Oh Ohio, say it ain't so.

That's just embarrassing. I was born in West-by-God-Virginia and grew up less than 30 minutes from the Ohio/West Virginia border, so I feel comfortable saying: WTF PEOPLE!

And for the record, today is the first time I had ever heard of STRONGVILLE, OHIO. Y'all need to consult a newspaper or perhaps *gasp* pick up a book if you seriously haven't heard of Barack Obama before this year.

And if you HAD heard of Sarah Palin before Barack Obama, perhaps YOU'RE the friggin terrorist!

I know some of my buddies will call me an elitist for posting this, but come ON. It's too good not to. Does anyone else think she sounds like Cissy Spacek in Coalminer's Daughter?

"Doooo!!!!"

A wise friend and blogger pointed me in the direction of FactCheck.Org's page debunking Palin rumors.

Also uncharacteristic of me, I have to say that Obama's unfortunate choice of cliches (I HOPE it was unintentional)...

bothered me a lot more than Biden's calling Palin out for courting parents of special needs children while shooting down stem cell research. Maybe I'm being thick, but I thought Biden had a point. And yes, I know McCain supports stem cell research, but I HEAR that Miss Thang does not...but maybe that's a RUMOR!

Sweetney.Com

I mean, it's pretty funny either way, but it sort of reeks of copy written by a 20-something-year-old (or a 30-something-year-old who refuses to grow up, ahem...), no?

but here's CNN's video of Al Gore endorsing Barack Obama today. No matter what inspiring words his speechwriter undoubtedly supplied him to deliver, as I watched it with the sound turned off (the way I watch most things), I wondered if it is difficult for Al to campaign for other presidential candidates when his own victory was stolen from him eight years ago. Guess that environmental stuff keeps him busy, but I'd be pissed if I were him.

(Wired image of Al Gore)

Admittedly, it's difficult for me to spend this much time reading one item...that's probably why the whole graduate school thing never worked out and why I like short blogs.

That said, this piece in Islamica Magazine about Barack Obama's relationship to Muslims eloquently answered my earlier question of why it is vital for folks to box Obama up as "Muslim" or "Non-Muslim."

Whatchy'all think?

why it is so essential for us to identify Barack Obama's connection or non-connection to Islam?

This morning, while reading this blog post on the "is he or isn't he" conundrum of Barack's affiliation or non-affiliation with Islam, I know I was missing the point of the piece, which was to discuss how rumors survive. But then I clicked on this link to a NY Times story, which further agonized over the truth or falsehood of this matter. Again, I recognize that the point is to study the nature of rumors, but for me, the obvious question kept screaming, "how does this matter?"

Yes, I remember 9/11. But I also remember Waco, Texas and the weird Heaven's Gate cult members who had to wear matching sneakers on their way out.

Aren't religious fanatics scary people, regardless of their geography or origin of faith? Conversely, isn't it possible that moderately religious folks can keep their shit together?