The Republicans are just all burned up, hotter than global warming, that environmentalists thought up a good idea to make our economy run more efficiently and cleanly, and made it work. The hybrid car is an expression of environmentalism moving America forward, and the Republicans were caught just sitting on their rear ends next to their Lincoln Town Cars, saying that everything should continue to be done the old way.

So, now, the Republicans are trying to show that they can do something new: New offshore oil drilling!

The trouble is that this new offshore oil drilling is kind of like new Tide, now with extra cleaning power - it isn’t really new at all. It’s just the same old thing.

The old offshore oil drilling was dirty and inefficient and vulnerable to hurricanes. The new offshore drilling would be dirty and inefficient and vulnerable to hurricanes. The old offshore drilling couldn’t keep pace with our energy needs. The new offshore drilling wouldn’t keep pace with our energy needs either.

This offshore drilling plan is the last gasp of a dinosaur economy of rusted industrialism. What we need is a new vision that can do better than offshore drilling. More of the same will just bring us more of the same, and more of the same means more failure.

The time for new offshore drilling is history.

Could you put together a better political bulletin board?

Barack Obama… by oakgall

They’re against the decision by Barack Obama to vote for the FISA Amendments Act, which includes retroactive immunity for telecommunications corporations that broke the law to help Bush spy on millions of Americans, and extends those Bush spy programs into the next presidency, legalizing Big Brother government snooping into our private lives.

There’s a lot more that the Progressives Against Obama group is protesting in Obama’s campaign than just FISA. There’s Barack Obama’s weakening position on ending the American occupation of Iraq, for one thing. Then there’s the Obama plan to expand Bush’s corrupt faith-based religious patronage program. Barack Obama has a bit of a problem with homophobia as well, opposing full equal marriage rights and using homophobic preachers like Donnie McClurkin. Then there’s the pro-death-penalty, pro-gun nonsense coming from the Obama campaign.

Take a look around, if you’re feeling burned and betrayed by Obama, as many progressive Americans are.

For that reason, when antiwar protests are now organized, they’re all the more worth paying attention to. In two days, on May 16th, there will be a nationwide Iraq Moratorium.

What does that mean? It just means that people across America will be protesting against the occupation of Iraq.

Go to the Iraq Moratorium web site. Check to see if there’s a protest near you. If there is, and you can do anything to make it, be there.

Here’s the best that they could come up with. They cited a Christian missionary working in Kenya, Loren Davis, as saying that Barack Obama is a secret Muslim undercover agent of Al Quaida.

Far out! Only, it turns out that the same Christian missionary also says that public education, and even the National Football League, are part of an international satanic plot.

Oops. It turns out that Loren Davis isn’t so credible.

What’s more, it seems that Loren Davis has said that 5 pointed stars are symbols of Satan. Guess which campaign has a 5 pointed star as the central element of its candidate’s logo? It isn’t Barack Obama. It’s John McCain.

Oops again. According to the wacko logic of Loren Davis Ministries, John McCain is a satanist.

Irregular Times has started up a special section devoted to news of Loren Davis. I think that one is worth bookmarking. Hoo baby, ain’t we got fun?

Barack Obama opposes this outsourcing of American jobs to overseas sweatshops as well, and has laid down plans for ending special tax breaks to encourage corporations to use these unethical foreign sources of labor.

So, it would be a mistake for you to go and buy a foreign-made sweatshop shirt supporting Barack Obama. Buy an Obama Shirt from Skreened instead. The shirts on Skreened are all made in the USA by American Apparel, and sold and shipped from Columbus, Ohio.

Support the most ethical candidate with the most ethical t-shirt.

No multinational corporate union busters there.

A week ago, George W. Bush admitted that he approved of a special meeting of members of his cabinet, including the Vice President, to identify specific torture techniques that American agents could use.

This was two years before Abu Ghraib torture was revealed. There is now a direct line between George W. Bush and Abu Ghraib torture. George W. Bush has openly admitted to this, now.

Has CNN reported one word about this news? No. They’re spending more time on Britney Spears, putting up a special poll asking their viewers to say, “Britney Spears: Is She America’s Most Important Cultural Figure?”

CNN has failed Americans. So, who will step up and do the tough reporting that CNN refuses to do? Leave it to BNN: The Bathroom News Network. See the video newscast yourself.

“The so-called “maverick” John McCain has never been subjected to the inquisitorial equivalent of the rectal probes Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton received last night… Here are 10 debate questions John McCain will never be asked.”

The 10 topics that John McCain will never be called upon in a presidential debate to answer for:

1. The apocalyptic violence of John Hagee, a televangelist associate of John McCain who is helping his campaign
2. McCain’s legendary temper
3. The confusion John McCain has demonstrated about basic facts about Iran and Iraq
4. McCain’s history of extramarital affairs
5. The flip flop on whether Jerry Falwell was an “agent of intolerance”
6. Elitism from John McCain’s wealth
7. Why the flip-flopping by McCain on his religious identity?
8. McCain’s vote in favor of torture as a Senator on multiple occasions
9. Flip flop on Bush’s tax cuts
10. McCain’s own admission that he doesn’t understand economics well

Mind you, I don’t think that all these questions would be appropriate - the question about religion, and the question about extramarital affairs. Still, given that Barack Obama has had to endure of this sort of question, it’s valid to question why the news media has refused to give John McCain the same kind of scrutiny. Thanks to Perrspective for pointing that out.

The source of police panic this time is a simple web site: Rate My Cop. The web site allows people to rate individual police officers on a scale of one to five, and leave comments about their professional demeanor.

Some police have complained that such a web site could lead to increased physical attacks against police officers. Others are even calling for special laws to be made to make the site illegal.

Why? There have been no attacks against police officers that can be linked to the site. Rate My Cop just holds police officers accountable to public opinion, for good or for bad.

In an age when police officers are gaining powers to intrude into the private lives of American citizens, a little accountability in the opposite direction is a welcome thing. Cops need to remember that they’re public servants, and ought to be accountable to the people they’re supposed to be serving.

Well, there it is nonetheless. Right now, the image that’s being shown is from 1:03 AM Tipperary Time, so it’s not very entertaining. In the day, apparently, you’re able to see some rocks. Gripping stuff.

Yet, many people have submitted sightings of leprechauns on the web cam. Here are some of their comments:

You may not believe me I saw somthing sitting there and then as soon as I saw it, it was gone. My freind saw it as well.

I saw a small figure his apparel was seen easily, the unknown figure was wearing a pointed cap red in colour, a white undershirt and a green vest with green shoes and either brown or olive colour breeches, carrying a cane or something in one hand and a skin pouch filled with some kind of liquid his hair was red or black, quite astonishing really.

i saw a wee leprechaun jumping up and down on his head in the bottom left section of the grass. he was having lots of fun fun fun ! ! !

I saw a pixie type creature wearing what looked like a red and black Bohs scarf.

Little Blue Leprechaun sitting on a stone. There is also a tall spirit with a very clear face standing behind the stones. directly below him, in front of the stones, I can see another face but it is not as clear as the leprechaun or the spirit behind the stones. It is 11:01 pm Tipperary time.

Here’s my submission: I saw a little man in a little car with little Pennsylvania license plates and a little Barack Obama bumper sticker. I could see, given the excellent resolution of the webcam, that the car was a hybrid. Quite astonishing really.