Marilyn Musgrave, Chuck Norris in Death Match 2010...

"Something I think most liberals don't understand is exactly how stupid many conservative leaders are" - Matthew Yglesias

Politico reports on Colorado's own Marilyn Musgrave: "The Susan B. Anthony List announced Thursday that former Rep. Marilyn Musgrave (R-Colo.) will head an initiative aimed at ousting members whose abortion voting records are thought to be “out of sync” with their districts.

“Under the new administration and Congress, pro-lifers have constantly been on the defensive,” said Musgrave, who will make the push as executive director for the Susan B. Anthony List, a group that seeks to mobilize women who oppose abortion rights.

“An aggressive, strategic effort to educate pro-life voters early and often is long overdue,” she said. “This is a new day in politics for the pro-life movement. We're going to be assertive, strategic and focused in our efforts to elevate the cause of life at the grass-roots level, where it matters.”

Musgrave, a conservative lightning rod, lost her House seat in the 2008 election. On a conference call with reporters, Musgrave said she intends to employ some of the same tactics her opponents adopted.

"I think it's always wise to emulate success," she said. “We have taken a good look at what works and there's no lack of humility here when we say we know what has worked in the past.”

Neither Musgrave nor Marjorie Dannenfelser, the group’s president, listed any members as initial targets. They declined to offer a fundraising goal for the initiative. Dannenfelser said the group raised a little over $7 million during the 2008 election cycle.

While the group was not yet ready to declare any specific challenges, Musgrave said they will aggressively target vulnerable lawmakers who are out of sync with the abortion views of their district.

“We’re going to say very clearly that these votes do have consequences, and we will use every form of medium to defeat these people,” she said." It's pretty clear that the Susan B anthony List is small potatoes for a lobbying group. The $7 million should just about cover Ms Musgrave's fees... It's clear that they believe they are getting a dirty, in-fighting, attack weasel for their money. I'm curious, does she think that this will get her back on track to an elected office, or does she think she's the next Kristi Burton?

Steve Benen, the Political animal comments: "If you missed last night's episode of Sean Hannity's Fox News show, you missed a fascinating "discussion" between Hannity, Rep. John Shadegg (R-Ariz.) and Sen. David Vitter (R-La.). As the Fox News personality explained, Shadegg and Vitter have come up with a "stimulus" plan that costs "zero dollars," and "promises to create two million new jobs without any of your money."

Shadegg explained this visionary approach to economic growth:

"With unemployment rates going up how can we produce American jobs? And the answer is we have had a non-energy policy in this country for a very long time. The reality is we are giving jobs to oil fieldworkers and natural gas fieldworkers in Russia and Saudi Arabia and Venezuela, when we should be putting those people to work here in the United States.

"Now Senator Vitter and I have drafted a bill that says let's put Americans to work, let's pursue the fight we had last summer of an all of the above energy strategy, let's clear the bureaucracy out of the way, and let's move forward with American jobs, producing American energy.... And we can also reduce the absurd regulations that go way too far."

And from there, the three of them spent the rest of the interview trying to undermine confidence in the economy, bashing Nancy Pelosi, and questioning the concept of economic stimulus.

It was one of those odd interviews in which members of Congress present a "plan" without actually talking about -- or even hearing any questions on -- what the "plan" is." I really hope that this is a joke, along with only tax cuts to stimulate the economy, because otherwise, these kids have been sniffing glue, another favorite teenage past-time. Also, the way that they phrased their plan, it seems like they want to bring the workers from Russia, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela and put them to work in Texas and Alaska. So much for being anti-immigration...

Have I dissed Texas before? My sister lived there for many years, and it has had a bad reputation for housing many rip off artists, scammers, and spammers, along with the state of Florida. When I worked for an ISP, we automatically blocked all e-mail that came from there.

Again, Political Animal reports: "Actor Chuck Norris has his eyes on the presidency, but not the White House. Norris wrote that he would be interested in becoming the president of Texas, if the state were ever to secede from the Union.

"I may run for president of Texas," Norris wrote Monday in a column posted at WorldNetDaily. "That need may be a reality sooner than we think. If not me, someone someday may again be running for president of the Lone Star state, if the state of the union continues to turn into the enemy of the state."

The actor claimed "thousands of cell groups will be united around the country in solidarity over the concerns for our nation" and said that if states decide to secede from the union, that Texas would lead the way.

"Anyone who has been around Texas for any length of time knows exactly what we'd do if the going got rough in America," Norris wrote." No comments need be added, other than its pretty obvious that the guy has been kicked in the head a few too many times... My own suggestion is that Chuck Norris is forming the Wax Off Wing of the GOP...


To celebrate, here are some vintage jokes on the price of gasoline.

"The average national price of a gallon of gas hit an all-time record high of $3.15 this week. Meaning that wherever you're going this summer, it might be cheaper to mail your car." --Amy Poehler

"Oil has fallen to $60 a barrel. Experts predict it will continue to fall until exactly one minute after the polls close on November 7th." --Jay Leno

"The Federal Trade Commission has ruled that oil companies are not gouging customers. They say, technically, they're screwing customers." --David Letterman

"Republicans in Congress are demanding that President Bush investigate whether oil companies are now gouging consumers on these gas prices. That's a good idea, Republicans asking Republicans to investigate other Republicans. And you know who they're going to blame? The Democrats." --Jay Leno

"Republicans in Congress are now demanding that President Bush investigate whether the oil companies are engaged in price gouging. Putting the White House in charge of investigating oil companies. That's like putting Dick Cheney in charge of gun safety." --Jay Leno

"President Bush said this week to help with gas prices he will temporarily ease environmental regulations. Great. Not only will you not be able to drive, you won't be able to breathe either." --Jay Leno

"President Bush announced his plan to increase the number of barrels (of oil) produced. You hear his plan? He wants to make smaller barrels." --Jay Leno

"I was watching that movie Mad Max, you know that movie where gas is so precious that people are killing each other for a few gallons. It was set in the future -- I believe it was August." --Jay Leno

"To counteract all the bad publicity they've been getting, the oil companies plan to introduce full-page ads explaining where your gas dollar goes. Before you explain that, explain where you get gas for a dollar. There's no such thing as a gas dollar. It's your gas five dollar." --Jay Leno

"President Bush said I wish I could wave a magic wand and lower gas prices. And then he said I wish I could wave a magic wand and bring the troops home. And he said I wish I could wave a magic wand and fix health care. And I was thinking this guy waves his wand more than Clinton." --David Letterman

"President Bush spoke with the Amish. He didn't want to, but it was the only group he could find that wasn't upset about the high price of gas." —Jay Leno

"Here in California gas prices have gone up to more than $2 a gallon. So not only didn’t we find any weapons of mass destruction in Iraq…apparently we didn't find any oil there either. Didn't we win the war? I thought that gas would be free now." —Jay Leno

"Gas prices have risen again. Prices are so bad here in L.A. that guys in Beverly Hills are hiring hookers to siphon gas out of other people's cars." --Jay Leno

"Gas prices at an all-time high here in California. Like, $3.30, in Malibu. Gas is so expensive, women in Beverly Hills now can't afford to run over their cheating husbands with their Mercedes anymore." --Jay Leno