All Hail The Snuggie!

It has been an awfully long month and ten or so days. I have been in the basement for the entire time waiting for Tom Brady to come out and do something stupid. That did not happen...yet. I was waiting for Matt Leinart to get caught on some fools Blackberry Storm video in another hot tub with seventeen year old SoCal co-eds with the wrong end of a beer bong shoved down his throat. That hasn't happened as far as I know. Instead his team the Arizona Cardinals inexplicably are in a conference championship game led by a the biggest Jesus freak in NFL history. Tom Brady, for his defense, is still trying to rehab from a knee surgery that his family vet completed some months ago after a feigned injury in the first game of the year. We will find out when he is trying to get into the Hall of Fame that he actually got injured in his S&M chamber.

We are now getting ready to actually put a new President in the White House. The end of one of the worst segments in American history might actually be over. I have been increasingly convinced that the last years was an absolute nightmare of epic proportions and I have little hope that anything will happen to break the spell...at least in the next two to three years. To watch one of the great companies of the last twenty five years, Circuit City, all of the sudden implode and thus causing 35,000 additional jobs to be lost. Whose counting...aren't we now up to three million or so lost jobs? Watching Circuit City blow up like Lindsey Lohan after a three day coke binge was sad. Watching the Farewell (and Good Riddance) President Asterisk tour wind down with impeccably staged and banal speeches was re-traumatizing. I did not need to see that. I was better off watching re-runs of the Cosby Show on some distant channel. I don't frankly know which is worse...watching President Asterisk state with absolutely no sense of guilt or shame or empathy or anything resembles humanity that he may or may not have made mistakes and that some people say that he made the wrong choices or watching his Vice President nod off during the thirteen minutes of his speech the other night in the White House. Was he nodding off when he shot someone on a hunting trip? In my wildest dreams I hope to see both of them wearing Snuggies getting on the helicopter out of town so they can meet the Mother Ship that will take them to the alien hot bed of Texas. Of course I could dream. Meanwhile President Oprah will now take the reigns of one of the biggest messes that any President has probably ever taken on. I wonder if it's too late to turn down the job offer. He's pissed enough already about having to maybe give up his Blackberry (He shouldn't. I wouldn't.) That might be a deal breaker right there. I can hear him saying the following: "It's OK that the economy is in the worst shape in seventy years and we are hated the world over and we have been locked into wars with no end and Jim Rice made it into the baseball Hall of Fame, but if I can't keep my Blackberry Curve then I am not taking the job. Take this job and shove it." He gets sworn in on Tuesday. It's not too late. If he doesn't get sworn in then what happens? Does the Sham-Wow guy get it? What about the person who thought that the Snuggie would make an excellent gift for...Halloween when you want to dress up for the next Star Trek convention or be beamed up.

So we are a few weeks from the Super Bowl. We have the Ravens and the Steelers in one game which will resemble a fifty car pile-up on a foggy interstate in California and the Cardinals and the Eagles that will resemble a carnival ride in Berlin. I am somewhat surprised that the Ravens are in the conference final after somehow taking advantage of one of the biggest choke jobs in history as the Titans found every way to blow the game with turn overs, penalties, and paying off the referees to ignore the play clock on a key third down play. I do not expect the Steelers to blow it as big as the Titans, but it is possible. There is precedence of the Steelers tanking a conference championship game that they should win. Maybe Big Ben's post motor cycle accident syndrome we hit him and he'll choke and throw like three picks while the Unibrow wearing Joe Flacco manages the game (circa Trent Dilfer) and Ed Reed runs a pick back for a TD. It could happen, but I sort of doubt it. The Cardinals are an interesting story. They get destroyed late in the season by the Eagles and in the snow to the Evil Empire. Everyone (except me) picked the Falcons to beat them. What do they do? They shock Carolina (which was over-rated anyways) in Charlotte and end up hosting the Eagles. Kurt Warner is on his way to his own Snuggie ad when his career is over. I see it happening. What I am hoping for is that he gets beamed up to purgatory during the game allowing for a hung over Matt Leinart to enter the game. That would be classic. However, I won't be watching because I am preparing for the alien invasion.

A Disclaimer

This is a disclaimer regarding advertising on this blog. I am sure that everyone has noticed that there are often ads pertaining to gambling, Boston Celtics gear, anti-Obamaism, and anti-democratic partism. These ads are more than likely a complete contradiction to what I have actually written in the blog.

