both 3-388 and the Sellwood bridge fee. I'm one of them.

Regardless, saying someone has no right to criticize a lame candidate for national office because there are lame pols currently in local office is a non-sequitur.

It's hard to let go of Bush when the same gang and ideology that got him elected and pulled his strings is still in operation.

Romney is, and has been, the only Republican candidate with a shot to beat Obama. It's not even close in my mind. Why won't the Republicans rally around him?

Ben,
Before you include me as one of the local progressives who don't speak out locally, here's my one and only column on Blue Oregon:

A Comedic Look: Why Sam Adams Must Go

By Bill McDonald of Portland, Oregon. Bill is a comedy writer and a former columnist for the Portland Tribune.

Recently, I told Troy Wagner – a comedian in Florida – that my mother-in-law is becoming forgetful as she gets older. He said, “Look at the bright side. Maybe she’ll forget that she doesn’t like you.”

One of the best things about being a professional comedy writer is you get to talk to comedians on the phone, where they’re often more humorous than when they do their act. I first noticed this years ago with J.J. Walker. We would watch half a football game together, with him in Omaha or Philadelphia, and me ensconced in my “office” in Portland.

He’d regale me with show biz stories and I’d beg him to skip the topical observational humor he loved and take these anecdotes to the stage. True incidents of partying with Rodney, or Richard Pryor, or Bill Cosby back in the day – riveting, hilarious, even historic. You have to go with your best stuff!

See, everyone has a strong suit – a gift. For Mayor Sam Adams, it’s the way he lies. He has a gift for lying. It’s effortless for him. But the difference between Sam and J.J. Walker, is that Sam uses his best stuff when it really counts. He lies often and in public – so much so that the former Mayor calls him a serial liar. That’s quite a compliment - especially in the world of politics.

You can’t ignore success: Sam’s lying has led to him being elected Mayor of Portland. If he didn’t lie he probably wouldn’t be Mayor. You’d think that would have earned his lying some respect by now, but here’s the ironic part: People have begun questioning his gift. They act like it’s a bad thing.

Recently Willamette Week quoted a real estate guy named Joe Weston who supports the recall: “If you were an employer and a prospective employee did not state the truth in his application, would you say, ‘Well, it’s OK, you already have the job?”

I think we can assume his answer to that is, “No.”

This real estate guy is doing more than asking questions. He’s donating office space at 421 N. Broadway for the campaign to recall Adams run by Jasun Wurster.

Meanwhile, Jasun just appeared before the city council with a complaint. He claims that city employees are contacting him and stating that they are afraid to sign the recall petition because Sam would seek revenge on them later if he survives.

This is a tailor-made instance for Sam to step up to the microphones and deny that would happen. It’s a perfect time to lie. But Sam has been strangely silent. It’s almost like the mother-in-law joke. By remaining silent, he’s hoping people forget how much they don’t like him. You can’t recall what you can’t recall.

But as I told J.J. Walker all those years ago, you have to bring your best stuff to the stage. Besides, by now the voters of Portland should be offended that Sam did not take this opportunity to lie to us. I think we’ve earned that in this relationship and we deserve it. Why can’t he just say he’d never punish city workers who sign these petitions? Then we would know he was still Sammy being Sammy. But not lying about this is showing us no respect. Doesn’t he care about us anymore?

So that’s the latest reason why Sam Adams needs to leave office: If he is no longer willing to lie to the People of Portland, I say that is dereliction of duty. Support the Recall Now!

As the Democrats found out during the Kerry campaign, you can't expect to win by simply claiming to be less objectionable than the incumbent. It seems that this crop of candidates, as well as the people who support them, didn't pay much attention.

Also seems as though the current selection didn't learn from the Nixon/Kennedy debate that how you look answering a question is equally as important as the content of your answer. The once great Republican machine, which a few years ago seemed almost unstoppable, now can't get out of its own way.

Why won't the Republicans rally around him?

They had no trouble rallying around Lieberman!!
No trouble at all when it suits them.

