Dennis Hastert Political Stunt, Hydrogen-Fueled Cars

AP reports:

House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Ill., center, gets out of a Hydrogen Alternative Fueled automobile, left, as he prepares to board his SUV, which uses gasoline, after holding a new conference at a local gas station in Washington, Thursday, April 27, 2006 to discuss the recent rise in gas prices. Hastert and other members of Congress drove off in the Hydrogen-Fueled cars only to switch to their official cars to drive back the few block back to the U.S. Capitol.

The latest political exploits by the corrupted Republican Party.

Cowardly Republican President..

.... really is not a bigot, but is afraid to support citizenship for illegal immigrants because of opposition among conservative House Republicans.

Or, article is outright lie and President does agree with racist element within his political party.

A day without Mexicans in Chicago

What will happen if Conservatives, Racist, Minute Men and the rest wet dream ever comes true?

- When you wake up in the morning think twice about indulging in the luxury of someone else making your coffee and cooking your breakfast at a neighborhood cafe or restaurant. Almost all kitchen help, food-prep workers and cooks in Chicago are Mexican.

- If any of you reading this are business travelers staying in Chicago for a couple of days, you had better get used to the idea of making your own bed Thursday morning; the hotel housekeeping staff is almost entirely immigrant and largely Mexican.

- You'll have a slow day if you sell meat or poultry; close to 100 percent of Chicago's packing-house cutters and meat packers are Mexican.

- On construction crews the "Mexican work" will have to be done by other guys, since there will be a severe shortage of drywallers and roofers.

- City landscaping crews engaged in the ongoing beautification of Chicago parks, parkways and public spaces will need to pull a few weeds today; no trees or shrubbery will be on hand since the suburban nursery workers who dig, burlap-wrap and load trees and shrubbery for planting are, yes, you've guessed it, Mexican.

- And if you think you deserve a break tonight to think over your position on "the Mexican issue" and eat Japanese, you may experience a bit of a wait for your food since nearly a third of all Chicago sushi chefs are Mexican.

And that just in Chicago.

Why does a lobbyist need a "hospitality suite with several bedrooms"?

Who uses those bedrooms and for what?

The Wall Street Journal confirms federal prosecutors are investigating whether two contractors supplied Cunningham "with prostitutes and free use of a limousine and hotel suites, pursuing evidence that could broaden their long-running inquiry."

The sudden hush you hear on Capitol Hill is because "investigators are focusing on whether any other members of Congress, or their staffs, may also have used the same free services... Agents have fanned out across Washington, interviewing women from escort services, potential witnesses and others who may have been involved in the arrangement."

Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham is the California Republican who pledged guilty to bribery charges. How many other pals of Randall "Duke" Cunningham lived the high life of hotel suites, limos and prostitutes?

Portrait of a Young Racist: Republican Senator George Allen

.. And a future Republican candidate for President.

Why would a young man with such a sensitive understanding of Southern racial conflict and no Southern heritage wear a Confederate flag in his formal yearbook photo?

Go read rest of Ryan Lizza's new profile of George Allen for this rambling the answer.

How Would you Spend your $100 Gas Rebate Check?

There a dilemma for Republican politicians in the upcoming elections, soaring gas prices.

Anger over gas prices is gaining traction in many midterm races around the nation as Democrats attack Republicans for being too close to oil companies.

Republicans politicians need a simple solution, give the people a new One Hundred dollar bill.

Senate Republicans advocate sending $100 rebate checks to millions of taxpayers, and a Democrat is leading the campaign for a 60-day gasoline tax holiday.

Either way, it seems no one in Congress wants to be without a plan, however symbolic, to attack the election-year spike in gasoline prices.

A vote is possible as early as this week on the Senate GOP approach, which calls for $100 rebate checks for taxpayers to cushion the impact of higher gasoline prices. The measure seems unlikely to prevail, at least initially, since it includes a highly controversial proposal to open a portion of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling.

There is always a catch, you only get the One Hundred dollar bill if you let our friends the oil companies drill for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Disgusting, Republican can never just do one thing for the people without giving a big giveaway to their donors.

How would I spend my $100 gas rebate check?