For the record:
1. I am not a fan of the Boston Celtics. I am not a fan of the New England Patriots. However, since I mention them so many times in this forum there inevitably will be ads trying to get readers to buy their gear. I personally wish that the Patriots would be kicked out of the NFL and forced to play in the CFL. I wish for Coach Hoodie to eventually be nailed in some sort of porn ring and spend fifty years in prison for a RICO violation.

2. Though I joke constantly about gambling, I only gamble with my life. No, just kidding, I do not advocate gambling excessively with money. I do not gamble with money. If I did I would be dead. Why? Because either a gangster bookie or my significant other would kill me. It would be a race as to who would get to me first. I bet on my significant other every time.

3. Throughout the last year I have referred to our President-Elect as Oprah Obama. I gave him that name because she hand picked him to be her candidate just like she picked chick books, the horrific Dr. Phil, and her man-friend who really isn't her man-friend. The power of Oprah is smeared all over the election. However, I do not feel that Obama bought the election. I think that Oprah did. In the end, I was in complete support of Obama once he got the nomination because when compared to McCain he was the better choice. McCain was not to be trusted because he has been in politics for too long and his policies were a mirror image of President Asterisk. He also picked Sarah Palin as a running mate which appealed to people who watched way too much TV, smoked a million unfiltered cigarettes a day, and drank too much regular Coke.

4. I am not a Democrat. I am not a Republican. I am not a jaded Communist. I am not in favor of selling off California to the Mexican cocaine cartels. I am not in favor of giving the state of Minnesota to Canada in exchange for a six pack of beer.
I am politically an independent. I am an equal opportunity basher of politicians and their parties. If you are an absolute moron I do not care who you represent or what your party affiliation I will bash you. I have bashed every President since Jimmy Carter in one shape or form. If a politician does something absurd, stupid, idiotic, or illegal then I will jump all over them. I do not prescribe to a political party. I will go for the candidate that I think is the best choice based on my values. End of story.

I can not wait for the day that the advertising on my blog actually matches my positive view of certain things. I do not choose the advertising on my blog. The wonderful folks at Google using some sort of magic formula of doom do so in a back room somewhere. Of course, does any one really want me to choose the advertising on this blog? I mean, really, do you?

It's Time For A New Path

I have been in a blue funk for the last several days. People can't stand being near me. I am not sure what has set me off on this blue spiral. I am sure it is stress, but I am wondering if it is some other issue. I am not in the mood for joking and being sarcastic. I am more bitter than usual, which takes my ranting from a humorous level to simply dark. Frankly, I am more angry than usual. I am wondering if I am walking the wrong path. I am wondering if where I am now in my life is where I need to be or want to be. I am pulled in enough directions as it is and I am tired of the burns.

In the fall of 1992, I voted in my first Presidential election. At the time I was looking for a change in the country. I found the current White House occupant at the time to be desperately out of touch with the people and even reality itself. He had dug himself into so many holes with the economy that nobody believed what he saying. Even his grandmother...er...wife did not believe anything that was going on.

Personally, my life at that time was changing drastically. I was at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia in my senior year as an undergraduate. I was a psychology major and I was beginning to weigh my graduate school options. I was running out of money faster than Paris Hilton and needed to figure out a decent plan to get through graduate school in the quickest amount of time so that I can reach my goal. My goal was to become a psychotherapist. More specifically, for children. In high school, my first love was a young woman who was intensely beautiful and deeply depressed and self-destructive. At the time, I became curious as to why a young woman who was both beautiful and young would be so depressed to the point that ending her life seemed like a reasonable option. I also became determined to obtain the knowledge to help her and others like her. Hence, instead of teaching I went into psychology with the goal of being a "counselor". It was a fateful decision. I went on to VCU and did very well...at least with the academics. I spent the years with my first love trying to keep her literally off the ledge. Her penchant for complete self-destruction was daunting for me as I had little knowledge of what to do to help. It became impossible. In order to save myself, I decided that I would split with my first love. This proved to be traumatic for both me and her. In the late summer of 1992, the first love of my life was dead. On the night of August 14th, 1992 she took a combination of sleeping pills and OTC pain medication. On August 21st, the decision was made to let her go. At the time, I had no idea what was happening. I was in San Francisco and no one from her family had bothered to contact me because they had blamed me for her self-destruction. By the time I had heard what had occurred all the funerals had been completed. One funeral for her adopted family.  The second funeral for everyone else.  Her adopted family had mourned in private and eventually shut all the windows and doors to their daughter's life. And I was alone. I was alone to deal with all the guilt, trauma, devastation, and sadness. I have been dealing with her ghost ever since. It is her ghost that has driven my career. It has been her ghost that I have chased. It is her ghost that is burned into everything that I have done professionally.

