I am Catholic and feel this a dark day in the Catholic Church.  The rise of theocracy is starting to take hold.  I fear for the future.  A new age of inquistion and bad feelings among the world's religions is here.  God help us.

Hey, before you knock a man down, get your facts straight.  O'Malley never had an affair, those were just rumors spread by the "Prince of Darkness", Mr. Steffen, a notorious staffer in Ehrlich's adminstration, who also fired people in certain departments because they voiced opposition to Ehrlich's ways.  I have confirmed proof that Mr. O'Malley had no such affair with said TV reporter.  The fact that the woman took a promotion to a New York market must be because she had an affair with the mayor, not for her career.  Baltimore will have a SURPLUS, the first time the city has been in the black in probably 20 or 30 years.  A $37.5 million surplus will be used in the schools and police departments where they are needed.  A recent poll shows O'Malley would beat his main rival by a 20 point margin and Ehrlich in race today by a 6 point margin.  Ehrlich may lose his lieuntenant governor, Michael Steele, to run for Sarbanes Senatorial seat(but he won't win).  Ehrlich is not the strong Republican you think he is.  He has yet to get slots through which is big on his agenda and he is really not doing what he said he would do.  He is a neocon who is using his power to disrupt things instead of focusing on public policy.  His "Year of the Child" is crap because he is trying to raise tuition again at the state universities.  It is actually cheaper to go to college out-of-state than in which is ridiculous.  The only reason Ehrlich won in the first place is that Kathleen Kennedy-Townsend was a super weak candidate and people just did not like her for some reason.  And most of the "Democrats for Ehrlich" are regretting it big time.  Ehrlich's days are numbered.  Thank God!!!  You can say it's PR but I think you're all wrong in your assessment of O'Malley.  He is the real deal.  And it's about time.

You would have to put the money into an annuity that pays 5%.  The problem is there are too many baby boomers, we need the government to stop taking money from the SS trust fund to raise the debt ceiling.  These problems will fix themselves once a majority of boomer die off.  The other problem with these accounts is what if your child is born with special needs like autism or mental retardation.  Those children now receive SSI but what would they get if you eliminated Social Security?  And what about people on disability?  You would still need a system to account for that or will we just go back to early 20th century when if you were disabled at work, you just were poor and starved to death?

I agree that Jesus did come to judge us but to save us from ourselves and he did it without an ego.  I am so tired of the right wingers using religion as shield to cover up how they support corporations who want to turn us into "solient green" eventually and money.  They are just like Brother Justin on the HBO show "Carnivale", they are false prophets.  I don't like religious people forcing their beliefs on me.  I know people didn't like what Kerry said about abortion but I feel the same way.  I am a Catholic and think it should be rare but I am also a RN who know that sometimes things happen and choices have to be made.  I don't think I could get an abortion but I can't walk a mile in the woman's shoes who decide this is her only choice to make, how it must feel to make such a decision.  I also dislike people who beat you up about going to church weekly but then don't live the gospel everyday.  It doesn't matter how many times a week you go to church if you are a nasty jerk all of the time.

I agree.  I especially thought his point in the State of State address about how his mentors were Dems and everyone showed the governor respect was laughable.  He is the elected governor, not appointed by King George.  His banning of the Sun reporters is just the kind of fascist crap that everyone should be afraid of.  I think O'Malley is a great candidate.  And he's an Irish Catholic!!!!  And he plays in a band!!!!  Governor O'Malley in 2008!!!!!!

As someone who has faith, I take offense at the remarks that I am Repug lite.  I know Kerry lost the Catholic vote because there were parishes out there like mine in a blue state but a slightly red county where the priests or parishes were supporting Bush not for moral values but for money.  That's what most of those "moral values voters" voted for anyway, their pocketbook.  Bush got them good with his lovely budget cuts, cutting education and agriculture.  I agreed with Kerry's position on abortion, I don't think I could have one myself but I can't legislate that choice for some other woman.  Kerry would have made a great president and I hope he does run again because I think he is more genuine that Bush.  Unfortunately, because so many children have been "left behind" in terms of their education, you have to "dumb down" everything including message.  I mean students today don't think the 1st amendment is important.  Being smart isn't cool, it was that way when I graduated from high school 10 years ago.  Just like that line in John Mayer's song, "They read all the books but they can't find the answers."  Nobody does critical thinking anymore, it's really tragic.  Practicing your religion doesn't mean imposing your faith on everyone else like those right wing nut jobs do.  I also don't agree with everything Catholism teaches like no birth control but I am still a Catholic.  Catholics have traditionally taught the values that we hold dear as Democrats but we need to get rid of the corporate hold on our culture.  It reminds of the turn of the 20th century, we need a Teddy Roosevelt, with a big stick.  Or we'll all be "solient green".

