It’s a sure sign of spring when the baby lambs are born. I love watching little lambs hop and run. It is always amusing to me that the mother sheep look a little irritated at their jubliance. A head butt hear and there keeps the baby sheep in line.

These sheep live near my house. If you have sheep nearby, go look to see if the spring lambs have been born!!!

When speaking of politicians, I usually reserve the term “moron” exclusively for Joe Biden and his debilitating case of foot-in-mouth disease. However, Obama really blew it in tonight’s debate, showing just how unqualified and dangerous a presidential pick he  is. But, being a woman of principle, I won’t be awarding any moron points tonight. Instead, I’m just hitting the highlights here of Obama’s most underwhelming moments.

Question: What sacrifices will you ask Americans to make? Obama starts talking about energy  (read: dodging the question) before offering some Marxist rhetoric and finally concluding that he will expand the Peace Corps. Obama’s asking us to support another big government program. I’m shocked! For the record, McCain talked about asking Americans to give up programs that aren’t working. Hmm…I can think of quite a few of those, can’t you?

Obama -Most small businesses don’t earn more than $250,000.  I’m still in shock over this statement.

Brokaw -”I’m just the hired help.” The most intelligent think Brokaw said all night! Yes. You ARE the hired help, Brokaw! You were hired to moderate the debate. YOUR OPINION DOESN’T MATTER. Get over it, you relic of the crumbling elitist MSM!

Question: How do you reorganize the US Strategy in Afghanistan? Obama – Says he’s going to make the Iraqi government take responsibility—Impressive! But HOW? How do you “make” the Iraqi’s do anyhing? I’m dying to know…

Obama – “Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan.” Let’s review…

From The Washington Post:

“When I am president, we will wage the war that has to be won. The first step must be to get off the wrong battlefield in Iraq and take the fight to the terrorists in Afghanistan and Pakistan.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/01/AR2007080101233.html

Hmmm…that sounds a little bit like an invasion to me. It must’ve to the Pakistani’s, too…maybe that’s why the immediately protested. (Read more from Gateway Pundit Here.)

The rest of the debate was just too boring and lame for me to waste any more of my time commenting on it. If you haven’t made the comparison yet between a man who has spent his entire life in service to his country, both as a war hero and as a Senator, and another man who did whoever knows what as a “community organizer” while maintaining friendships with his black supremacist pastor along with unrepentant terrorist William Ayers…well, nothing I say here will persuade you any differently.

With that, I wish you a good night, until the next debate!

While Joe Biden managed to avoid too many gaffes during the debate, he still told a bunch of outright lies…

From Michele Malkin:

1. TAX VOTE: Biden said McCain voted “the exact same way” as Obama to increase taxes on Americans earning just $42,000, but McCain DID NOT VOTE THAT WAY.

2. AHMEDINIJAD MEETING: Joe Biden lied when he said that Barack Obama never said that he would sit down unconditionally with Mahmoud Ahmedinijad of Iran. Barack Obama did say specifically, and Joe Biden attacked him for it.

3. OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING: Biden said, “Drill we must.” But Biden has opposed offshore drilling and even compared offshore drilling to “raping” the Outer Continental Shelf.”

4. TROOP FUNDING: Joe Biden lied when he indicated that John McCain and Barack Obama voted the same way against funding the troops in the field. John McCain opposed a bill that included a timeline, that the President of the United States had already said he would veto regardless of it’s passage.

5. OPPOSING CLEAN COAL: Biden says he’s always been for clean coal, but he just told a voter that he is against clean coal and any new coal plants in America and has a record of voting against clean coal and coal in the U.S. Senate.

6. ALERNATIVE ENERGY VOTES: According to FactCheck.org, Biden is exaggerating and overstating John McCain’s record voting for alternative energy when he says he voted against it 23 times.

7. HEALTH INSURANCE: Biden falsely said McCain will raise taxes on people’s health insurance coverage — they get a tax credit to offset any tax hike. Independent fact checkers have confirmed this attack is false

8. OIL TAXES: Biden falsely said Palin supported a windfall profits tax in Alaska — she reformed the state tax and revenue system, it’s not a windfall profits tax.

9. AFGHANISTAN / GEN. MCKIERNAN COMMENTS: Biden said that top military commander in Iraq said the principles of the surge could not be applied to Afghanistan, but the commander of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force Gen. David D. McKiernan said that there were principles of the surge strategy, including working with tribes, that could be applied in Afghanistan.

10. REGULATION: Biden falsely said McCain weakened regulation — he actually called for more regulation on Fannie and Freddie.

11. IRAQ: When Joe Biden lied when he said that John McCain was “dead wrong on Iraq”, because Joe Biden shared the same vote to authorize the war and differed on the surge strategy where they John McCain has been proven right.

12. TAX INCREASES: Biden said Americans earning less than $250,000 wouldn’t see higher taxes, but the Obama-Biden tax plan would raise taxes on individuals making $200,000 or more.

