Who cares if politicians are 'Godless?'

What's the most private thing we have?

I suppose there are a few possibilities, many of which would involve various little bits of nastiness we wouldn't want anyone to know about, but it seems to me the most private thing any of us have is our relationship with God.

That's why politics has become so incredibly annoying. This isn't just a liberal or conservative thing, either. I'm annoyed every time I hear a politician -- as I heard Barack Obama Wednesday night -- close a speech by saying, "God bless the United States of America."

But it happens all the time. The chances of an avowed atheist winning any sort of important office these days are about the same as Rush Limbaugh getting his clothes anywhere other than the Big & Tall Men's shop.

So I guess I shouldn't be as outraged by Elizabeth Dole as I am.

Dole, the one person Republicans always used to trot out to prove they didn't hate working women, is running for a second term as senator from North Carolina. She's struggling badly and appears to be on the verge of losing, which I suppose is why she had to play the "God" card.

Now Kay Hagen is anything but Godless. She's a Presbyterian and a former Sunday School teacher, and that isn't her voice saying "There is no God," even though her picture is on the screen at the same time.

But Dole is trying to tell us, even if she doesn't come right out and say it, that electing Hagen would be voting for an end to Christmas, forcing little children to dress up as Satan for Halloween and boiling puppies.

Jeez, Elizabeth.

You used to be so reasonable.

The fact is, there are far worse things a senator could be than Godless.

Just ask Ted Stevens.

Just for laughs, here's my prediction

This isn't meant to be a political blog; I do that over at Capitol Hill Blue and have a lot of fun with it. Mostly this site to me is about the things that really matter in life -- love, family and personal relationships.

But as the most interminable election in U.S. history draws to a close, I thought I would weigh in on how things will finish. My guess is Obama will win, although not by the electoral landslide some folks are predicting.

I think he'll break through in Ohio because of the economy, and in Virginia and Colorado because of a changing electorate, while McCain holds onto Florida, North Carolina and other states like Indiana that rarely if ever go to the Democrats.

If there's a surprise in this election, I think Missouri -- which almost always goes with the winner -- will miss out and go for McCain this time. I think it'll be a race thing.

The only southern state Obama will carry is Virginia, although I think he'll take three of the eight states in the Rocky Mountain West.

Anyway, it'll be 311-227 for Obama.

Check back Wednesday and see how far off I was.

Amazing baby is part Leporidae

I'll bet you didn't know this, but the most amazing baby in the world, my granddaughter Madison Nicole Kastner, is part Lepidorae.

Now before I send you scooting off to Wikipedia to find out what it means (although I'll give you the link right here), I'll tell you that Lepidorae is just the high-falutin' way of saying rabbit. You betcha it is.


See, even winkin' Sarah Palin agrees with me. They've got some pretty big Lepidorae up on the Northern Frontier, even if they just call them rabbit stew.

Anyway, when little Maddie was still in the womb, she apparently did a great deal of kicking. So her mother, the amazing Pauline Nicole Kastner, gave her the nickname "Thumper."

Now whether she was a "thumper" or a "kicker" is a point that could be argued, but somehow I don't think the nickname "David Beckham" would have been quite as cute for a little girl baby.


"Thumper," on the other hand, is your basic adorable nickname for a baby, and it's really quite rare for a baby to have a full-fledged nickname before she has ever walked, talked or stolen a hubcap.

It usually takes longer. I believe George "Dubya" Bush didn't get his nickname till he was 33, although I'd put Maddie's intellect at 5 1/2 weeks up against Ol' Dub at 33.

Of course all of us who have seen the movie "Bambi" knows that Thumper was sort of a sidekick to the adorable little deer, and I think that's where the analogy falls apart. I don't think Maddie is going to be anybody's sidekick; my guess is that by the time she's 30, she'll either be a movie star, a Nobel Prize winner or the Queen of the world.

And just in case you've forgotten how to scroll down, we'll leave you with a picture of the adorable little tyke.


Or does "tyke" refer to a boy baby?

I never had learn these things. This is my first experience with a baby since my own younger siblings were born, and I was still sort of a tyke myself then, albeit 11 years old when the last one came along.

Anyway, meet Maddie/Thumper, the amazing baby/bunny.

Massachusetts story a real tragedy

Christopher Bizilj, an 8-year-old from Ashford, Conn., died Sunday afternoon in Springfield, Mass., after firing a micro Uzi submachine gun at the Machine Gun Shoot and Firearms Expo.

The boy aimed at a pumpkin and pulled the trigger, but it was the first time he had fired a fully automatic weapon and he wasn't ready for the recoil. He lost control of the gun and shot himself in the head.

The Boston Globe has the story, along with more than a hundred comments from readers. Once I got past the first couple, I couldn't bear to read them. As a father, I found myself wondering what kind of parent would let an 8-year-old handle a fully automatic weapon.

