Obama Rips Into GOP at Republican "Issues Conference"

Story here. Video below. Obama 2.0 = no more Mister Nice Guy???

Specter in Deep Trouble in Pennsylvania

Arlen Specter has been in the Senate for decades, mostly as a Republican. Last year, you'll remember, he switched to the Democratic side of the aisle under a starkly different American political environment.

He made the controversial move during the height of a newly elected Obama's popularity, when the Democrats, it seemed, could do nothing wrong and were on the verge of decades of Washington dominance.

As this story indicates......What a difference a year makes.

Ipad Review from Wall Street Journal's Tech Editor Walt Mossberg's

Will this thing be the new 'end all be all' gadget, or flop like all the previous efforts at a tablet computer?

Read Walt Mossberg's review here...

John Thune Coy with Hannity on Potential Presidential Run

Story here...

Thune is currently vying with Tim Pawlenty as the credible alternative to Mitt Romney on the GOP side for 2012....

YouTube: McCain seen mouthing ‘blame it on Bush’ when Obama outlines the problems he inherited.

story here...

Obama's First Year

Destroying presidencies has become the political game of choice for the opposition party in America over the past two decades.

It started with the presidency of Bill Clinton, who Republicans sued and impeached and spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars investigating for cheating on his wife.

It then continued with the presidency of George W. Bush--who we must remember wasn't actually ever elected in the first place. He was a catastrophically awful president--we had never had a worse one before him and will probably never have one quite as bad after him: dumb, lazy, violent, and stubborn. But Democrats did seem to take glee in making fun of him and opposing nearly his ever move and certainly did nothing to decrease the toxic levels of partisanship in Washington.

Fast forward to today and the Obama presidency, which just passed its' one year in office anniversary last week. The Republicans have opposed every single thing the President has tried to do, and they have been quite successful so far. The president's popularity has taken a big hit and the GOP is walking on clouds after taking Teddy Kennedy's Massachusetts Senate seat.

They too are salivating at the opportunity to destroy his presidency. Will they be successful?

Although it will ultimately depend on jobs and the economy, my take is that the Republicans are currently peaking and will only go down from this point politically heading into Obama's re-election campaign in 2012, which he will win in a landslide.

He's an incredibly formidable politician, and after all, what's going to be the alternative? President Palin??

YouTube: Arizona GOP Senate Candidate Hayworth Reveals Himself to be a Birther

Story here...

Tea Party Darling Rubio Leads Crist in Bellwether GOP Florida Senate Contest

Article on poll here .

Really long article from the New York Times published earlier this month on the Crist/Rubio Florida contest here.

In a sense this race is the race nationwide that encapsulates the current conundrum the GOP finds itself in: yes Obama has lost steam and yes there is an opening for the party to make significant gains this November in the midterm elections...

But will America actually support these fringe right wing wingnut types like Marco Rubio in Florida or J.D. Hayworth in Arizona?

And will these brutal intercinal warfare Republican primaries between the tea party wingnuts and moderates ultimately so damage the eventual winner that they lose in the general elections against their Democratic opponents???

McCain/Hayworth Arizona Primary Heats Up

Add the Republican Arizona Senate primary to the list of campaigns to keep an eye on this year as John McCain aims to fend off a challenge coming from his right flank in former House member J.D. Hayworth...

McCain has been long considered a untrustworthy turncoat by the hard right/wingnut 'base' of the Republican party and therefore must be very wary of this contest...

In the current, crazy 'Tea Party' environment present in today's GOP--I wouldn't be surprised if this race became very competitive. McCain losing is not out of the question.

Gloves Off! Gillibrand Attacks Ford in Increasingly Interesting New York Senate Race

“She needs more leg breakers,” said another longtime operative.

“If the unelected senator and tobacco industry apologist has a new strategy based on distorting Harold’s support for abortion rights and gay rights, then she’s not only a puppet of the party bosses, she’s a desperate liar,” Ford spokesman Davidson Goldin said.

FULL STORY HERE

Look, Harold Ford Jr. stands little chance of defeating the entire New York Democratic Party establishment and their candidate Kirsten Gillibrand in this summer's Democratic New York Senate primary...but he definitely will make this race very interesting for the rest of us New Yorkers....