Give it to a politician who is not bankrolled by oil companies.
Give it to a politician who will raise the minimum wage.
Give it to a politician who will not drill in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Give it to a politician who doesn’t have a reckless foreign policy.
Give it to a politician who will not vote for $14.5 billion in tax breaks for oil companies.
Give it to a politician who increase fuel-efficiency standards for car companies.
Give it to a Democrat.

Or maybe, I will buy some gas.

One Hundred dollar bill gas rebate check doesn’t cover five plus years of failed policies by a Republican controlled Government.

Tony Snow, White House Press Secretary

Tony Snow has new job title but the same responsibilities to spin latest Conservative Republican talking points to the public. But, can he spin this own words in favor of this new Republican boss?

ON BUSH’S ENERGY POLICY: “This year’s presidential clunkers included an energy policy filled with stuff that even Jimmy Carter abandoned…It is as if some huckster got the chief executive’s ear and told him about the can’t-miss investment of the future: cellulose fermentation. Impressed, the president wants everybody to invest. It’s like a chain letter, only compulsory.” [Townhall.com, 2/3/06]

ON BUSH’S MEDICARE AND EDUCATION POLICIES: “Bill, how does the president persuade conservatives in his own party that he’s one of them, given what we’ve seen with spending? You’ve seen Medicare, you’ve seen an education bill. These are things, I dare say, that if they’d been done under Bill Clinton, Republicans would have been howling.” [Fox News Sunday, 11/30/03]

ON RACIAL INEQUALITY: “Those eager to exploit differences between blacks and whites in America ignore the fact that the differences have all but vanished.” [Townhall, 1/20/06]

ON PROGRESSIVE TAXATION: “Furthermore, progressive taxation undermines the notion of shared citizenship…The federal law thus treats economic success the same way it treats embezzlement or murder — as a forbidden activity to be punished with increasingly harsh sanctions.” [Townhall.com, 3/2/01]

ON THE RULE OF LAW: “The president, in his responsibilities as commander in chief, sometimes has to do things that may or may not comport with the law…[T]he argument has always been that the constitutional obligation to serve as commander in chief sometimes pushes aside contemporary laws. [O’Reilly Factor, 1/20/06]

ON HIGH GAS PRICES: “Why is that per gallon crude oil price so high? Because people are jittery. You’ve got a guy in Iran saying we’re going to build a nuclear weapon. You’ve got people complaining about Donald Rumsfeld and the Pentagon. There are jitters about the stability of the Middle East.” [O’Reilly Factor, 4/18/06]

ON THE VALERIE PLAME INVESTIGATION: “Now, it turns out that [special counsel] Peter (sic: Patrick) Fitzgerald doesn’t — can’t even identify any harm. She wasn’t a covert agent. She wasn’t compromised. As a result, what you’re doing is possibly sending a senior administration official off about a faulty memory over something that wasn’t a crime.” [O’Reilly Factor, 2/3/06]

ON RELIGIOUS CONSERVATIVES: “Conservative columnist Tony Snow criticized [former Sen. Robert] Smith and other ‘Taliban Republicans’ for their rigid views. ‘The Taliban Republicans take a dark view of human nature,’ Snow wrote. ‘They consider the rest of us a bunch of potential dupes and regard society as a stew of corrupting influences.’” [Church & State, 9/99]

Tell me how you really feel Tony.

– Bush has “lost control of the federal budget and cannot resist the temptation to stop raiding the public fisc.” [3/17/06]

– “George W. Bush and his colleagues have become not merely the custodians of the largest government in the history of humankind, but also exponents of its vigorous expansion.” [3/17/06]

– “President Bush distilled the essence of his presidency in this year’s State of the Union Address: brilliant foreign policy and listless domestic policy.” [2/3/06]

– “George Bush has become something of an embarrassment.” [11/11/05]

– Bush “has a habit of singing from the Political Correctness hymnal.” [10/7/05]

– “No president has looked this impotent this long when it comes to defending presidential powers and prerogatives.” [9/30/05]

– Bush “has given the impression that [he] is more eager to please than lead, and that political opponents can get their way if they simply dig in their heels and behave like petulant trust-fund brats, demanding money and favor — now!” [9/30/05]

– “When it comes to federal spending, George W. Bush is the boy who can’t say no. In each of his three years at the helm, the president has warned Congress to restrain its spending appetites, but so far nobody has pushed away from the table mainly because the president doesn’t seem to mean what he says.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]

– “The president doesn’t seem to give a rip about spending restraint.” [The Detroit News, 12/28/03]