In the fall of 1992, Bill Clinton won the White House as a telegenic handsome and smooth talking orator who preached the need for change. I was deeply moved to see the country change in a hopeful direction. It was a fantastic moment.

Sixteen years later, I am dealing with a ghost and chasing my own demons around the block. There have been days where I believe that the ghost is gone. Other days the ghost rides with me in the car the sixty miles up to work every day. I am not sure I even know what I am doing at work anymore. I have totally lost touch with who I am and why I am even there. When I look into the mirror I am not sure who is looking back. One day my confidence is high and the next it is rock bottom. One day I may feel that I have succeeded and the next day I am burned in effigy and I am the one holding the match.  Right now, I am in need of a change.  What that change will exactly entail I am not sure.  I do not expect that I will be at the same place of employment in the near future.  It is time for me to step backwards into the woods and gain the perspective that I need to move forward and beyond the chasing of ghosts and my own need to self-destruct.  This has been a long time coming.  I have traveled this road that has been narrow with the abyss on one side and salvation on the other.  I trust the abyss, but not the salvation.  It is the abyss that I have seen many fall into.  It is the abyss that I have looked over and danced with it's guardian angel.  It is the smoke of the abyss that is both intoxicating and noxious.  It is now at this time that I seek to find the perspective that I need that has been surely lost.  It is time to make a change.  It is time to step back in order to step forward.  The ghost of a lost love who has passed on will still live.  She may be a mile a way, a thousand, or a few feet.  She will be there.  She gives me the direction and the drive.  It is the ghost that also leads me to the abyss and the temptation that lies beneath the smoke, clouds, and mirrors.  In the end, it is time for me to change into what I will be.  However, the current question is whether or not who I am now is who I will be once all the dust clears.  It is time for a new path.

As we look at our country, it is sorely in need of a dramatic change as well.  On Tuesday, the country spoke loudly that we ourselves have stepped backwards into the woods and saw clearly the abyss that America is falling head-long into.  We have found someone who has instilled hope and vision for a better future.  A change from the disastrous path that our current administration has taken us.  Our way life now threatened by those outside our country who now hate us more so than ever before and by the enormous unchecked greed of corporate institutions that chased the dollar down the rabbit hole and took everyone down with them.  This country needs a major overhaul.  This country needs a new perspective.  Sixteen years after the country, dizzy as it was, picked a telegenic orator of change, we have picked another who has inspired many and has given many hope for a better path.  Last Tuesday I was also moved to tears.  Not because our country elected it's first African-American President, but because the country took one step into the woods, looked at itself in the mirror, and decided to forever change it's course once again...to a brighter hopeful future.

Alas, my pro picks.  

Mick's luck ran out last weekend when he went 2-3.  Dippy lost his mind apparently and went 1-4.  I went 4-1 so they are both out this weekend.  So far for the season on all NFL picks I am standing at 48%.  This is in the 4th percentile of all players on wagerline.com.  I am doing great!

Without the humor on this sobering post:

I am taking New England (-3.5) over Buffalo, Arizona (-9.5) over San Francisco, Green Bay (+2.5) over Minnesota, Carolina (-10) over Oakland, and Atlanta (-1) over New Orleans.

Yes, You Can Bet On The Election!!!

As I said in the last post, the election is over. At least the Presidential election is over. After 30 years of primaries, conventions, debates, and disturbing ads we are at the eve of another Presidential election. Most people I have talked to who know a lot more than me about politics suggested to me that the turn-out rate will be around 80%, which will cause absolute chaos tomorrow. This chaos will result in not knowing much of anything solid until 2 a.m. Eastern time. There will be long lines and there will be people crying foul because people will still be in line in some states as the polls close. Most states have refused requests to change the time polling ends. This will be a significant factor if things get close in key states and they will. However, in the end the election is over. I expect that Obama will win tomorrow in the end. I gave my endorsement of him in my last post and I am not budging from that position. One thing that is not over regarding this election is the betting.

