Some of the more pro-active Congress critters (current and wannabes) have made noises about a new “Contract With America” ala the 1994 set of promises that breathed life into a moribund Republican Party during the Clinton administration.

Because I’m just one of those really thoughty kind of people, I figured that I’d give my loyal readers an opportunity to develop a new contract between the American people and those they elect to serve them. So let’s combine our collective wisdom and come up with the terms of an agreement that spells out the expectations we have for those who are seeking our vote.

“We the People”, being the party of the first part and all candidates for the United States Senate and House of Representatives (Congress) in 2012 being the parties of the second part, do hereby agree:

“What’s in your wallet?”

The Obama re-election organization has been less than successful in its effort to derail Herman Cain’s campaign. First they tried playing the race card, and saw that effort fall completely flat. Guess they can’t tell the difference between a real black American who grew up in the post-war South and the effeminate, elite, half white, half black product of a sixties Hawaiian, Indonesian, communist, anti-American culture. Fortunately, the American public is more keenly attuned to such subtleties. The race card sure didn’t buy them anything there. Time to put that one back and pull out and try something else.

Now, rumor has it that there is much angst and confusion about the failure of David Axelrod’s attempts to thwart the surging Cain campaign by dragging up a bunch of old, outdated, unsubstantiated, irrelevant charges of sexual harassment from his tenure at the National Restaurant Association. Ann Coulter has a great expose on the whole thing. She explains in detail just how and why the American public isn’t buying the bullpucky the Dems are throwing out there.

Evidently, there’s an expiration date on the Bimbo Card. Who knew?

The Bimbo Card – Not always there when you want it.

H/T to Chrissy’s Site Bites for the custom illustration!

Guest Post by Loki

Mattel has updated their Barbie collection with a new Tattoo Barbie. The doll sports a tattoo and is the newest role model for our children.

Suspecting that they had other new version of Barbie to be released to serve as role models for children I snuck into their secret R&D facility to see if I could find out what versions would be released. After dumpster diving in the front parking lot for an hour or so and collecting blue prints and design documents I was able to reconstruct some of the dolls. What follows is the results of my surreptitious search.

Pothead Barbie
Comes complete with exact copy of her mother’s basement where Barbie has her cramped dark dingy apartment. Comes with accessories including; bong, air mattress on floor, small B&W used TV, bean bag chair and unemployment check. Rumpled hair is standard. Other accessories can be purchased including, empty chip bags, fast food restaurant uniform, diploma from small town college on ‘History of TV’ with minor on ‘Jersey Shore’.

Meth Head Barbie
Comes with glass pipe, short vinyl dress with low cut blouse and stiletto heals. Missing teeth and sores on the face are standard in the accessory makeup kit. This is the thinnest of all Barbies.

OWS Barbie
This is the latest in the Barbie foray into the political world. She comes with a flea infested sleeping bag and a protest sign with Che Guevara’s picture. Accessories sold separately include large garbage can with homemade drum sticks and a body odor spray that smells just like the unwashed at a real OWS rally. Other accessories include positive STD results and prescription drug bottles for treatment. Surprisingly the OWS Barbie bears a strong resemblance to the Pothead Barbie.

Divorcee Barbie
This is the Barbie that Mattel is hoping will be the biggest seller at Christmas. It is also the most expensive of the Barbie line. It comes standard with a divorce degree, support check, Ken’s BMW, Ken’s house, Ken’s speedboat and Ken’s motor home. Accessories include pool boy and Ken’s private plane.

Mattel hopes these new dolls will inspire girls everywhere to emulate the newest Barbies.

It’s not that the idea hasn’t been bubbling around out there, but whenever it’s been brought up in polite society, the caveats and sheepish looks abound. But since our friends over at the Havre Daily Corrector have mentioned it – well, let’s go ahead and pile-on.

You may recall that Governor Schweitzer canned the former director Jim Lynch because Lynch allowed the hiring of his daughter at the Department of Transportation violating the state’s nepotism policy…

I would have to wonder if this whole deal is one big scam to bring attention to the fact that Lynch has filed to run for Governor as a republican. Something just doesn’t smell right in the way Schweitzer and his cronies are attacking ole Lynch. Interestingly Lynch has been a life-long democrat and every political cash donation attributed to his name has been made to only democrats. So why did he file for governor as a Republican? Some would have you believe that it was because he was “mad” at the governor but I have to wonder if Lynch filed on the republican ticket at the bequest of the democrats to muck up the whole republican primary and this whole lynching of Jim Lynch is nothing more than another one of the governor’s big tent sideshows…

Is this Lynch bashing attempting to simply make the republicans comfortable with voting for a former democrat in an attempt to swing the election to one of the less popular candidates they think Democrat Steve Bullock can beat?

I wouldn’t put anything past the devious Schweitzer organization.

So now the topic is officially on the table for discussion:

1. Do you think Lynch’s candidacy is a a nefarious plot by Gov. BS to disrupt the Republican gubernatorial primary in order to improve Bullock’s chances?

2. Do you think Lynch’s claim to be a life-long Republican passes the “smell test”?

3. Do you think there’s any truth to the rumors of a federal investigation into possible misappropriation of funds at MDOT?

4. EXTRA CREDIT: Are you buying into Tim Reardon’s hand-wringing and protests of ignorance about the multiple hiring issues that have occurred over there for the past several years?

Some days you just have to focus on the big question…. But today was one of these days:

From the moment you first learn that you are going to become a parent, you also learn how incredibly precious and fragile life can be and how little control you have over the way things will turn out. Fortunately most of us never have to face that kind of terror as we celebrate the normal ups and downs of life with kids.

One beautiful spring day in May, two and a half years ago, a young Montana couple, Jon and Jessi Bennion, found out just how scary reality can be when their eagerly awaited first child was born unexpectedly at just twenty-three weeks of gestation. Even with all the miracles of modern medicine, the odds for a micro-premie’s survival are frighteningly low.

The story of baby Jack was first shared by his father, Jon, in a series of emails to friends and family in the days following the baby’s birth. I was fortunate to be included in the email chain that heralded the triumphs and shared the traumas that comprised the first months of Jack’s life. Jon is a very talented writer and, like may others, I had been hoping that he would compile those early emails and the subsequent blog posts into a book. The book is now written and ready to be published so the world can be a witness to Jack’s incredible journey from tiny infant in the NICU to delightful toddler:

It was during that night when I learned my first lesson as a father. My role in life had changed substantially – more than when I started kindergarten, learned to drive, graduated from college and law school, and even more than when I got married. There was a miniature human being with my genes that was now totally dependent on me and others for his very life. Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh.
At some point, it became clear to me that I needed to be a father by choosing hope. My son needed a cheering section with me leading the charge, not a scared, despondent dad bent on protecting his own feelings. If Jack ended up succumbing to the complications of his extreme prematurity, I would be crushed. But my own feelings were not important enough to withhold my faith in my son. I would survive somehow. If I couldn’t be my son’s biggest fan, who would be?
Despite feelings of denial, fear, anger, and desperation, I made the choice that hope would overcome any negative feelings about the situation we now faced. Jack needed me – he needed his dad.

I’m here for you, buddy. I will do anything for you. I believe in you.

It’s a Christmas story and an Easter story. It is a story that you can read with equal part smiles and tears because it is a story of faith, of hope, of love – and mostly a story of the indomitable spirit of human life. And even if you know a story sort of like this, you still have to read this one simply because, “You Don’t Know Jack!”