2012 GOP Presidential Update

This article appeared recently on the ABC News political website and provides a tidy overview of who are widely considered to be the GOP 2012 front runners as of today--and what the 'pros' and 'cons' of their candidacy are...

Mitt Romney is the far and away front runner, with Sarah Palin a distant second. Tim Pawlenty and John Thune are the two dark horses...

But let's be clear here: Haley Barbour, Mike Pence, Gary Johnson, Rick Santorum, and George Pataki--listed on the list but not on mine (below) have a 0% chance of winning the GOP nomination in 2012.

SEE MINOR-RIPPER'S LIST HERE.

Carville Blasts Bush Administration in FT Article

Love him or hate him...the guy certainly knows a thing or two about politics....

John Edwards Sex Tape?

Man, could things get any uglier for one time presidential heavyweight John Edwards?

As the saying goes, many a powerful man has followed their stiff pricks into oncoming traffic.

With John Edwards, not only did he do the above, but he was hit by a double decker bus, then a semi....then a huge road paving truck. Perhaps the ugliest outcome of a extra marital affair that the world has ever seen...

Is Bayh in Trouble in Indiana?

Evan Bayh is frequently mentioned as being a major presidential candidate one day. Indeed, he finished a razor thin second to Joe Biden as Obama's VP choice last time around...

Handsome, articulate, moderate, and from an Indiana political dynasty--it would be a shock, an absolute shock if he were to lose his re-election campaign this November....

After Massachusetts, though, is anything a sure bet for the Democrats this cycle? Check out this new Indiana poll....

All Signs Pointing Towards Harold Ford Running for Senate in New York

That's what we can infer from this article, published in today's New York Times....

One thing's for sure: Ford is not lacking in the ego or self confidence department. The picture to the right pretty much sums up the guy.

It is brash, to say the least, for someone from Tennessee who lost an incredibly close Senate election there less than four years ago, to move to New York City, get a high profile investment banking job complete with fat cat bonus after the above said bank gets bailed out by the US Government...and then proceed to buck the entire Democratic party establishment to run for Senate as a New Yorker...

Chuck Schumer doesn't want him to run. Hillary Clinton doesn't want him to run. Barack Obama surely doesn't want him to run....This is a 'safe' (is anything really safe these days though after Massachusetts last week?) Democratic New York Senate seat that Ford is insisting on fucking with here...

Should be interesting.

Obama's Job Problem

The stock market might have been up twenty something percent in 2009, but the American economy still sucks.

The unemployment rate is hovering around 10%, and the real rate--including those who have just plain given up on finding a job, is much higher than that.

Having sucked on the bountiful, luscious tit of a wild, speculative and lucrative decade long real estate bubble, millions of Americans now find themselves out of work and deeply in debt. And pissed off.

Obama has only been on the job for exactly one year, but voters (or the pathetic number of voting age Americans who actually vote, anyway) are taking their anger out on him.

Is this unfair? Probably. Americans have become soft and spoiled. We demand our flat screen tv's, our luxury SUVs, our McMansions. Our drugs and expensive vacations...

Save money, reflect on life and what went wrong...improve ourselves and get a better job via education...????

Kick the bastards out of office!!!

Inhofe: ‘I believe in racial and ethnic profiling’ because ‘all terrorists are Muslims or Middle Easterners.’

Story here. Senator Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma is widely regarded as being the dumbest current sitting Senator in Congress--

Scott Brown: Return of the Yankee Republican?

Nelson Rockefeller was a moderate Republican.

George H.W. Bush and his father Prescott Sheldon Bush were, too, quintessential old school Yankee Republicans.

Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island was the last of the breed to die off, like the White Rhino, in 2006.

George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Glen Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sarah Palin dominate today's Republican party and they are the polar opposites of the above.

Crude. Bombastic. Appealing to the lowest common denominator....

Could Scott Brown be a force in bringing back the Republican party in the Northeast to its' historical Northeastern, moderate roots?

Let's give the guy a chance.

Palin Congratulates Scott Brown on Kennedy Senate Seat Win

The above title says it all, really.

My feeling is that Brown will be a 'liberal' Republican, otherwise he will be trounced in two short years (he was running to fill the remainder of Kennedy's term, not a whole Senate term).

