This past Saturday I was invited to attend a "Meet The Bloggers" session with Betty Sutton at Cafe Momus in Akron. Betty Sutton is a candidate running for Sherrod Brown's open seat in Ohio's 13th Congressional District. She is one of at least 6 Democrats who will be trying to win the primary in my congressional district. As you can see from the picture I took, the session is recorded. Participants included bloggers Redhorse, Scott Bakalar, McKee Stewart, Scott Piepho from the 13th District. George Nemeth and Tim Ferris came down from Cleveland. I hadn't met any of these guys before, but they gave me a seat at the table which was pretty cool. Each of us had a microphone and were able to ask questions of the candidate. George Nemeth posted the audio of the session at the Meet The Bloggers website. The premise is giving poltical bloggers from the Akron and Cleveland area access to local candidates. It was pretty sweet. I felt so legit.

My impression of Betty Sutton: I liked her. I had not met or seen Betty Sutton prior to this meeting. I knew that Emily's List had endorsed her and that was about it. She was articulate and well versed on the issues that matter to Democrats. When asked what issues she believed were important she listed in order:
1. Jobs and Trade
2. Education
3. Healthcare
These are the issues that I want to hear a Democrat primary candidate talk about. I have posted the transcript of the questions I asked Betty Sutton and her answers in the comments section. You can also listen to the audio for yourself. It is my opinion that Betty Sutton and Tom Sawyer are the front runners for the Democratic Primary.

Press: This article is featured in The Carnival of Ohio Politics 3/1/06

It is the middle of winter in Akron and the orange people are everywhere. I know people look better tan, but there is a point where you go so much that you turn orange. The only business across the street from my apartment complex is a Hollywood Tans and the parking lot is always full. I don't know much about tanning salons, so I checked out the Hollywood Tans' website.

Two things struck me: First, they offer "unlimited tanning" for $19.95 per month. Unlimited? How much do people go? I think this pricing plan helps explain the increase in the orange population. Second, the beds range in time from 8-11 minutes. How powerful are these lights? How hot does it get? I hope we can discuss these and related issues in the comments.

Unrelated: Happy Birthday to Chelsea Clinton. She turns 26 today.

Even I, an often negative person, was shocked to read that above headline about Iraq spinning truly out of control. Over the last few week I began thinking that the real threats of violence were coming from Dick Cheney's gun blasts and that we were at war with the United Arab Emirates. Well, I guess not. A mosque attack that killed over 100 Iraqis has really caused chaos.

Even the guy that is supposedly the President of Iraq, Jalal Talabani, says Civil War is just steps away. Talabani has instituted a curfew and called an emergency summit to discuss the violence. However, Sunni leaders told Talabani to screw himself......not so good.

President Bush responded, "the world must stand united against them (terrorists), and steadfast behind the people of Iraq." Are there any Republicans that are sick of his stale rhetoric, in the face of mounting problems?


Somewhat Related: In 1999 the US, had Osama Bin Laden. They knew where he was, and could have taken him out. However, Clinton decided against the strike, because half the UAE Royal Family would have been killed. This is because the UAE Royal Family, the very same people that OWN the now infamous Dubai Ports World (its a state-owned company), were spending some quality time with Bin Laden.

These clowns over in the UAE, the same people that openly embraced the Taliban's existence and laundered money for al Queda operations, were openly friends of Bin Laden.....now Bush trusts those very same guys to run our ports. I would say I'm surprised, but, remember, Bush's dad was having breakfast with Bin Laden's freaking brother during the 9/11 attacks.....no one found that strange, so this port deal must be no big deal.

Guest Columnist Hakos just got back from taking some of his high school students to Washington D.C. where, as part of the trip, the group met with Rev. Pat Robertson. Seriously. Greg shares his thoughts on the experience:

"'You just harshly criticized the president about his handling of the Katrina Crisis; however, you supported him during his re-election. What will it take for you not to support President Bush?'

"'Nice thing about Christianity is that we believe in Forgiveness.'

"This was Pat Robertson’s response during a question and answer session with high school students this past Saturday in Washington, D.C. Sure, he said it somewhat jokingly, but this principle of forgiveness has become a relative mercy used only as a convenience. The same response was not used in reference to some of the reverend’s other comments.

"Superbly and passionately, Mr. Robertson criticized most everything in his talk. Robertson smashed FEMA and its Arabian Horseman; Robertson bashed bulging bureaucracies, and he warned of the threat of those evil-doers in the Middle East.

"In contrast, he praised his own efforts in cleaning up Katrina and helping those in need. With the snap of the fingers, Robertson’s angelic magic brought truckloads of supplies to needed areas around New Orleans, such as St. Bernard Church. The displays of such human power do make it difficult to argue his connections with God. Still, Robertson comes off as rather selective in his allocation of God’s wealth.

"Much of his ideology lies in the belief that some people are innately evil, and evilness hurls them down roads of instability and dangerous damnation. There exists no acceptance that there might be a cause to one’s evil. Therefore, Robertson tends to want to destroy the evil-doer in order to solve the problem. No effort is made to uncover the root cause—trimming the branches of the diseased tree might be easier; yet, digging up the roots will stop its disease from spreading.

"I must hand it to Mr. Robertson for his calmness and confidence—I can only dream of such strength in these qualities. Students’ difficult questions and luminous accusations were met with a relaxed disposition and smooth answers by the reverend. At the same time, his answers often left listeners confused. His popular response to questions regarding some of his ominous quotes, such as those referring to the assassination of Venezuela’s leader Hugo Chavez, was one of denial. 'The comment was taken out of context,' he said in one instance. Most amazing, however, was his inability to hold to his denial, proving his true beliefs. After denying the meaning of his comment regarding Chavez, Mr. Robertson ended his remark by suggesting that if anybody wanted to 'take out' Chavez that it wouldn’t be a bad idea.

"Still, the greatest moment came with his response to a student’s question regarding Robertson’s comment aimed at Dover, Pennsylvania. When asked about his thoughts on intelligent design, Robertson said, 'Evolution has become the religion of America.' Wow. You gotta hand it to the guy. Really, if evolution is bogus, then why did God give some guys, like Robertson, bigger balls than others? I mean, come on."