I remember thinking this had to be a most critical race in the country of 2006, Lamont/Lieberman for the Senate.
It was quite a riveting episode in our country's election, this attempt to oust an entrenched Senator. A paper mache of The Kiss, Lieberman and Bush was hauled around the state:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KL4XQJskw8I&feature=player_embedded#!

In most states after Lamont won the Democratic primary, Lieberman would have been out,
but not in Connecticut...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Senate_election_in_Connecticut,_2006

Lamont differed from Lieberman on various issues. He opposed the Iraq War and the USA Patriot Act, opposed the creditor-friendly changes to U.S. bankruptcy law, opposed federal intervention in cases such as the Terri Schiavo case, opposed the federal earmark system (i.e. pork barrel projects), and said he would have led the charge against the Samuel Alito nomination.[27]

Lamont won the primary with 51.79% of the vote, as opposed to Lieberman's 48.21%.[21] However, in his concession speech, Lieberman announced that he would stand by his prior statements that he'd run as an independent if he lost the Democratic primary.[22]

Results
Lieberman won with approximately 50% of the vote, and will serve a six-year term from January 3, 2007 to January 3, 2013. Exit polls showed that Lieberman won the vote of 33% of Democrats, 54% of independents and 70% of Republicans.[113]

The correct response should have been: "Libya or Labya: It makes no difference. I never touched her down there."

It is Labia, believe me I know.

Except for Ron Paul, the Republican candidates are the finest that money can buy.

Cain is just another elite water boy- he was the former head of the Federal Reserve in Kansas City- all you need to know.

These guys know nothing because they are told what to do, thinking for yourself is dangerous.

Bill,
I was not and would include you among the progressives who do nothing.
Far from it I would use you, Jack and other progressive exceptions who contributor here as a model for progressive who get it.
But you all know as well as I do that effectively all of the progressive establishment with nearly all of the rank and file is either AWOL or indeed supportive of the local racket hiding behind the green and sustainable movement.
Reminding me of the few exceptions as if I forgot is far from any answer as to why.
There is no question some progressives have contributed to the Clackamas County rebellion. With more Democrats voting and a 70% victory of 3-386 there was certainly some progressives voting to help.
But again, that is an acknowledged exception with the totality of progressive groups, activists and movements AWOL or in some cases criticizing the rebellion.
OurOregon, BlueOregon and others, for example have mocked and tried to undermine the rebellion.
So I go back to my question, WHY?
The cabal demands they do? What?
They can't see right from wrong?
Both the fee battle and UR battle was waged against an incredibly unethical establishment that produced the kind of sleaze that should be unacceptable by nearly everyone. It continues in LO & Clackamas County with plenty of opportunities for the progressive establishment to show their true colors.
Right now there is an Oregon City councilor facing recall because he is opposed to an UR scheme to fund a shopping center. He is a pacific green party guy yet Clackamas County AFP is stepping out and defending him.
Joining in his defense is 3-386 chief petitioner John William (D) former mayor.
Other opportunities involve the continuing battle to stop the county from funding Milwaukie Light Rail and opposing the Kitzhaber appointment of racket clone to fill the Clackamas seat vacancy on the TriMet board.
All that would take is a couple Democrat State Senators to join Republicans in stopping the confirmation that will likely be this Thursday after a hearing tomorrow.
This appointment, Craig Prosser could not be worse or more insulting.
So progressives, make some calls or send some emails to tell the Senate Democrats that Clackamas County deserves authentic representation that is consistent with the clearly demonstrated and overwhelming public will.

Bill, at least Ben used the words "nearly every progressive". I think he met "many". And if not, I forgive him.

Signed: Fellow Demo, but can't stand the "Progressive" label, in fact any label concerning local politics because the issues are beyond labels.

Never a problem, Ben. I'm just working through some self esteem issues right now and I wanted to work in that Sam piece.

The whole lot of them are brain-dead.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_AAMa_X2dM&feature=player_embedded#!

That was one of the great things about Clinton. You didn't have to feel embarrassed for your country.

That is, until a small matter involving a thong paralyzed the country for like, two years.

Saint Romney, you are in the subliminal national political psyche nativity creche, don't f*** up.