Coakley by all accounts was an abominable candidate, but she would have voted the right way.

Sarah Palin, Dick Cheney, and Rush Limbaugh all enthusiastically supported Scott Brown --that's all you need to know about who was the 'right' candidate here...

The state of Massachusetts just got drunk and had a one night stand.....

Zogby Predicts Coakley Win

John Zogby Coakley Win
by hotairpundit

Rothenberg Predicts Republican Brown will Take Kennedy's Seat in Massachussets

This guy is not prone to hyperbole, either, in any way, shape or form.

One word. Wow. This is a political earthquake.

Crunch Time in Massachusetts Senate Race

Politico has a story on how things are playing out on the ground in this critical race.

Again, it would be a devastating, humiliating defeat if the Democrats would lose Ted Kennedy's Senate seat in the People's Republic of Massachusetts...

But that's exactly what Intrade.com, the political marketplace, is now predicting....

Could the people of Massachusetts actually vote a Dan Quayle like conservative Republican to replace Ted Kennedy???

On The Massachusetts Senate Race

Make no mistake about it, if the Democrats lose the Tuesday Senate race in the special election to fill Ted Kennedy's seat, it will be a humiliating disaster for the entire party, nationwide.

It simply cannot be sugarcoated. To lose Ted Kennedy's seat to an empty suit Republican like the one who is running--in near Socialist Massachusetts of all places, would be an unmitigated catastrophe for the party.

I still don't think it will happen, but it might. Here is the link to the political marketplace Intrade, which shows probably the most accurate prediction of what will transpire on Tuesday. I just find it unfathomable that a plurality of Massachusetts voters will elect a Dan Quayle like Conservative Republican to replace Ted Kennedy.

But then again, anything can happen politically in this country. George W. Bush was reelected in 2004.

Obama is campaigning there this weekend. Bill Clinton has been barnstorming the state. Republicans nationwide are donating millions to the challenger Brown.

The race has become brutally dirty and nasty....

Tuesday's result will be very interesting, to say the least....

Fox News Ignoring Haitian Catastrophe

Breathtakingly incredible...

Evil propaganda. We need to call it what it is.

Limbaugh stands by his Haiti remarks, tells critical caller she’s a ‘bigot’ with ‘tampons in her ears.’

story here

Axelrod Slams Rove

For about a year now Karl Rove has been spouting off in the right wing media--mainly the Wall Street Journal and FOX News, about how terrible Obama and the Democrats are.

Finally, Obama's chief political man David Axelrod has decided to respond.

Look, Karl Rove is a very talented political hatchet man: He succeeded in getting a rank dunce (George W. Bush) elected president twice--the equivalent of getting millions and millions of American voters to allow a trained chimp to be their Chief Executive.

That is an amazing feat and Rove deserves props for that. But he seems to think he's some policy wonk or deep thinker with regards to actual policy, and it's just not the case.

Most people wish he and the nightmare he was greatly responsible would just go away....

Limbaugh: 'We've Already Donated To Haiti, It's Called US Income Tax' (VIDEO)

Gingrich Considers Himself a Top Presidential Candidate for 2012

It's good that Newt feels that way about himself. Unfortunately, very few others outside of his immediate family probably share this view.

Actually, they probably don't think he's a serious candidate, either....

-- Sarah Palin, when Glenn Beck asks her favorite Founding Father: “Well, all of them.”

Hmmmm.....

Limbaugh: Obama will use Haiti to boost credibility with black community

Every Tom, Dick, and Harry Thinks Harry Reid is Finished

Make no mistake about it, the biggest election of the hundreds that will be taking place nationwide this November is the Nevada Senate race featuring Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The Republican hierarchy is literally salivating at the prospect of tasting this man's scalp.

That's because he has been so successful.

He came to power in the Senate when the Democrats were arguably at their lowest point--ever. In November 2004, after George W. Bush had remarkably won re-election and the GOP had managed to increase their then majorities in both the House and the Senate, Reid replaced the recently toppled Tom Daschle as the Democrats' leader.

Over the past six years Daschle has led nothing short of a national Resurrection for the Democratic party--from minority status to majority status in both Congress and the Oval office.

