a Democrat who is the most articulate credible African-American candidate for the presidency in history

people simply do not trust the politicians they vote for to be anything less than an embarrassment. You get the sense they approach the upcoming election with the enthusiasm of a two-time loser offered a selection of plea deals.

People hate the mechanized speeches, they hate the negative ads, and they especially hate venomous news creatures, myself included. It's now so bad that a poll last month found that fifty-six percent of all likely voters agreed with the phrase that the presidential race is "annoying and a waste of time" -- a shocking number, given that it excludes the forty to fifty percent of Americans who already don't vote in presidential races.

People don't want to feel this way, but the attitude everywhere is the same: What choice do these assholes give us? And it's that grim prejudice that has pervaded this process for a generation, forcing the public to choose from an endless succession of lesser evils and second- raters of the Kerry-Dole genus, stuffed suits who offered nothing like a solution to the main problem of feeling like shit about the American civic experiment.

Yeah, all these incredibly successful leftist elites, billionaire businessmen, artists and entertainers, professors and scientists, they're all morons. Meanwhile, the basement-dwelling internet troll, bigel, is some kind of a brainiac.

I like Matt Taibbi's writing, it's a pleasure to read, cutting and smart, even though I disagree with him a lot.

Upon injuring a toe Sunday, Corey Flintoff, newscaster for NPR's All Things Considered, unleashed a string of rich, pleasantly modulated obscenities. "God fucking dammit," Flintoff warmly intoned after dropping a heavy-duty router on his foot while working in his garage. "Stupid fucking cocksucking son of a bitch." Added Flintoff in a lush baritone: "Goddamn motherfucking shit-for-brains. This is NPR." Next-door neighbor Cheryl Thomas, who overheard the tirade, said Flintoff's delivery was so melodic, she was unaware that he was swearing.

Giuliani's pro-9/11 message seems to be resonating with potential voters. Said Ames, IA voter Alan Benoit: "I remember seeing Rudolph Giuliani's face, on television, saying reassuring things during a highly emotional moment filled with fear and confusion. He's got my vote."

With all due respect, we have brought freedom to Iraq.

shedding real tears over the plight of the American Negro, a popular Soviet cause for decades

I mean, what if I have to choose between Clinton and Huckabee? I can't make that choice!

This not voting thing, I was raised to believe it a mortal sin.

One thing that's fascinating about the Huckabee victory in Iowa is that the movement that propelled him to victory -- his Evangelical base -- is truly a cousin to our very own people-powered movement.

Think about it -- these are people that have been taken for granted by the Republican establishment, exploited and overworked, only to receive crumbs and empty rhetoric in return. Sick of being marginalized except when needed (election time), they have taken matters into their own hands and -- without money or "professional" organization, propelled their candidate (one of their own) to victory.

I've noted before that Ron Paul was the only people-powered candidate in the race, based on his ridiculous fundraising ($19 million in Q4 alone). But his movement was only able to muster 10 percent in Iowa. It's a new movement, like the Dean people in 2004, and still finding its sea legs in an unfamiliar environment. They can deliver lawn signs and stickers, but it might be a while before they can deliver votes (we'll see how they do in New Hampshire). Huckabee's supporters may not have much scratch to give, but boy can they deliver bodies and votes, even when facing a full frontal assault from their party's establishment. Being part of the GOP's ground game going on two decades, they've got the experience to actually deliver.

They are true gate crashers, perhaps the best we've seen in politics. Trained as worker bees for the GOP machine, they are now throwing off those shackles and attempting a veritable coup.

Their impudence has of course earned the fierce enmity of their party's neocon and corporate con wings, and they will strike hard with every Rovian tool at their disposal. Gate crashing is never greeted with open arms.

Their impudence has of course earned the fierce enmity of their party's neocon and corporate con wings, and they will strike hard with every Rovian tool at their disposal.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — David Huckabee, a son of Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, was arrested at Little Rock's airport Thursday after a federal X-ray technician detected a loaded Glock pistol in his carry-on luggage.

"I removed the bag and asked Mr. Huckabee if he knew what he had in the bag," Little Rock police officer Arthur Nugent wrote in a report after being summoned to a security checkpoint. "He replied he did now."

Huckabee, 26, later pleaded guilty in Little Rock District Court after being charged with possessing a weapon in a prohibited place. District Judge Lee Munson gave Huckabee a one-year suspended jail sentence and ordered him into 10 days of community service — which Huckabee can avoid by paying $100. Huckabee will be on probation for a year. Fines and costs totaled $605.