– “Bush, for all his personal appeal, ultimately bolstered his detractors’ claims that he didn’t have the drive and work ethic to succeed.” [11/16/00]

– “Little in the character of demeanor of Al Gore or George Bush makes us say to ourselves: Now, this man is truly special! Little in our present peace and prosperity impels us to say: Give us a great man!” [8/25/00]

– “George W. Bush, meanwhile, talks of a pillowy America, full of niceness and goodwill. Bush has inherited his mother’s attractive feistiness, but he also got his father’s syntax. At one point last week, he stunned a friendly audience by barking out absurd and inappropriate words, like a soul tortured with Tourette’s.” [8/25/00]

– “He recently tried to dazzle reporters by discussing the vagaries of Congressional Budget Office economic forecasts, but his recitation of numbers proved so bewildering that not even his aides could produce a comprehensible translation. The English Language has become a minefield for the man, whose malaprops make him the political heir not of Ronald Reagan, but Norm Crosby.” [8/25/00]

– “On the policy side, he has become a classical dime-store Democrat. He gladly will shovel money into programs that enjoy undeserved prestige, such as Head Start. He seems to consider it mean-spirited to shut down programs that rip-off taxpayers and mislead supposed beneficiaries.” [8/25/00]

President Bush has already begun the spin for Tony Snow.

He’s not afraid to express his own opinions. For those of you who’ve read his columns and listened to his radio show, he sometimes has disagreed with me. I asked him about those comments, and he said, “You should have heard what I said about the other guy.”

I guess previous statements by Tony Snow is no longer Operative.

Is Singing The Star-Spangled Banner In Spanish Offensive to You?

“The Star-Spangled Banner” was officially made the national anthem by Congress in 1931.

O say, can you see, by the dawn's early light,
What so proudly we hail'd at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watch'd, were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof thro' the night that our flag was still there.
O say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

A group of Hispanic musicians are planning to record a Spanish-language pop version of "The Star-Spangled Banner"

In coming days, producers plan to send the single to Spanish-language radio stations in Chicago and nationwide. The proceeds from "Nuestro Himno," or "Our Anthem," will benefit groups organizing massive marches nationwide in support of legalizing illegal immigrants.

By embracing a song that symbolizes American values, immigrants hope to reinforce the message that their desire is to be part of this country, regardless of legal status. [..]

"In our countries, national anthems are a beautiful expression of who we are," said Juan Carlos Ruiz, general coordinator of the Washington-based National Capital Immigration Coalition. "Our immigrant communities want to be a part of this country. We want the American dream."

Music is a big part of the Hispanic culture. Singing the American National Anthem in Spanish, hearing those words in their native tongue will bring more significance to the Anthem. Many Hispanics do to the fact they do know English yet, would delighted to hear the message of the Anthem on poplar Spanish-language radio stations. The message of Anthem will reach countless number of people.

Conservative see a grave threat of looming of ‘their’ National Anthem being disgrace by Hispanics singing the song in Spanish.

But conservative columnists and groups that oppose illegal immigration say the song is a symbolic false note. For them, the project symbolizes a frightening prospect: that Hispanic immigrants do not want to assimilate but want to remake America on their terms. [..]

Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin, in decrying the project, wrote: "Whose anthem, whose flag, whose country is it anyway?" Listeners of conservative radio shows and groups that oppose illegal immigration have seized on the issue, too, and let the studio know.

On the popular Free Republic conservative blog, one reader lamented: "Welcome to the United States of Mexico." Another added: "That makes me sick. Real Americans speak English." A reader of the Immigration Watchdog blog wondered: "'Our Anthem'? My freaking head is about to explode!"

Typical, outrage from American right. Hatred of anything Hispanic now has a home in conservative circles and among American population. I would also like the Hispanic musicians to sing the Anthem in English with a Latin favor, but this too will bring outrage to the general public who think they only have the right to express their love to America and it’s values. The debate of immigration is not about economic and security anymore. It is a debate of race.

Schwarzenegger told reporters about the threats against Villaraigosa and Bustamante during a news conference in his office Monday.

Other elected officials of Mexican heritage have also received threats, Schwarzenegger said, but he did not name them.