So, will Reid survive? The political marketplace Intrade.com currently has that likelihood trading at about 35%, so it would appear unlikely. But my gut instinct is to not sell Harry Reid, the former amateur boxer, short.

He will carry a vast financial advantage into the race, and the GOP is so eager to take him on that they have a handful of candidates in Nevada who very might rip each other apart.

And finally, perhaps most importantly....do Nevadans really trust Republicans more than Democrats?

All Class: Rush Limbaugh Says Ted Kennedy Had 'Negroes' Serve Him 'Booze' (AUDIO)

Sarah Palin Joins Fox News

Politics in America is really weird these days.

Not only are the two parties completely split, with absolutely zero bipartisanship going on, they both now have nearly official TV propaganda outlets spewing their talking points out....24 hrs a day, 7 days a week.

That's why Fox News' hiring of Sarah Palin as a 'special correspondent'--although nauseating and a making a complete mockery of any type of journalistic integrity or standards by Fox News (if they ever had any), should not come as a shock.

It is just more evidence of the complete polarization of modern American politics.

Who do you trust more, though, to make big governing decisions that affect your life: Barack Obama or Sarah Palin?

Video: McCain Defends Harry Reid Over Racial Remarks

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Could The Tea Partiers Form a New Political Party?

Sarah Palin's recent decision to blow off speaking at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC) convention in favor of speaking at a new Tea Party Convention is fueling rumors that Tea Partiers are headed towards launching their own political party with Palin serving as the de facto head of the party.

Sarah Palin has become a nightmare for the mainstream Republican party, who can thank John McCain for releasing her into the public vernacular-- like a bat out of hell, a little over a year ago.

A third party would serve to splinter the hard core conservative base, sending precious votes to a useless third party similar to what Ralph Nader and the Green Party did to Al Gore back in 2000.

Mitt Romney, obviously, would serve to be the big loser in all of this. Read his thoughts on the subject here...

More Great Excerpts from "Game Change" Book--Ted Kennedy's Anger at Bill Clinton

hat tip to Ben Smith...needless to say, this book has already been purchased by Minor Ripper

One of the enduring mysteries of the 2008 campaign was what got Ted Kennedy so mad at Bill Clinton. The former president's entreaties, at some point, backfired, and the explanation has never quite emerged.

I've finally gotten my hands on a copy of Game Change, in which John Heliemann and Mark Halperin report:

[A]s Hillary bungled Caroline, Bill’s handling of Ted was even worse. The day after Iowa, he phoned Kennedy and pressed for an endorsement, making the case for his wife. But Bill then went on, belittling Obama in a manner that deeply offended Kennedy. Recounting the conversation later to a friend, Teddy fumed that Clinton had said, A few years ago, this guy would have been getting us coffee

How Edwards Destroyed His Political Career

Powerful men have been destroyed by following their stiff pricks into oncoming traffic throughout history.

I reference Bill Clinton and Mark Sanford, just to name a recent few.

John Edwards' case was particularly dramatic, though. Perhaps because his wife was dying of terminal cancer at the time. Or maybe because he actually fathered a bastard child out of the affair...

This book 'Game Change' looks like it will be a must read, by the way....

Top 10 Michael Steele Quotes

--hat tip to politicalwire for this...

1. "Crazy nonsense empathetic. I'll give you empathy. Empathize right on your behind. Craziness."

-- Steele, explaining why he's opposed to empathetic judges.

2. "The problem that we have with this president is we don't know him. He was not vetted, folks... He was not vetted, because the press fell in love with the black man running for the office."

-- Steele, forgetting President Obama actually won a national election.

3. "Could you help a brother out? No more national conventions with 36 people of color in the room."

-- Steele, urging Florida Republicans to send delegates to the Republican National Convention who "look like Florida."

4. "It's not even really a web site."

-- Steele, trying to downplay technical problems with the redesigned RNC web site.

5. "I can say without hesitation that this government is totally theirs... Everything that comes out of it and everything that results from it is on their plate."

-- Steele, almost gleeful that Republicans lost the U.S. Senate race in Minnesota.

6. "Well, I'm the cow on the tracks."

-- Steele, explaining how he would stop President Obama's health care train.

