I saw this photo in a box the other day and thought I’d post it on my birthday.

That’s me as an eighth-grader, if we’re to believe the date printed in the corner, but I know sometimes cameras with that “feature” were off.

I love the expression on my face, which is a great combination of relaxation and confidence.

Whoever took the picture made sure to squeeze in plenty of the wall, along with that beautiful lamp stand / newspaper depository.

The guy on the left is Hugh Ivis, my mother’s second husband’s father.

In his lap is Coco the Pomeranian. She was a very fluffy dog, but not all that friendly, and you could consider it a success if she would lick your hand once and/or let you pet her head once, at most twice, during any given visit to their home. Of course, this contact was predicated on the agreement that you would have been stretched out on the floor and completely motionless for upwards of 30 minutes.

Grandpa Ivis is deceased, as I’m sure Coco is. There’s no telling what happened to the gnome.

Have you seen the commercial airing lately where a couple driving down the road stops to pick up a hitchhiker holding a case of Bud Light… and an axe?

That spot came to mind this morning when I saw that Rep. Steve Cohen broke with the majority of his party and joined Republicans in adding an anti-terrorism clause to the transportation bill (hat tip to A.C. at Fore Left). The added language protects airline passengers from lawsuits, such as the “John Doe” travelers being targeted by a group of six Islamic imams. Apparently, the passengers had observed odd and suspicious, terrorist-like behavior aboard the flight and reported it to airline officials. They are now being taken to court… on exactly what grounds, I’m not sure. The amendment is retroactive to the date of that flight, Nov. 20, 2006.

A good question for Rep. Cohen is this: why does your party find it important to withhold protection from concerned citizens who are merely following the advice of our government, which has asked us all to be alert to potential terrorist threats?

For whatever reason, Democrats would be happy to see the woman in the Bud Light commercial sued for merely stating the obvious: “…but he has an axe!” There’s a great punch line at the end of the ad, and if you haven’t watched it yet, you can view it below the fold. The Democratic Party, meanwhile, is busy making itself the real punchline.

(more…)

Good news for The Memphis Flyer; bad news for Liberty. I think it’s time we check opensecrets.org and validate our assumptions about which party is on the take from Big Mesh.

UPDATE: This pledge drive is only a stop-gap measure, but it’s a good start.

Too subtle? Nah.

See also: Mitt Romney

UPDATE: Oops, these signs apparently already exist.

Rep. Steve Cohen of Memphis has voted in favor of HR 1591, a supplemental appropriations bill that funds the war in Iraq (though it also adds regulations designed to hinder the military’s ability to wage it and sets an arbitrary date for withdrawal).

In the days leading up to the vote, Rep. Cohen said he was “conflicted” about the decision and took to the floor to vocalize his ambivalence, saying he hoped his constituents would call his office with their input.

On the eve of the vote, The Hill published an article listing Cohen as one of two Democrats “who were once dead-set against voting for the bill” but had recently shifted into the “undecided column.”

It’s a curious evolution by Cohen, who had already heard plenty from his anti-war constituents almost exactly one month earlier at a town hall meeting, where he vowed, “My hands are not tainted with a vote for this war, and I don’t plan to get them tainted.”

At the time, Cohen explained his opposition to funding the troops, saying:

There are Democrats that I hear regularly that are fearful, politically, that if we don’t fund the-the troops, that people will see this as our causing the failure in Iraq, and they say, “this is Bush’s war, and if we do this, he will make it our defeat.” I don’t buy that.

The liberal base will no doubt forgive him for this about face, given language in the resolution that, as autoegocrat states, “puts Cohen in the clear to do whatever he likes.”

UPDATE: Donna Brazile offers the official “my constituents made me do it” defense.