Bustamante spokesman Steve Green said the lieutenant governor appeared at some immigration rallies with Villaraigosa in March and received "nasty e-mails" afterward. The death threat - "The only good Mexican is a dead Mexican" - came about three weeks ago on a postcard, he said.

White politicians who support a levelheaded immigration policy are not getting death threats. ‘Only Good Mexican is a Dead Mexican’ rhetoric has framed the debate. Their is no longer and difference between illegal immigrant who only law they broke is crossing in to American to work for a better life and criminals who sell drugs, smugglers, gang members who cause destruction in Hispanic communities in the minds of Conservatives. They are all the same, it was never about sound policy to them. It about hatred of anything Hispanic. Taking offensive of National Anthem sung in Spanish in the latest example of their hate. Yes, I’m Hispanic.

Again, is singing the Star-Spangled Banner in Spanish offensive to you?

No.

OH: Strickland Up & Brown In Dead Heat

Democratic Congressman Ted Strickland keeps on expanding his lead over two likely Republican opponents in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll.

Strickland leads Republican frontrunner Ken Blackwell, 52% to 35%. In March he led Secretary of State Blackwell 50% to 40%. Strickland now leads Republican Attorney General Jim Petro 51% to 31%. Last month his lead was 47% to 34%. [..]

So far this year, our polling has shown no major hiccups for Strickland. In January, he was ahead of Blackwell and Petro by four and five points. Since then, Strickland has steadily gained ground since then against both potential competitors.

Ultra Conservative Secretary of State Ken Blackwell holds 46% to 34% over Jim Petro in Republican primary for Governor according to SurveyUSA poll. Ted Strickland has overall money advantage heading into the general election with two Republicans in a heated and expensive primary battle.

Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown is locked up dead heat versus Republican Senator Mike DeWine in the latest Rasmussen Reports poll.

Ohio Senate race shows Republican Senator Mike DeWine leading Democratic Congressman Sherrod Brown 43% to 41%. Five percent (5%) say they would vote for someone else and 11% are not sure.

Given the poll's 4.5 percentage point margin of error, that's practically identical to what we saw in March, when DeWine led 45% to 42%.

Sherrod Brown hits on economic themes on the campaign trail.

U.S. Rep. Sherrod Brown unveiled a sprawling economic platform for his U.S. Senate bid yesterday, blending trade restrictions, small business support, prescription-drug costs, and college affordability, and vowing to make Ohio "the Silicon Valley for alternative energy development." [..]

His speech merged several familiar Brown campaign themes, including a call to revamp international trade pacts to protect American workers, a proclamation that manufacturing will "rebuild this state," and digs at pharmaceutical companies, Wall Street, cheap labor in China, and President Bush.

"For too long, we have been told that our manufacturing base is a lost cause," Mr. Brown said, adding a moment later: "We've been led to believe that our future is no longer in our hands. Well I don't buy that, and neither do Ohio families."

Sherrod Brown and Ted Strickland are echoing same economic talking points.

Several of Mr. Brown's lines echoed another Democrat running statewide: U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland (D., Lisbon), the party's front-runner for governor.

Mr. Brown said to expect more of that: "Congressman Strickland and I think a lot alike about this state." In a phone interview, Mr. Strickland agreed: "Our campaigns will complement each other," he said.

Unpopular Ohio Governor Bob Taft and President Bush will drag down the whole Republican ticket in Ohio without being on the ballot. Sherrod Brown, Ted Strickland and the other Democrats running for office in Ohio should be working together to insure big Democrat victory in 2006. Blackwell, DeWine can not run away from the Republican party and it’s failed polices and corruption.

Running Again, Democrat John Kerry

Senator John Kerry is in favor of stats quo of keeping New Hampshire first in the Democratic Presidential primary system which benefited him so well in 2004.

RUNNING for President as the Democratic Party’s nominee in 2004 was one of the proudest experiences of my life. But I fear that what my party is considering doing to the process by which we pick a nominee is harming our party by diminishing New Hampshire’s unique first-in-the-nation role.

I support Iowa and New Hampshire’s first-in-the nation status in our Presidential nominating process. The special role that Iowa and New Hampshire play in Presidential politics has strengthened our democracy by insuring that citizens at the grassroots engage directly with candidates for the Presidency. We should preserve the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary in their traditional forms.