7. "Our platform is one of the best political documents that's been written in the last 25 years. Honest Injun on that."

-- Steele, defending the Republican platform.

8. "If you don't want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way."

-- Steele, saying he's "done" with criticism from top Republicans.

9. "God has a way of revealing stuff to you, and making it real for you, through others. And if that's part of the plan, it'll be the plan... If I run it'll be because that's where God wants me to be at that time."

-- Steele, explaining how he'll decide if he will run for president some day.

10. "I'm the gift that keeps on giving."

-- Steele, stating the obvious.

Mitt Romney: The GOP Insiders Choice for 2012

But, as this article points out, that's certainly not necessarily a good thing for him...

George Allen, Hillary Clinton, and Howard Dean were also the choice of the party insiders this far out at similar times in the cycle, this far from the actual nominating process.

We know for sure that there a GOP dark horse candidate will emerge, one that the media will immediately fall in love with, then fall out of love with, then fall back in love with. One that could very well give Romney a run for his money...

But just who will that be?

Tim Pawlenty? John Thune?....David Petraeus?

The GOP Still has a Steele Problem

“I’m telling them and I’m looking them in the eye and say I’ve had enough of it. If you don’t want me in the job, fire me. But until then, shut up. Get with the program or get out of the way.”

STORY HERE

For all the current talk of the GOP storming back into power in 2010, one thing that can't be overlooked is the fact that they have an abject dunce in Michael Steele currently serving as party chairman....

For my money, Steele is currently rivaled only by Sarah Palin as the biggest buffoon in American politics. The two are neck and neck.

The more this guy opens his mouth, the less success his party will have in November. Don't be surprised to find him silenced. Soon.

Video: John Oliver Interviews Swiss Ambassador, Asks About Nazi WWII Neutrality

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Sarah Palin will headline first-ever Tea Party Convention

All Right!! Now we're talking! An actually Tea Party Convention next month in Nashville, Tennessee.

Headlined by none other than Sarah Palin!!!

This event is bound to provide reams of YouTube fodder for the rest of us....

Birthers, deathers, racists, freaks and wingnuts of all shapes and sizes....all in one place!

Japanese Man who Lived Through Both Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Blasts, Dies at 93

It's hard to fathom that a human being lived through both atomic bomb blasts, and I'm shocked this guy's story never got more publicity.

And you think you've had a rough past few days???

Incredible.

Petraeus 2012?

It's an interesting thought, anyway, and as this story indicates it is being discussed currently among the Washington political chattering class...

General Petraus would be well served to examine the failed run of fellow General Wesley Clark a few years back, though.

Clark couldn't raise enough money and came away pretty disgusted with the whole nominating process....Politics is very different than the military.

Daily Show:Even Better Than the Real Thing--Jon Oliver Reports the Glenn Beck Good Old Days in America

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Washington Rocked as Dodd, Dorgan Announce Retirements

The net of this news is that the Democrats likely will lose a seat in the Senate--that being Byron Dorgan's North Dakota seat--as the Daily Kos notes.

Dodd was severely threatened in his re-election in Connecticut anyway, and his retirement is actually very good news for the Dems.

It seems pretty clear that the Democrats will lose seats this November, but the question is how many?

Political trading marketplace Intrade has the Dems as 65% likely to hold on to their majority in the House as of this morning. So if you have strong feelings either way...trade away and make yourself some money!

YouTube: Ron Paul Slams Cheney on Terrorism

Definite brownie points to Paul on this one: 99 out of 100 top Republicans are scared shitless of Cheney and wouldn't dare criticize him--even in a case like this when it is totally deserving...

Wall Street Journal's Tech Editor Walt Mossberg's Review of the Google Nexus One Mobile Phone

By Walt Mossberg
Wall Street Journal

Google this week is taking two dramatic steps to try to catapult devices using its Android mobile operating system into stronger competition with Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry in the battle for supremacy in the super-smartphone category.


Google's Nexus One is the first Android phone that may make Apple nervous because it does a few things better than the iPhone, Walt Mossberg says. Additionally, the phone will be sold untethered to specific carriers.
First, the search giant is bringing out a beautiful, sleek new Android phone, the Nexus One, built to its specifications. Second, it has decided to offer the new phone—and future models—to consumers directly, unlocked, via the Web, and then invite multiple carriers to compete to sell service plans and subsidized versions of the hardware.