I forgot to include in my post above my favorite quote of 2004, it was also the dumbest quote of 2004 and it was spoken by GWB, the destroyer of the English language.  "Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.  They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

Right On, let's work and rise up against the tyranny that is the GOP.

Today is a dark day indeed as I mourn it by wearing the traditional mourning color, black.  I know that I am going to sound a little crazy but I found this website with some interesting things to say about the election and how daddy's friends saved the day again.
www.whatreallyhappened.com/2004votefraud.html
After viewing this, it's enough to distrust the government for life.  But just check out this other links which provide more support for conspiracy theories.
www.rense.com/general59/stupid.htm
www.rense.com/general20/unholy.htm
I guess it's time to wake up and smell the New World Order but I rather listen to Keith Olbermann and watch their new video at JibJab about the inauguration.

I would agree that Catholism at its roots is progressive.  We like to feed the hungry, help the poor, and we don't cast out homosexuals.  No wars or capital punishment.  The abortion issue is tricky but I do not agree with the Natural Family Planning Method of birth control either.  I can't understand my fellow Catholics who voted for Bush last election because everything I learned in Catholic school was the opposite of what he has done, even if he wears his religion on his sleeves to hide his evildoings.

You forgot to mention my favorite show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann.  He is definitely NOT a neocon.  Last night, he smashed a talking Ann Coulter doll on the air.  He won it in a quiz show he takes at the end of every week.  He was also the ONLY reporter to devote significant coverage to the Ohio voting irregularities when everyone else was convinced nothing was happening and that after Nov 3rd, it was over.  His show is on at 8 pm and replayed again at midnight.  He was harassed at Fox, and even made a bid to purchase the O'Reilly tapes with money from himself and his viewers before the case was settled.  Last night, he reported about Fox not allowing a Mickey Rooney commercial that shows his naked butt for a few seconds to air, saying Fox Standards Dept wouldn't let it air.  Olbermann said, "Fox has a standards dept, WHERE?"  And I used to like Hardball but after the butt licking that he gave Bush after the election, I wanted to vomit.  Not to mention Matthews family is pretty conservative.  His brother is a Republican elected official somewhere in PA.

I used to have a lot of respect for McCain until he started campaigning for the chimp in 2004 who called him a crazy homo POW with bastard children in the 2000 GOP primaries.  Kerry offered him the VP and Secretary of Defense.  The executive branch would have been truly bi-partisan and McCain and Kerry were better friends but McCain towed the party line just for his shot but he will not get the support of the Rove machine.  I can't wait for him to crash and burn!!!!

I don't think I will see a woman president in my lifetime from either party but especially the GOP and I'm 27.  The GOP thinks the women should either be 1)barefoot and pregnant or 2)making the man some money so he don't have to work.

Hey, let's just face it, this nation is not ready to elect a woman to be the president (I am a woman).  As much as I think HRC is a good senator, she would be a lousy candidate.  The Repugs are practically smacking their lips at the mere mention of her candidacy.  What a better way to dredge up Monicagate, smear Bill Clinton all over again and remind us how wholesome GWB (aka the chimp) is?  Her reputation would be under attack and all of those stupid questions about what and whether she knew about his lying would come up.  Don't forget about Whitewater, we would have the Whitewater Bankers for Truth ads because Whitewater mostly involved HRC.  All sides of the Dems need to united and stand strong, no more Deaniacs or Clintonistas.  This is about shaping our country for the future, our children and grandchildren.  We need to stop being "American Idiots"  and search for the truth, no matter how unpleasant.  HRC could become a great senator and lead our party there.  This country will have an African American male president before a woman one.  I would bet money on that prediction.  I believe in womens' rights but feminism did us no favors.  We still do not have equal pay for equal work and men trying to tell us what to do with our bodies.  My generation (Gen X) was always told you could do it all, wife, mother, career but unfortunately, as many of us know, it is not possible to do so many things of such importance well.  We do not all have nannies, chefs, assistants or personal trainers.

I saw the interview today on Meet the Press and thought Reid was very impressive.  One part you omitted was about abortion.  It is well-known that Reid is anti-abortion but he believes the country isn't ready for Roe v. Wade to be overturned and thinks the country would be in a horrible state if that were to happen.  He wants to prevent unwanted pregnancies and this should be the core value of the Dems.  That's what this country is all about, you can choose to have an abortion but hopefully, you never have to.  Reid's position is an excellent way to frame the message of abortion rights, not pro-abortion.  Reid also mentioned how Bush felt the same way he did about the overturning of Roe v. Wade.