Basically, John Kerry is running in 2008 and does not want to mess up this chances of getting re-nominated again. So, he is once again sucking up to Iowa and New Hampshire. Very principled move, Senator. Iowa and New Hampshire should not have a monopoly on choosing Presidential Candidates. The system is broke, and who cares if the people in Iowa and New Hampshire get their feeling hurt by selecting a new state to go first.

IL-Gov: Blagojevich Major Threat Fellow Democrats?

In the new Rasmussen Reports polling has Republican State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka now leading Democratic Governor Rod R. Blagojevich 44% to 38%. The poll was conducted a day after former Republican Governor George Ryan's conviction on corruption charges.

Governor Blagojevich is clearly in a vulnerable position for an incumbent. He has yet to rise above 42% support, let alone 50%, when pitted against Topinka, and enjoys only 64% support from fellow Democrats.

Only 43% of likely voters view the incumbent favorably; 57% disapprove. Topinka is viewed favorably by 58%, unfavorably by 39%.

However, opinions on both candidates are fairly soft. Just 17% have a "very favorable" opinion of Topinka while 15% have a "very unfavorable" opinion."

For the Governor, 14% have a "very favorable" opinion and 29% hold a "very unfavorable" opinion.

With little bit over six month before general election those polling numbers for Rod Blagojevich is not impossible to overcome. Luckily, Blagojevich has a large campaign war chest and is running in 2006 rather than 2004 in a increasingly blue state with all indications pointing towards a down election year for Republicans. Even with all of those advantages, the biggest threat for Blagojevich is fellow Democrats not supporting his reelection bid. If Blagojevich does not increase this support amongst the Democratic base Republican Topinka might have enough support across Illinois to pull out a victory.

Blagojevich came out early with campaign ads to shore up this base and to define Republican State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka as a Republican who is out of touch with Illinois values not as the moderate seeking a centrist path. Republican Topinka with ties George Ryan and her ultra conservative running mate Joe Birkett might make enough Democrats cast their votes for the lesser of two evils they know rather for the lesser than two evils they don’t know. Politics at it‘s worst, but it works.

IL GOP used Anonymous Robocall to Attack Dems ..

...which is illegal.

Illinois campaign law requires that election campaign ads such as robocalls that target specific politicians must identify the source, which mean attack ads can not be anonymous. The Illinois Republican party defended breaking campaign laws by claiming they did not break campaign laws only after they got caught - conservative logic at its best.

An Illinois Republican leader insisted Tuesday that the party's anonymous, automated phone campaign assailing Democratic legislators was about policy, not politics, and so isn't covered by a law prohibiting anonymous political attacks.

If it was about policy why use anonymous robocalls?

Democratic House members said their constituents were getting prerecorded phone calls at home, in which a voice would allege that the legislator was cutting state pensions and veterans' funds. The recording would implore the listener to tell the legislator to oppose the budget practices of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat.

The calls didn't identify who they were from. After initial denials, Republican House officials last week acknowledged they were behind the phone campaign. They said the program, which cost "less than $10,000" in party funds, was designed to put pressure on Democrats to stop backing what Republicans see as dangerous budget maneuvers by the Blagojevich administration.

House Minority Leader Tom Cross claims, “"It was advocacy, not electioneering,". This is the text of one of the robocalls.

"This is a public pension alert. Your pension may be in jeopardy. Your state representative, Naomi Jakobsson, supports diverting over $1.1 billion in payments to your pension and instead wants to spend them on frivolous pork projects throughout the state. Illinois currently has the worst-funded pension system in the nation, and by voting for this budget, your representative, Naomi Jakobsson, would make it worse. Call Representative Jakobsson's office at 373-5000 and tell her to fully fund our pension system."

At least 13 House Democrat were targeted by Republicans anonymous robocalls. Attorney General Lisa Madigan's office is investigating the issue.

During an election year claiming Democrats are cutting state pensions and veterans' funds is purely political. The robocalls were paid out of a Republican party funds not by policy advocacy group, but by political party. Maintain it was advocacy, not politics is an assault on the intelligence of people who received the anonymous robocalls.

Rep. Murtha speaks the Truth, Again

Replacing Secretary Donald Rumsfeld with an other Conservative Republican who is only loyal to President Bush rather than to the American people, will not change situation on the ground in Iraq and policy coming out of Republican White House.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha is one of a few Democrats willing to speak the truth to power.