One carrier is ready to support the Nexus One on day one: the U.S. arm of T-Mobile, a longstanding Google partner. The new Google Phone, built by HTC of Taiwan, will cost $529 unlocked direct from Google, at google.com/phone. It will cost $179 from T-Mobile online with a two-year contract that will set you back $79.99 a month.

Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and Vodafone in Europe will sell the Nexus One eventually at subsidized prices that haven't yet been announced. All of this will take place on a Google-hosted Web site, a much easier way to buy a phone and service than is typical today, and one that promises to further weaken the power of the carriers.

The company also plans to sell the costlier, unsubsidized version to consumers in the U.K., Hong Kong and Singapore immediately. Like Americans who buy this unlocked version, these customers will have to purchase carrier service separately, something they should be able to obtain right away by just buying and inserting a SIM card from a carrier with compatible technology. (This initial unlocked phone won't work with Verizon or Sprint in the U.S., nor on AT&T's 3G network, only the latter's slower network.)


Google
The Nexus One has a larger screen than Apple's phone, and is a bit thinner, narrower and lighter—if a tad longer. And it boasts a better camera and longer talk time between battery charges.
I've been testing the Nexus One for a couple of weeks and I like it a lot. It's the best Android phone so far, in my view, and the first I could consider carrying as my everyday hand-held computer. It is a svelte gray device with a 3.7-inch, high-resolution screen; a thin strip of buttons underneath for home, back, menu and search; and a trackball.

The Nexus One finally has the right combination of hardware and software to give Android a champion that might attract more people away from their iconic iPhones and BlackBerrys. It has a larger screen than Apple's phone, and is a bit thinner, narrower and lighter—if a tad longer. And it boasts a better camera and longer talk time between battery charges.

Also, because it will be available on the large, well-regarded Verizon 3G network, the Nexus One could tempt American iPhone users, tired of problems with AT&T, to switch.

The iPhone still retains some strong advantages. It boasts well over 100,000 third-party apps—around 125,000 by some unofficial estimates—versus around 18,000 for the Android platform. And it has vastly more memory for storing apps, so you can keep many more of them on your phone at any one time. On the Nexus One, only 190 megabytes of its total 4.5 gigabytes of memory is allowed for storing apps. On the $199 iPhone, nearly all of the 16 gigabytes of memory can be used for apps.

Journal Community

Vote: Would you buy the Google Nexus One phone?
In fact, the $199 iPhone 3GS has roughly four times as much user-accessible memory out of the box, though the memory on the Nexus One can be expanded via memory cards. Apple also has a more-fluid user interface, with multitouch gestures for handling photos and Web pages.

As for the BlackBerry, its user interface looks older and clumsier with each passing day, but it has a beautiful physical keyboard many users love, while the Nexus One has a virtual, onscreen keyboard.


Google
The Nexus One is packed with its own tricks. Its version of Android is essentially the same improved edition as the one that appeared on the Motorola Droid back in November. But it has a few new features, including an experimental dictation capability. You just press a microphone icon on the keyboard and start talking, and the words appear. In my tests, this worked only adequately at best, and very poorly at worst, but Google insists it will learn and improve.

The phone also has handsome new visual features, including "live wallpaper," with waving grass or pulsing colored lines; and a new zooming effect when you want to view icons that aren't on your main screens. In addition, you can now view miniatures of your five main screens to help you navigate to the one you want.

The Nexus One also has all the key software features introduced in the Droid, including free turn-by-turn voice-prompted navigation.

In my tests, overall, the Nexus One worked very well. The latency I had seen in earlier Android phones is gone, due to a slicker version of the operating system and faster chips. The phone feels good in the hand and the screen is magnificent, with much greater resolution than the iPhone's.

I like very much the way social-networking information, including status messages, is integrated into the contacts app. One tap on a person's picture in Contacts lets you quickly choose whether to call, email or message her, or map her address—all without opening the contact card itself.

I also liked the pictures and videos I was able to take with the five-megapixel camera and flash, which I preferred to my iPhone's camera. You can even view a photo slideshow or listen to music when the phone is in the optional desktop dock.