Leave it to me as a degenerate gambler to try to get my gamble on with the results of this election. Right now, the odds of victory stand 1-7 for Obama and 4-1 for McCain. This means that anyone betting on Obama using those odds will not win any money because he is such a huge favorite. Best to bet straight up if you can find anyone silly enough to bet against Obama. No where have I found an electoral vote spread for the election. Based on the polls in every state, the electoral college spread should be 169 votes in favor of Obama. So with this in mind and the fact that there are six states that are considered toss-ups I will handicap tomorrow's election results.

Obama (-169) vs. McCain

This is the spread for the electoral college votes in the end. This spread was based on the poll numbers for each state. However, there are so many possible factors that could cause the voting in specific states to swing one way or the other. Obama needs 270 to win. I believe he will get 311, which will result in a spread of 125. I do not think that Obama will win all the states that he is favored to win and also think that many of the toss up states will go to McCain. Obama will get enough to win, but he's not going to cover.


Florida

The big toss-up state that is leaning currently towards Obama. A high voter turn-out in this state especially with Latino voters (many of which will be first time voters) will cause this bitter contest to eventually in Obama's corner.


Georgia

I would be shocked if Obama won Georgia for obvious reasons that I really do not want to get into. If he does win it will show that the state of Georgia has permanently changed politically as a result of the millions of transplants from the Northeast and the West crowding into Atlanta's suburbs. It won't happen this time. McCain will take this state in wider margin than expected.


North Carolina

Read the Georgia entry. Same thing applies to North Carolina. McCain is leading in the polls in NC and he will win comfortably. Also, if you all in NC elect McCrory as your governor then you get the rain of locusts that you deserve for doing it. He was bad for Charlotte and he will be bad for everyone else. Don't say I did not warn you.


Indiana

As a state bordering Obama's I thought that this state should be leaning towards Obama, however it is leaning towards McCain. McCain has strong support on the ground in Indiana and I expect that he will win as a result.


Missouri

The urban and suburban centers of Kansas City and St. Louis plus higher voter turn-out than expected will result in an easier than expected win for Obama.


North Dakota

If this state falls to McCain then there should be an immediate resolution to send this state to Canada. This state is leaning towards Obama and it will stay true to form.


Montana

Does anyone really think that Obama has a chance in this state? The fact that this is a toss-up shows how well his campaign has done. In the end, this states meager 3 votes will not matter much especially after Obama gets California, Washington, and Oregon later in the night.

My Presidential Endorsement And Mick's Picks

Mick the Cat did better than me in making pro football picks last weekend so he is back to make more picks. He has gotten pretty cocky now and is walking through the house with mass amounts of bling stating he had gotten it all from his "winnings" in Vegas. And the damn cat has never been to Vegas. Insane.

Dippy is out of jail now on some sort of technicality. Apparently he got a ton of evidence thrown out of court as it was gotten illegally. Something about not having a search warrant or something. Chain of custody issues. Whatever. He wants to make some picks on pro football for this weekend, but is not sure he should make too many comments about his state of affairs or any state of affairs. Dippy has had more legal charges than anyone in a pirate bear costume should have. He is the only one who celebrates Halloween everyday...or maybe not.

Then we have the magic that is Mike Singletary. Days after the greatest head coach debut news presser ever in the history of organized sports we find out that 49ers head coach Singletary is basically insane. We find out that during half time of his very first NFL head coaching game he dropped his pants and mooned his own team. Why? To illustrate how the Seahawks were kicking their asses. How did the 49ers play after Singletary literally showed his ass? They played worse. On the list of things not to do as a football head coach at any level (except the CFL) is to show your ass literally to your own team. That ranks on the list around with setting yourself on fire, getting arrested for DUI's, killing your pregnant girlfriend, and selling porn. You just don't. Just don't do it. Take off your pants in your own house. Not in the locker room in front of your players. Not in your car. Not outside in a park. In your own home. At this rate of sanity decline, Singletary will not make it past this season which would be very unfortuneate because he is quite entertaining.