U.S. Rep. John Murtha, continuing his criticism of President Bush's handling of the Iraq war, said today it would take more than Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's resignation to restore Bush's credibility in the Middle East and with the American public.

The only way Bush can show he is ready to seriously change direction and pursue a diplomatic solution to the war is if he makes "substantial" changes in his administration, Murtha told about 100 people attending a luncheon sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh at the DoubleTree Hotel, Downtown.

"Nobody can believe these guys anymore," Murtha, D-Johnstown, told reporters after his speech, in which he listed the reasons he believes the Bush administration has "mishandled, mischaracterized and misrepresented" the planning and management of the war. [..]

Unless "we replace the people responsible for the failed plan" the U.S. will not be able to get the international help and cooperation it needs, Murtha said during his half-hour speech. He also again criticized Rumsfeld, saying he and Bush "were wrong when it came to Iraq" but "won't admit it."

Indeed, nobody believes these guys anymore. Democrats need to make the case the people responsible for failed plans are all Republicans. If you want a change, vote Democratic in 2006 and 2008.

"We're at war" Republicans cut equipment funding for Troops

The Republican led-Congress at work.

A Senate measure to fund the war in Iraq would chop money for troops' night vision equipment and new battle vehicles but add $230 million for a tilt-rotor aircraft that has already cost $18 billion and is still facing safety questions....To pay for the Ospreys, the Senate Appropriations Committee - guided by the Corps - cut into funding for night vision goggles, equipment for destroying mines and explosives, fire suppression systems for light armored vehicles and new vehicles that can be transported into battle inside the V-22.

This is the latest example on how Conservative ideology is making Troops and the American people less safe in Iraq and at home.

(Via AMERICblog)

What does a Republican VP Cheney Dream of?

.... While he naps.

War with Iran, North Korea? More Tax cuts for his wealthy friends? Dictatorship, Totalitarianism, Tyranny, Absolute rule and Repression .... just to name a few things.

IL-Gov: Blagojevich Comes Out With a Left Hook

Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich with more than six month before the November general election takes to the airwaves to make this case against Republican Judy Baar Topinka.

Governor Rod Blagojevich is digging away at Judy Baar Topinka's position on assault weapons and the state's minimum wage in TV commercials.

Relatives of gun violence victims appeared at a Blagojevich campaign event Thursday to unveil the new ads.

One ad highlights his GOP rival's opposition to an assault weapons ban. Topinka has said such weapons are hard to define, and the ad features video of her saying that a rolling pin could be considered such a weapon.

Another ad showcases Topinka's reference to Blagojevich's proposed minimum wage increase as a giveaway program.

Judy Baar Topinka’s running mate, lieutenant governor candidate Republican Joe Birkett answers back with typical Conservative talking points of Democratic negativity and of minimum wage hurting small businesses.

Blagojevich's use of "negative" campaign ads so early in the race was a "symptom of a campaign that's in trouble."

Birkett said he and Topinka think that increasing the minimum wage will hurt small businesses and run more jobs out of the state, a move that would hurt working families more than keeping the minimum wage at current levels.

Birkett, the DuPage County state's attorney, also said that if Blagojevich were truly serious about an assault weapons ban, he would have gotten it passed by now in the Democratic-controlled General Assembly.

Illinois Republicans Judy Baar Topinka and Joe Birkett are screaming about Democratic “negative” campaign ads while RNC is in full attack mode. The early campaign ads by Democratic Rod Blagojevich use Republican Judy Baar Topinka own words while RNC is using lies in there attack ads. Now, who is really the negative one Joe Birkett?

Cubs' Wrist-Case Scenario

Derrek Lee Out.

The Cubs likely will be without reigning National League batting champion Derrek Lee for the next two to three months because of two fractures in his right wrist.

The team wouldn't estimate Thursday how long Lee might be sidelined, saying only that he will be in a cast for as long as six weeks, including three weeks in a strong immobilizing cast that will extend to his elbow.

Lee fractured his distal radial bone and distal ulna Wednesday night in a collision at first base with the Los Angeles Dodgers' Rafael Furcal. Already trying to survive until pitchers Kerry Wood, Mark Prior and Wade Miller return from shoulder rehabs, the Cubs (9-5) will have a difficult time overcoming the loss of Lee.

This team was off to a promising start without Prior and Wood. Now, this happens. Why was I born a Cubs fan?