But there are some downsides to the Nexus One. Like all Android phones, it relies too much, in my view, on menus that create extra steps, including some menus that have a built-in "more" button to display a secondary menu of choices.

I also found the four buttons etched into the phone's bottom panel sticky and hard to press. In addition, although the Nexus One claims seven hours of talk time versus five hours for the iPhone, most of its battery-life claims for other functions are weaker than Apple's.


For instance, Google claims just 6.5 hours of Wi-Fi Web use per charge, versus nine for the iPhone, and 20 for music playback versus 30. Google claims this is because, unlike Apple, it allows the simultaneous use of third-party apps, which can drain the battery faster.

In addition, the Nexus One, and other Android devices, still pale beside the iPhone for playing music, video and games. The apps available for these functions aren't nearly as sophisticated as on the Apple devices.

Finally, the iPhone is still a better apps platform. Not only are there more apps, but, in my experience, iPhone apps are generally more polished and come in more varieties.

But, with its fresh phone and bold business model, Google is taking Android to a new level, and that should ramp up the competition in the super-smartphone space.

—Find all of Walt Mossberg's columns and videos online, free, at the All Things Digital Web site, walt.allthingsd.com. Email him at mossberg@wsj.com.
Write to Walter S. Mossberg at walt.mossberg@wsj.com

Jon Stewart Video: January 4, 2010: The Best F**king News Team Ever - Tiger Woods' Faith

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FOX's Brit Hume tells Tiger Woods to become a Christian

Of course Brit! We all know Christians don't cheat on their wives!! Brilliant! Way to go Fox News!!!

Fox News guest: ‘If you are an 18 to 28-year-old Muslim man then you should be strip searched.’

Hmmm. And just how on God's green earth are we supposed to know who is a Muslim and who isn't?? Absurd. Racist. Ignorant. Xenophobic. Archaic. Caveman like.

Mitt Romney Already Openly Running for President

People generally don't just visit Iowa in January for the hell of it. Mitt's using the publishing of his new book as an excuse to really start campaigning in earnest. Let's hope Sarah Palin runs too, that would at least make things interesting.....

American Political Dynasties

The Hill has an interesting piece on some of the current multi generational political family dynasties in America today.

As a whole I do not support such politics. It is, after all, the kind of thing that spawned George W. Bush, and to me it smacks of old world (European) monarchies and feudalism.

America is supposed to be the world's first and only true meritocracy. Bloodlines should mean nothing.

Secret Service investigating effigy of President Obama hanged in Georgia.

How charming! These people are just lovely, aren't they! Happy New Year!! Merry Christmas!!!

YouTube: Gun Rights and Tea Party Activists Encourage People To Bring Guns To New Mexico Protest

Woo-hoo! Go get them guys!!

YOU DON'T AGREE WITH ME? HOW ABOUT I KILL YOU??

Eh?? How about those bananas!

2010 Midterms: Nevada a Bellwether

This is a very good article that appeared in today's Las Vegas Sun detailing the political landscape in the state of Nevada heading into the 2010 midterm elections...

Traditionally a conservative Republican state, Nevada voted for Obama last time around and has turned increasingly blue due to its exploding number of immigrant, mainly Hispanic, voters.

Republicans are big game hunting here, though, this election cycle and would like nothing more than to topple current Democratic Senate minority leader Harry Reid--who is currently showing great vulnerability.

If Reid loses, it would be the cherry on top of the cake in a year for big GOP gains nationwide...

Citing Experience In Hawaii, Multi-MillionairemLimbaugh Says U.S. Health Care System Is ‘Just Dandy’

Absurd. Delusional. Ignorant. (story here...)

And just think, tens of millions of Americans take this buffoon deadly seriously each and every weekday....

Scary.

YouTube: Ensign Ambushed on Sex Scandal

Senator John Ensign is a Senator from Nevada, who was once considered a potential GOP presidential candidate. Background on the below video here...

Gingrich: Obama cares more about ‘protecting the rights of terrorists’ than the ‘lives of Americans.’

Oh really, Newt? So you really think that, huh... (story here)

What a terribly nasty, hateful thing to say.

Has politics in America ever been filled with as much bitterness and vitriol as now?