…my “baby” picture:

There you go, Chuck & Gordon. See? I got the ear wings too! Alright now Scroff and D., you guys need to post yours too!

…I should have hit the 10,000 hit mark since adding Sitemeter. Granted several of these hits were me, but I digress. I want to take this time, once again, to thank each and every one of my visitors. For those of you who comment, thanks for helping to make The Bulldog Says… a better place. Hopefully your insight has helped others become more knowledgeable concerning the issues facing our country and maybe even changed their minds a bit. For those of you who prefer to lurk just beyond the shadows, by all means please join in the conversation. Your input is just as valuable.

I started this site just about 2 years ago with the goal of fostering communication between those of us with different political ideologies and also as a place to let off some steam over issues of the day that had me fuming. Now, it’s become a place where we can all share ideas, good and bad, about how to move our country forward. We all have different opinions on how to do that, but that’s what this place is for: to talk those issues through.

Thanks again!

UPDATE: Well, it happened a little sooner than I expected, but my thanks go out to the visitor from the Arkansas Public School System performing a search on “SARATOGA BULLDOG.COM”. Granted, this site probably wasn’t what they were looking for, but hey, search engines are like that I guess. So there you have it: 10,000 hits in under 2 years. Maybe another 2 years will give me my first million visitors.

That evil bastion of corporate media, Clear Channel, through their billboard advertising division, has attempted to insult me and my intelligence. You too provided you are as disillusioned with the Republican party as even some of their most staunch supporters are.

Just down the road from me is a billboard that I assume was put up by the local Republican party. I don’t have a picture of it yet, but I’ll provide an update to this post once I get one.

Try to picture it: a large billboard with a baby blue background. In the center of the billboard is a large representation of the Republican party’s elephant logo. To the left is a small, inverted, Democratic party donkey. To the right of the Republican logo are these words: DON’T BE STUPID.

This type of political advertising is wrong on many levels. My anger with it manifested itself in a string of profanities that would make even the saltiest of Marines or sailors blush. Of course, these profanities were damn near shouted while I was in my car and again in the relative quiet of my garage once I got home. For those of you who may be asking yourself “What’s wrong with it?” let me break it down for you. This billboard seeks to once again paint those of us who are NOT Republicans in a bad light. Much like President Bush and others of his party have taken to calling Democrats cowards, “defeatists”, traitors, etc., this type of advertising is disingenuous at best and downright evil at its worst. This kind of political billboard seeks not to unite us as a country, nor does it try to forge compromises on the issues where politically Republicans and Democrats disagree, but instead continues to divide this country even further.

I’ve written in the not-so-distant past about my complete and utter disdain for political attack ads, so my anger over this one should be a no-brainer. Well, according to CNN, my anger level is about to get raised again due to another type of ad I hate: the FEAR Ad!!! I’ll let you guys (and girls) click on the CNN link and then, if you can stomach it, click on the link to the RNC to see the latest and greatest in the Republican game of Fear Factor as it pertains to mid-term elections next month.

I hope that many of you readers, lurkers and commenters alike, choose to reject this type of political posturing this close to the elections and vote the issues and the candidates come November 7th. This is not just another ordinary election. This election will define whether we, as a country, continue on a path of failure, or one of hope and progress. We must do something to correct our course or we’ll end up no better than the Titanic. There’s an iceberg out there on the political landscape and our chance to change course and slip past it is November 7th. So don’t forget to educate yourself on the issues, both local and national, and get out and vote on November 7th. Your country is counting on you and so am I.

UPDATE:

Friday evening after I had posted this, I did a quick websearch for Clear Channel’s Outdoor Advertising site. I found it, and sent a web email to them advising of my offense at this billboard. Below is the text of the email I sent with my name redacted:

Dear Sirs/Madam,

I am writing to express my offense at a billboard that was recently placed by your company. The billboard in question is located near US-45 and the Silver Spring Rd exit in Milwaukee, WI. It appears to be a Republican Party ad that features their logo in the center, a smaller Democratic Party logo upside-down and to the left of the Republican logo, followed by the words: DON’T BE STUPID on the right. Regardless of Clear Channel’s political leanings, this type of ad is very offensive to me. I am requesting its removal. The implied message is one that should provoke outrage among not just Democrats, but Republicans as well since it claims that community members who vote Democrat are stupid. This kind of political advertising can potentially lead to even more offensive statements offered by the Democratic Party about those who vote Republican. Please do you part to help make the political climate here in the US a more friendly one by removing this ad. The future of our country depends on it.

Sincerely, [name redacted]

Well, I checked my email this afternoon and found I had received somewhat of a response:

I am forwarding your email on to the appropriate persons.  
Russ



Russ Mason
Corporate Director of Digital Services

I am looking forward to hearing back from them and what kind of response they give.

(If that title doesn’t raise my hit count, I don’t know what will!)

Once again a politician demonstrates that he has a terminal case of foot-in-mouth disease. This week, it’s from another Republican, Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut. For some reason unbeknownst to all of us, he said things like this:

“Now I’ve seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture,” Shays said at a debate Wednesday.

“It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from (Maryland) who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked,” added Shays. “And they did other things that were just outrageous. But it wasn’t torture.”

Now I don’t know, but my guess is that Rep. Shays really doesn’t know what torture really is. I’m sure John McCain could tell him, but being as how even he caved at the last minute and came up with the “compromise that wasn’t” for Bush’s Military Commissions Act of 2006 I don’t think he even knows what torture is anymore. Abu Ghraib WAS torture and I think any one with an ounce of intelligence will say it was. The types of interrogation techniques authorized by the Military Comissions Act are the same ones that international human rights groups, as well as the Geneva Conventions, denounce.

So, I’m sorry Mr. Shays, but you don’t know your ass from a hole in the ground if you can speak such nonsense as the above. Because of that, you are this week’s Asshat of the Week Award Winner. If you want to read some more of Rep. Chris Shays’ asshattery, click the link below. He even goes as far as to slam on Ted Kennedy too!

Rep. Shays says Abu Ghraib not torture - CNN

As I’m sure many of you have noticed, I haven’t been around these parts lately. As the title indicates, sometimes life intervenes. That’s not to say I haven’t kept somewhat up-to-date on the political goings-on in our country. I’ve watched the Foley scandal explode further damaging an already fragile GOP hold over Congress and I can’t say I’m surprised. The whole thing has me absolutely seething with anger considering how long GOP leaders have known about his “problem”. I’ve been so angry and disgusted by it I haven’t even wanted to blog about it. The poor excuse given over why GOP leaders didn’t do anything about this earlier has me pissed off all the more, but I digress.

As I said, life intervenes sometimes. I’ve actually kind of enjoyed this brief time away from politics and the blogosphere. I’ve gotten to do some things around the house and watch my son play JV and Varsity football and my daughter cheer for the community team. I am as proud as a Dad can be. My wife also recently volunteered (volun-told?) me to play darts on Tuesday nights with her coworkers’ husband. I’m not too shabby, but there is definitely room for improvement. But other than all that, I’ve had the chance to just relax a bit. Immersing myself in politics like I’ve done since I started this site can be very stressful. Again, that’s not to say that those issues are not important to each of us and to the future of this country.

So with that said, I welcome you all back to The Bulldog Says… I hope I haven’t disappointed you by my absence. I won’t guarantee I’ll resume blogging with the same angst I’ve shown before, but I will continue blogging. So don’t forget to support your local Democratic candidate and to vote November 7th! We can and will take back Congress and get this country back on the right path.