It isn't as if I'm an anti-gun nut. My son has fired both rifles and shotguns, but in both instances he was at least 11 years old and did it under adult supervision at Boy Scout camp. I would never have allowed him to fire a fully automatic weapon without first understanding everything about it -- and never at age 8.

I'm sure the boy's father will regret his error for the rest of his life. It just shows that with children, you always have to be on guard. Tragedy can strike just like that.

There are people on both sides who will use this politically. The gun issue is one of the most contentious we face, and there doesn't really seem to be any way to agree.

I'm really not that concerned about gun control anymore. That we should keep guns away from criminals, the mentally ill and small children seems to me a given, and the tragedy here is that a small child tried to use a big weapon.

It's a shame no one stopped him.

'Burger Time' a blast from my past

As you can tell if you've been visiting this Website, I recently discovered a site that has a lot of great Widgets.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, Widgets are little add-ons that spruce up Websites either by providing links or by adding humorous or entertaining content.

When I saw "Burger Time," I knew I had to add it to this site. When I was working in Anderson, S.C., in 1983, my friend Charlie Bennett and I used to go out after work and play arcade games.

Editor's note: Weren't you 33 years old then?

And your point?

Editor's note: A little old for video games, weren't you?

Excuse me. You're 55 years old and in love with the Olsen twins.

Editor's note: That's different.

Why? Even if you add their ages together, they're only 44. You're old enough to be their grand -

Editor's note: Watch it. I don't think of them in that way.

What way?

Editor's note: You know.

Don't worry. I know you're not a creepy pedophile, but you should definitely remember the one about people who live in glass houses.

Editor's note: Oh, all right.

Anyway, Widgetbox is really cool, and I've added plenty of them to this site. But I knew once I saw Burger Time for the first time in maybe 15 years, I had to preserve it on this site.

Try it out.

It's fun, which is more than I can say for spending 18 hours a day watching "Full House" reruns.

Amazing colossal baby growing fast

Here's another update in the world of Madison Nicole Kastner, the most amazing baby in the world.

Editor's note: Not again. To listen to you, nobody ever had a grandchild before.

And your point?

Editor's note: There are thousands of babies born every day, and I'm sure some of them must have grandparents.

Hey, isn't it time for that "Full House" marathon you wanted to see?

Editor's note: Oops, gotta go.

Don't hurry back. Anyway, little Maddie, who is eligible to run for president in 2044 despite being born in China and not having a $150,000 wardrobe, had a checkup the other day. She was five weeks old on Friday and she already weighs 10.4 pounds.

At this rate, she'll be towering over the skyscrapers of Beijing before her parents finish their tour there next summer.

Good thing all the weight is muscle. Otherwise we'd have to put her on Atkins.

What's the big deal about gay marriage?

My friend Mitch is really worried about Proposition 8 on the California ballot in two weeks.

Prop 8 is designed to reverse a decision by the California Supreme Court authoring marriage between two partners of the same sex. Mitch, who calls himself an "orthodox" Christian (he doesn't like the term fundamentalist), likes the idea of gay marriage only a little more than he likes gin and coke.

In fact, when the court announced its decision, he was very upset.

"This gay marriage thing is terrible." "Why?" "I've been married to my wife for nearly 30 years. I don't want to have to divorce her and marry a man."

Now you and I both know that sounds goofy, but it's no worse than some of the lies the Christian Right is spewing in its efforts to defeat Barack Obama and keep Republicans in power. One of the groups teetering on the edge of the lunatic fringe is Focus on the Family Action, the political arm of James Dobson's group.

This group has publicized "A Letter from 2012 in Obama's America," basically saying that if we elect the Democrats, every single bit of the far-left's dream agenda will be implented during his first term. In addition, Russia will run rampant, the U.S. will suffer several more 9/11-type attacks and Tel Aviv will be destroyed by an Iranian nuclear weapon.

I don't want to go into the letter any deeper -- click on the link and read it if you want -- but Dobson's people basically warn young evangelicals who are voting for Obama because they like his idealism that they could be destroying America in the process.

The one thing that is obvious to me in this is that with Jerry Falwell dead and Pat Robertson selling vitamins, Jimmy D is trying to step up and become Mr. Christian Right.

Just as Republicans have been doing for 30 years to mobilize their base, the letter is about 90 percent "God, guns and gays." The rest is national security. Of course Jimmy cares very little about the economy, or Wall Street, or the fact that his beloved GOP has presided over an ever-widening wealth gap.

The good news is that most folks aren't listening.

Polls released today show Obama ahead in states like Indiana and North Carolina, and dead even in North Dakota and Montana. McCain and Palin are sinking fast.

In fact, my friend Mitch isn't as goofy as I said. Once I told him that if was against gay marriage, he should just stay married to his wife, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The even more amazing news?

He's thinking of voting for Obama.