Well, that didn’t go quite the way I expected it.

Not sure whether to post more about this or not — haven’t quite made up my mind about the whole thing, I guess. Definitely trying not to be sour grapes about it, but as of this afternoon, I’m more than a little concerned about the strong shift to the right this country seems to be taking. Dad and I don’t always agree, but the one thing he told me a long time ago that I definitely join him in is the notion that a divided government is not necessarily a bad government, and that gridlock can often be your friend. Having one party dominating every branch of government isn’t exactly something I’d like to see, from either side…

Thank God it’s all over but the shouting, though. The shouting? That goes on forever.

2. That’s the number of hours (yes, I said HOURS) that I waited in line at the effing polls this morning. Still in my workout clothes, belly aching for food, dog still waiting patiently for me in the front yard because I thought it would take me 45 minutes, tops. No such luck.

All bitching aside, I’m extremely proud to see such incredible turnout at the polls this morning; I hope as Mer suggests that this is turnout not limited to inside the Beltway. I’m encouraged to see that more and more people are making an effort to do their civic duty (and enduring INCREDIBLE waits!!). A colleague who votes in a bad part of DC also did the two-hour line dance. She said there was ONE voting booth for the site that typically gets about 300 voters. By the time she made it up there, more than 3,000 ballots had been cast. That’s pretty damn impressive.

Anyway. Y’all go vote. But take a newspaper wit’ cha.

I will say only that these images are taken from a DVD, produced and sold by Ralph Nader’s campaign, of Nader debating dolls of George Bush and John Kerry.

…

Really, is there anything else to add?

[via Wonkette]

Sarah sent me this link to a JPL research scientist’s analysis of the now-infamous “bulge” in the President’s jacket during this year’s first presidential debate. Convincing (there’s no way in hell that line’s just a “wrinkle in the shirt”) — but I’m still skeptical, because who goes to the trouble of wearing a wire in a debate and then answers questions like Dustin Hoffman in RAIN MAN?

You saw it first on “Sex and the City,” (OK, maybe you gents didn’t, but the ladies did!!) and now the trend is invading NYC. BEDS in RESTAURANTS! Like a giant eating slumber party!! Sounds dangerous for notorious food spillers such as myself. (The owners keep us in mind–“‘We have to be careful about heavy pastas with a lot of sauce, and we’re very cautious about onions and garlic in our food, spaghetti and things that can really drip and spill,’ said Belkin, who added most of the food is pre-cut.”) Order up!

“Edwards seized on comments former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani made on NBC’s “Today” show Thursday in which he said the troops in Iraq, not the president, bore the responsibility for searching for the explosives.

“No matter how you try to blame it on the president, the actual responsibility for it really would be for the troops that were there. Did they search carefully enough — didn’t they search carefully enough?” Guiliani said on “Today.”

###

…so I guess we’ll be seeing the President on the news tonight publicly discouraging Guiliani from “denigrating the action of our troops and commanders in the field without knowing the facts,” yes?

An early taste of our trip to Athens last weekend. Val and Sam Ives at the football game.