Let me just say that the Presidential election is over. Unless something crazy happens such as Obama being caught on tape with a crack pipe or running from reporters at a hotel where his mistress is hiding their love child then Obama will win the election. There will be some nervous moments until the polls in California close, but it's over. The result of this election really has as much to do with the state of affairs in the country than the candidates themselves. I am reminded of 1992 when Asterisk Sr. was running for re-election during an economic downturn and appeared totally out of touch and a dynamic, younger, image conscious Bill Clinton used the third party candidate and a wave of change talk to win the White House fairly easily.  Times are darker now.  The economy is in a deflation (which is worse than inflation by the way) and is on the verge of a deep depression (not a recession which we are already in, but a depression).  Our military is stretched thinner than Tom Brady's condoms fighting a war that it should have never fought while struggling to keep any gains from the war we should have fought.  At this point, Russia is in better shape than we are.  In 1992, a vote for Asterisk Sr. was a vote for more of the same failing policies that were in place under Reagan and his hand maiden.  Now, a vote for McCain is a vote for more of the last eight years of Captain Asterisk's mad cowboy vision of America that has led us down the rabbit hole into oblivion.  It is also a vote for lowest common denominator of arrogance and ignorance.  This is personified by the GOP Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin who is as appealing as Rosanne Barr singing the national anthem and just as ugly.  Palin represents everything that is wrong with the GOP.  She is trite, out of touch, out of ideas, blind, fraudulent, and boorish.  Though I am not a huge fan of Oprah Obama he does represent at least a different direction...a refreshing change.  He appears to be in touch with what is actually happening at the ground level.  He appears to have a vision.  He appears to have empathy for people.  He appears to be calm and thoughtful under fire.  He has a connection to people and strives for it.  His ideas and policies make more sense in this trying time.  He presents an energy towards going forward as opposed to going sideways.  He's brighter, more energetic, more intelligent, and more in touch with reality.  Sure, he is not that experienced.  I have to ask though.  Do we really need experience?  What has experience gotten us?  Don't we need someone who may have some level of objectivity?  As you can guess I am endorsing Oprah Obama.  This is without any reservations or hesitations.  His election will be a world changing event.  In a flat world, this would cause it to flip...just like Hammer's house.

Now your pro football picks:

Houston at Minnesota (-4.5)

Why am I picking this game?  Well, I have a soft spot for Minnesota.  The Vikings have not met expectations this year so far.  It is not too late for them, but when you have Gus as your quarterback I do not know how far you're going to go.  I honestly don't know anything about Houston.  Do they still have a team?  Does anyone watch their games?  Are they still the Oilers?

Take the Vikings.

Dippy:  My gerbil is smarter than any fox I know.  Matter of fact your cat is smarter than any fox I know.  Take Houston.

Mick:  Houston.

Pittsburgh at Washington (-1)

I really like what is happening in Washington.  I hope that it is sustainable.  Has Campbell thrown an interception yet?  They escaped being beaten by a no-loss team in Detroit.  Not sure exactly what your are going to get from this team.  Their games against Cleveland and Detroit were not real convincing.  However, they are 6-2.  A win is a win.  Pittsburgh presents a big test for this team.  It's a test that I don't think they will pass.  Take the Steelers.

Dippy:  Did you notice that as we are writing this stupid entry that your Bulldogs are being killed.  I mean prison raped by Florida right now.  Georgia is the most over-rated team that I ever seen.  They are more over-rated than Spam.  More over-rated than Madonna.  More over-rated than any movie that Richard Gere has been in since 1992.  Take Washington.

Mick:  Washington.

Dallas at NY Giants (-9.5)

The Cowboys are like the Raiders except with more talent.  More talent means that you should win more games.  More talent with a coach who is a marshmallow means unmet expectations.  TO will be doing sit-ups in his drive way by December 1st and this will be his last season in Dallas.  He'll be playing for Atlanta next year.  The point spread for this game is too high.  I think that Dallas will keep it close and eventually lose.  I know how good the Giants are, but they are also over-rated.

Dippy:  Fox, did you ever consider visiting me in jail?  You didn't.  You did not show up.  You were too busy.  You were too busy chasing women and money around.  Too busy making stupid bets on-line.  How much are you down by now?  The Giants are great.  Eli Manning is playing better than his brother.   Coach Tom's head hasn't melted off yet.  Take the Giants.

Mick:  Giants.

Detroit at Chicago (-12.5)

I am pulling for Detroit.  Not to win.  No.  Not at all.  I want them to complete the perfect season.  I want them to lose all 16 games.  I think they can do it.  Sadly, I think they'll actually win their last game of the year against a team that has nothing to play for and will be playing JV high school players.  Nonetheless, I want the impossible dream to happen.  I was broken hearted when Miami somehow beat Baltimore for a win.  I hope to not be so disappointed this time around.  The point spread for this game is also too high.  Detroit has been playing people tough.  I don't think the Bears will cover.  Take the Lions.

