Howdy

I've been rather busy of late. So a couple thoughts:
It looks like Indy has a new mayor, Ballard (Rep) is a political novice. And I have a feeling the City Council will swing back to the Republican camp as well. So let this be a lesson to our elected gods on Mount Olympus, they can be removed. What led to the downfall of this two term incumbant? Property tax increases & crime
Think Appalachia State beating Michigan this year for the upset.

then there's our favorite Gollum looking freak on the Hill:

Democratic presidential candidate and Ohio congressman Rep. Dennis Kucinich formally introduced articles of impeachment against Vice-President Dick Cheney that narrowly missed receiving a full House vote Tuesday afternoon.

Kucinich’s 18-page resolution charged that Cheney had “purposefully manipulated intelligence” in the run-up to the war in Iraq and had “fabricated a threat of weapons of mass destruction.”

of course ...

Last week, Kucinich raised eyebrows when he admitted during a televised Democratic presidential debate that he been witness to a UFO.

The GOP is playing a political game of chicken we haven't seen in years. This is brilliant. It's time to force the hands of Democrats.

Part II Nov. 9th
I wanted to continue on this post with this paragraph from the popmpus-one E.J. Dionne, he looks like he really likes himself.

There's the rub: Governing can be hard. One of the few bright spots for the Republicans -- other than the widely expected re-election of Gov. Haley Barbour in Mississippi -- was the startling upset of Indianapolis' Democratic mayor, Bart Peterson, by Republican Greg Ballard.
Peterson was generally seen as a success in office, and Ballard was so much the underdog that he got little help from Indiana's Republican governor, Mitch Daniels. But the establishment's coolness may have only underscored Ballard's outsider status, and he rode voter unhappiness with tax increases and crime to victory.

The general consensus in Indy is Peterson was a sacrificial lamb. The blame for the property tax fiasco that cripples Indy is across the board. I didn't help we have an increasing crime rate, a very unhappy police force (They were behind Ballard with unbridled enthusiasm) and Peterson threw in a 1% income tax after the tax bills came up. Some people's taxes went up 300% and change.
But the impressive part is the grass roots moement that unseated Peterson. Peterson had 13 points and $4 million in the bank versus Ballard's 400 grand ... maybe. The anger and frustration of the voter exploded through the ballot box into halls of statehouse. If you ever belieed that people cannot take out a powerful politican, look at Indy.