Open Thread

Come on People. Let us know what your are thinking. I know you are out there!

I Voted on Saturday

Open Voting was (and is) available on Saturday mornings from 8am-12pm. I headed down, and got to the Board of Elections by about 10am. I rode the elevator up with 5 other citizens, and stepped out to find a line of another 6-8 ahead of me, waiting to cast their ballot. As I got a view of the room, their were another 10 folks already standing at the voting booths casting their ballots. The BOE staff was working through the line with a great degree of efficiency, making sure all those in line had a clear understanding of the administrivia that accompanied a walk-up absentee ballot submission. The energy and excitement of being involved in the political process was palpable.

Now the even better news. I heard all 5 folks immediately ahead of me in line ask for Democratic ballots.

Bill Cunningham Makes Us All Proud

...to be from Cincinnati. I know it's schtik, but its racist, malicious schtik. And shockingly, John McCain was not aware, nor did he anticipate Cunningham's commentary. Sad.

General Motors Leader: Global Warming is a "Crock"

I guess I look at Bob Lutz's commentary (Lutz is the Vice Chair, responsible for New Product Development at GM) about global warming being a "crock of sh*t" and seem resigned to the fact that the U.S. Auto Industry will continue to trail the rest of the world in product development in line with customer expectations.

From a business standpoint, he has a responsibility to know his market, stay ahead of it, and where necessary, evangelize about his products to align with his most compelling market segments. Perhaps Bob wants to continue to appear to the "global warming is a crock o' sh*t" segment of the market -- and that's fine, if Bob is truly interested in pursuing a (by nearly all accounts) shrinking segment of the market. I know, given what he believes, I'm going to think twice about purchasing an alternative fuel vehicle from GM, quite simply because I'm not sure it's leadership is committed to supporting it long term.

Trade-Off: Lawmakers want Quiet Hybrids to Make More Noise

Not to make light of this, because I think it makes some sense to the visually impaired, but it seems like we're worrying about this issue a bit early in the hybrid "adoption curve".

You Go to War with the Army You Have...

Don Rumsfeld's moved on but his spirit of shorting the troops of the necessary supplies lives on in the stories from our brave men and women serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Obama took some heat from the right for some commentary regarding an undermanned, under-equipped platoon during the debate last night, but his story checks out, according to CNN.

Chabot Shows Flashes of Bipartisanship

In what can likely be termed a timely, and admittedly astute move for Ohio's First Congressional District Representative, Steve Chabot has shown some bipartisanship around the sub-prime mortgage crisis. He continues to maintain a fairly low profile within the district and for that matter in Washington. Will Steve Driehaus put together a message that can unseat Chabot?

All 7 Democrats Get Together in Greenhills

Well, actually, the 8th, former Mayor Ron Otting, couldn't make it. But we've decided to get back together on March 20th, at 7:00pm. Tell your uncommitted friends to be there.

(Kidding about there being only 8 Dems in Greenhills. I think snow kept the other 4 away).

If We Could Only Travel Back in Time

Although I see Kinsley's point, I really don't think the hypothetical he suggests would change anyone's view - at least not anyone who voted for Bush back then.

McCain Response to the Obama Video

Very Funny Stuff - A McCain response to the Obama video

The Good Ol' Days

Atrios pulls a news items out the archives, this one dating to 2003, on the cusp of the invasion. It speaks to Rep. Darrell Issa's(R-CA) efforts to position QualComm as the wireless provider of choice soonafter things settle down in Iraq. For each of these, there are hundreds more stories where BushCo companies profited off the war, that will likely never be told.

Spring Sports Registration in Greenhills

Greenhills Baseball Registration forms are available for Greenhills Knothole T-ball and baseball through local schools and at Riley's, Wright-Patterson Credit Union, Ameristop and the Greenhills post office.

Greenhills Soccer registration is available online, at the Greenhills SAY Soccer website.

Good Speechifying Taken to the Next Level

Worth a look-see from Obama supporters: Updated with working link

Reframing the Discussion

Jamison Foser over at Media Matters does a nice job reviewing the commentary on the Democratic candidate's health plans. Key observation, coming out of the debate when Blitzer keys in on how the Dems will pay for their health care plans:

Indeed, one wonders why debate moderators don't ask the Republican candidates how they will respond to Democratic charges that they have run up massive deficits through grotesque fiscal mismanagement

This is indeed the fundamental question to ask.