Mick:  The Lions.  Of course.

Dippy:  Only a loser would pull for another team to go 0-16.  Take the Bears.  

Atlanta at Oakland (+3)

Beat the teams that are not as good as you and play well against the teams that are better than you.  That is exactly how it has played out for Atlanta.  They have lost to three teams that are way better than they are.  The Falcons have beaten teams that are much worse than them.  The Raiders?  I think that they are in the category of teams that the Falcons should beat.  Take Atlanta.  Take that #47!!!

Dippy:  The Raiders are better than the Falcons.  No, just kidding.  The Florida Gators are.  At least we can say that the Gators are a ton better than the over-rated Bulldog team that have killed today.  I love it.  I love watching your team get slaughtered and burned.  The Falcons will make it perfect weekend for Georgia football by going to Oakland and watch DeAngelo Hall score a pick six off of Ryan.  Take the Raiders.  Is there a pool on the Crypt Keepers death?

Mick:  Raiders.   

What Am I Doing Here?

As I am watching Bob Costas sleepwalk his way through the Olympic prime time segment of the Beijing Olympic marathon every single night, I am wondering why I am here sitting in my kitchen with six month old mail piled up all over the place with nothing to write about.

There does not seem anything in my mind that is happening that really appeals to me as a subject of writing. The Russians signed a truce with Georgia and agreed to pull their troops out of their advanced positions in Monday. Well, it's Friday, and they kinda sorta have moved a little bit. Meanwhile, they blew up a key bridge just for giggles. Nothing to write about here. None of this news was very surprising. I considered sending Russian President for Life Putin a letter stating that he had made his point and could now pull back his troops. His point was that Russia is back as a military force ready to push around other countries again that dare rattle their cage and that the US is so spread thin that they will not make a move to protect one of it's stated allies. This fact must make the Ukraine, Poland, Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania feel very secure. The Ukrainians are extremely worried that they are next on the list of Russian prom date massacres and have stated as much in their discussions with the US and their neighbors who are also quivering. The Russians in the last five years poisoned a presidential candidate, cut of gas and oil supplies, and massed troops at the border just to menace their border guards. Ukraine is Russia like Kansas, Iowa, and Nebraska are to the US...key agricultural land, which Russia is sorely without. What? Siberia is not a place to grow corn?

So do I talk about Michael Phelps who, by himself, made the Olympics relevant again in the US? What is there to talk about that has not already been said? Phelps is a phenom. Phelps is the most gifted athlete in the last two years. He has more gold medals than any other athlete ever in any sport. Phelps looks like he is 15. He seems quirky. His diet is somewhere around 12,000 calories a day, which is 11,990 calories more than the Olsen twins combined consume in a day. What I wonder about Phelps is when he chooses to pack it in as a world class athlete (what else does he have to prove?) and hangs up the speedo racer suit that helped everyone break world records this year, what will his diet be like then? Will he continue to consume the Olsen twins every day? If so, will he bloom out to the weight of Tony Soprano or Marlon Brando? Will he then end up on The Biggest Loser? If he ends up on that show, then I am watching that. I am not watching him swim again. There's no point in that. No real drama there. But, ten years down the line when he weighs 463 pounds and is on a reality TV show trying to lose weight because he can't stop eating large pizzas with pepperoni every night followed by a 54 oz. milkshake from Sonic? That is something I want to see.

What about writing about the upcoming election? What is there to say about a botox addicted grumpy Republican running against Oprah? What is exciting about that? One married into $100 million dollars and the other....umm...umm...umm...I don't know...he probably has $100 million in a slush fund in Grenada. Who knows? My only thought right now is that I am praying that Oprah Obama does not pick my governor as the VP candidate. First off, selecting Tim Kaine would be a disaster for him and the state of Virginia. Kaine has no national Q rating. He really is not someone that would inspire those undecided voters in Oklahoma or Texas to vote for Oprah. If the state loses Kaine then all bets are off in Virginia and everything that he has gained here will go completely out the window. He also would get to opt himself out of the biggest budget mess that Virginia has seen in 15 years and we simply can't allow that. It's a rule. You're not allowed to leave office with a $1 billion deficit early. No way. You've got to stay and deal with it. Gov. Terminator in California is dealing with it so must everyone else. My message to Oprah Obama is to pick Wesley Snipes as his running mate.