I unsubscribed to John Kerry's mailing list. There's no way around it, what he said was bullshit. What the fuck, dude? You're not running for office, and you don't stand a chance in hell to win in 2008. Give it up.

The thing that worries me the most is the conservative media will just eat this up. And if this is in the headlines for the good part of this week into next...like I said, I'll believe a Dem victory when I see it. Think of all the NBA games that are decided by the multiple fouls, timeouts and the like in the last, oh, 50 seconds or so. It's like that.

Yeeeeeeeeeaaaagaagaggagaggaghhhhhh!

Why do I get the feeling that John Kerry's comment about "staying in school or you might end up in Iraq" is going to come back and haunt the Dems a week before the election?

My position as to whether the Dems take the House, the Senate or both? I'll believe it when I see it. I will admit it's looking as good as it has in a long while, but polls mean nada. Remember how Kerry was supposed to win based on exit polls?

Oh yeah, and let's not forget Iraq. If the Dems win, get ready folks. It's 1998 all over again, except this time about issues that really matter.

Mark my words, if the Dems manage to win either the House, the Senate, or both, you will see investigations into the numerous spikes in gas prices, and I guarantee an Enron-type scandal will be unearthed (or worse). This is precisely what happened in the wake of the California "energy crisis" once Jeffords bolted the GOP and turned the balance of the Senate to the DEMS in May of 2001. As one might recall, the shortages in California began in February of 2001, not a month after Bush's inauguration. Why? In my mind, these folks knew they now had political cover and saw an opportunity to manipulate supply. And that's exactly what they did. And the excuses we hear now about the sudden spike in oil prices were similarly outlined back then. As if energy use suddenly went sky high after January 20, 2001. Note: there were dire predictions for that summer, when people would be using more energy for air conditioners, etc. Didn't happen. Why? Their political cover was gone once the Senate went to the opposition. The crisis was over by June, and Enron's story broke a few months later. Think elections don't have consequences?


The folks in that industry who engaged in the practice of contango can try and cover up their profiteering under the rubric of "trying to stockpile in anticipation of the hurricane season, the peak driving season, China, India, or blah blah blah," but I'm telling you: no prices in any goods go up that fast relative to an otherwise stable economy unless there's some serious playing going on. They were gambling, pure and simple. And, for a time, they made a killing off of it, as now evidenced by stories coming out this week such as this one.

And why do you suppose the prices are going down now? No one will be able to prove collusion with the folks that give them political cover, and the need for things to, um, cool down come November. But I choose to believe the worst case scenario, because if it is not clear by now how evil our President and his Administration, and the right wingers in Congress are, then when will it be? I think (hope) the nation is finally growing tired of the bald faced lies that stream out of the White House like so much spam. I can only hope.

So, Bush concedes potential parallels with Iraq today and Vietnam in '68. And he's spinning it to say that we shouldn't do what happened in '68 and change horses, stay the course, blah blah de blah. There's only one problem with his thinking, or lack of thinking as this case illustrates: Duh, they elected Nixon in '68. Are you now saying they should have kept Johnson? Just because he's from Texas, heh heh.

The Oakland A's are down, but not out. Since I welcomed back baseball again finally in 2002 after swearing it off in 1994, the A's have become my adopted team. Partly it's because I lived in Oakland, and partly it's because I've admired the fact that they can have such a low payroll and still be a contender year in, year out. But I must admit that the clincher was the colors: green and gold, same as my beloved and lately battered and bruised PACK. I'm a simple man with simple needs. After attending game 3 of the ALDS to personally see them advance for the first time since '90, I've since been in a bad mood. K has been a little concerned at how loudly I've been screaming at the tube the past couple of days, and it's made me realize that maybe I am just a little too emotionally invested in this team. I think it represents an emotional investment in the underdogs in all walks of life. America's currently 0-2 in that regard when you look at the last two Presidential terms. So America...if the A's win tonight, get ready for 2008 because a change for the better is coming. No pressure, Rich Harden, no pressure.