stuck here in Indiana. The Democratic Party here had held the line on a lot of things until about 2010 and between 2010 and 2012, the Republicans now have quorum-proof majorities in the Indiana Legislature and have held the Governor's mansions for 3 consecutive elections now. While I didn't really like Daniels, I *really* don't like having Mike Pence for Governor. Amazingly, he nearly lost to a fairly unknown Democrat last year but he still won and we'll have to put up with him for at least 4 years. Where I live (Indy) is fairly progressive and we even got a LGBT non-discrimination ordinance passed awhile back but we lost the Mayor's office a couple of elections ago and we lost our majority on the City-County Council due to the Republican-controlled Legislature eliminating some of the at-large positions, which included mainly Democrats. The one bright shining exception to Republican hegemony was the election of State Superintendent Glenda Ritz this past election but then the Republican-controlled Legislature turned around reduced her powers and gave some of them to the Governor, who happens to be Republican. The Republicans have been working on pro-corporate, "right-to-work", anti-abortion, anti-Planned Parenthood legislation since 2011 (though the PP law, thankfully, got struck down in the courts) and we're teed up for a huge battle over anti-marriage equality amendment next session (presumably, which is likely to get ugly (it has been passed once, it has to be passed by another legislative session and then put on the ballot for referendum).

Support group for "Red State" Duers? Great idea!

because if they weren't so easily distracted all the time, they might have to take stock of their lives and situations and wonder why everything is so crappy and we can't have "nice things" like in every other civilized country. As long as Fox News can pin all of their problems on the tail (of the Donkey), then they won't notice the Elephant's trunk reaching into their back pockets to grab their wallets, trashing everything, and then leaving a huge steaming pile behind when they're through.


Nobody I know has spent much time talking about any of these "scandals" (to the extent they even know they exist) let alone calling for his impeachment. The only people whom eat this sort of thing up is the GOP's right-wing base. It's like freakin' catnip to them or something.....

Though, in all fairness, it was really only the first half that was mediocre to subpar quality (Telepath colony storyline). Once it moved on to the Londo/Centauri War arc mid-season and then on to the series finale it redeemed itself. Though, honestly, had the show ended at the end of the fourth season, it would've been near-perfect as JMS tied all of the plotlines (Shadow War, Minbari Civil War, Earth Civil War) up well and said all he needed to say. After the first season (which included a lot of necessary set-up for future seasons), the show was one of the most consistently entertaining and engaging shows I've had the pleasure of watching.

I wouldn't say that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine "jumped the shark" in the traditional sense but there seemed to be a lot of "filler" in Seasons 6 & 7 that probably could've been trimmed down to make room for some more Dominion War/post-Dominion War storylines (i.e. Bajor joining the Federation, the change in the command structure of DS9). That being said, I loved "The Final Chapter" and how it wrapped up the war/series. I just wish that we hadn't had to wade through so many (mostly) mediocre episodes after the beginning of Seasons 6 & 7 to get to the good stuff. I felt like after Season 5, the Dominion War should've really been the main focus yet after DS9 was retaken a few episodes into Season 6, everything war-related suddenly slowed down to a crawl again and didn't really pick back up until the end of Season 6 and the beginning of Season 7.

I agree with you about Buffy. I didn't really like Seasons 6 or 7 much though Season 6 felt more like itself than the seventh season did, albeit much darker and depressing. The seventh season just seemed really..........uneven and jumbled.

Disagree about Angel Season 5. I kind of liked the idea of Angel & co. joining Wolfram & Hart and loved the series finale (Power Play/Not Fade Away) though I wish that it could've had another season or mini-series to provide a more proper conclusion to the end of Season 5 but, overall, I thought that it was always a pretty well-written show.

LGBT rights in general?

Other than the fact that they he has the legal authority to do so per the Legislature, I don't understand how the Governor can simply appoint individuals to replace/supplant the democratically elected representatives in a given locality. It seems rather extraordinary and dictatorial-like.

it's about getting a bill passed. Admittedly, not a perfect one but it could lead to an improved situation for a lot of people in the long-term. I didn't think that "kill the bill" was a good strategy with health care reform and it's not a good one for immigration reform either, regardless of who is helping with it. If we're worried about politics, a win on this looks really good for President Obama and Democrats as well. What does it matter if Rubio gets to share a little credit on it or not (though I've had the feeling that he's been groping for an escape hatch from the start).

than they were for him for pretty much all of 2011 after the Dems got wiped out of the House and replaced with a bunch of anarchic teabaggers

He will bounce back after while IMHO. I'm not planning on worrying too much until the Republicans' approval gets close to being higher than his and/or Democrats' approval rating.

It has been weird watching so many otherwise thoughtful and intelligent people blaming and piling on President Obama for things not happening- as though he is virtually a dictator- ever since he was elected. I guess it's easier and/or more convenient to blame President Obama for the SEVERE and, I would say, unprecedented intransigence and obstructionism of the Republicans in Congress? Or blame him for not simply signing an Executive Order that only lasts as long as his term in office instead of pushing for solid and long-term change in Congress. The news media, instead of calling out the Republicans for not being willing to work with President Obama, stupidly always makes the story about why isn't President Obama calling Republicans and having them over for dinner, golf, cocktails, beer, etc. Unfortunately, even people like Senator Warren seems to have gotten sucked into this mentality as well. She is in the Senate. She has some power to push this issue.

Plus, like sharks, they seem to smell blood in the water and probably think that now is as good of a time as any to strike at President Obama ("hey, let's see how far down we can drag his approval ratings!"

Most community organizers do tons more work- and more important work IMHO- and whom take on bigger responsibilities than a failed VP candidate (who did more than John McCain and Barack Obama combined to sink their ticket) and 1/2 term Governor from Alaska. Pretty much everything that comes out of her mouth- to the extent that you can understand most of her "word salads"- is meant to insult, offend, and demean people whose only "sin" is to not believe the same way she does. I had hoped, after the Giffords shooting and the kerfuffle over her "blood libel" comment, we were finally rid of her. Guess not.......yet.