13. BAILOUT: Biden said the economic rescue legislation matches the four principles that Obama laid out, but in reality it doesn’t meet two of the four principles that Obama outlined on Sept. 19, which were that it include an emergency economic stimulus package, and that it be part of “part of a globally coordinated effort with our partners in the G-20.”

14. REAGAN TAX RATES: Biden is wrong in saying that under Obama, Americans won’t pay any more in taxes then they did under Reagan.

Her original post here.

Biden did make one pretty significant error during his bizarre rant about the function of the Vice Presidency, however. Biden claimed that Article 1 of the Constitution talks about the role of the Vice President.

“Vice President Cheney has been the most dangerous vice president we’ve had probably in American history. The idea he doesn’t realize that Article I of the Constitution defines the role of the vice president of the United States, that’s the Executive Branch. He works in the Executive Branch. He should understand that. Everyone should understand that.”

Here’s Biden’s gaffe: Article 1 is about the Legislature. It’s Article 2 that talks about the Presidency. Realistically, most Americans (including myself) wouldn’t catch a fact like that. Most Americans probably can’t even recite the preamble. It’s pathetic, but true. People are dumber these days! So, I’d be willing to cut Biden some slack, except for the fact that he’s running for VP of the United States. He needs to know these things! He’s the former chair of the Judiciary Commitee and a former constitutional lawyer. As Biden did so often during the debate, let me say make that statement again: He’s a former constitutional lawyer. For this I award Biden 1 Moron Point.

For Palin’s part, I think she did a nice job overall. I’m not going to say it was flawless. I wish she would have been more direct at times. But Palin did what the elitist democratic leadership just can’t manage to do. She came across as a real person, who understands real issues, who lives in the real world that the rest of us do. Americans are tired of liberal elitism and ideas that sound nice in theory but don’t work in the real world.

In fairness, Biden made some good points. But did he connect with people? Was there anything memorable about his performance tonight? These are the reasons Sarah Palin is on the ticket. She’s relational, she’s pragmatic, and she can regain the trust of the American people. Can we say the same about Biden?

In honor of the Vice Presidential debates tonight, I thought I’d post the clip of VP-hopeful Joe Biden claiming FDR got on television to address the nation when the stock market crashed. Only problem is, who was President in 1929 when the crash occurred? HERBERT HOOVER. And if that isn’t bad enough, when did the TV appear? Not for another 10 YEARS. Moron Points for Biden: 2

The best part is, Biden is talking about how important it is that a leader to be able to “instill confidence and demonstrate that he or she knows what they’re talking about.” I think he just clearly demonstrated that he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. Moron Points Biden: 3

Here’s my question: HOW did Couric not correct him? My conclusion: she wasn’t even aware of the errors! When I think of FDR, I think of his “Fireside Chats,” which were RADIO addresses. If Couric had half a brain she’d have remembered those too (really, you’d expect a journalist to know a little communications history!) Moron Points Couric: 1.

Yep, looks like Biden is the Ultimate Moron in this scenario, beating out Katie Couric by 2 Moron Points.

If Sarah Palin made a slip like that, don’t you think it would’ve been all over every news network in the nation? But there’s no liberal media bias in this country…

Coolest. Princess. Ever.

So, Andrew and I were watching Return of the Jedi tonight just for fun. For those of you who don’t know, my sister and I pretty much watched Return of the Jedi every day during summer vacation when we were kids. The only days we didn’t watch it, we were watching Raiders of the Lost Ark. Anyway, Andrew and I were watching Return of the Jedi. And I started to think of how much better Leia ever was than any of the stupid women in action movies these days.

Think about it. Leia is kick-butt from the very beginning. Leia never goes through a whiny coming-of-age phase like Luke does when he wants to go to Toshi station to pick up some power converters. No, the first time we see Leia, she has a blaster! This fact alone pretty much makes her the coolest princess ever.

I recognized your foul stench when I was first brought on board.

Leia insults Governor Tarkin when she smells his “foul stench,” thus displaying mental wit and considerable sass…not something we see from, say, Katie Holmes (or Maggie Gyllenhall, for that matter) in the Batman movies. (On that note, I’m glad they finally killed off Rachel and put her out of her misery!)

Also, who killed Jabba the Hut? That’s right–Leia! Bonus points for being able to kill him while chained up and wearing nothing but the gold bikini!

Make Jabba No Bargain...

All this, and Leia still manages to convey a distinctly feminine persona. She definitely has the most interestsing hairdos in the whole galaxy. And let’s face it, Leia is hot. So, we have a useful female character in an action movie who can kill bad guys, look hot in a gold bikini, and still manage to find time to braid her hair, all while playing a key role in a massive rebellion against an evil empire. Could any woman ask for more than that?

So, Princess Leia, we in the WOL salute you!! May you always live on as our favorite female character in an action movie. And may you continue to inspire generations of little girls to aspire to be more than a ditzy sidekick.  As Luke says, “You’ve always been strong.” And so you will always be in our memory.

I know the rest of the country is angry as usual with President Bush. (I think it’s that he didn’t respond to the Georgia crisis fast enough. Or he responded too fast. Or they didn’t like his response. Or they don’t like the way he says “Georgia.”) But I am extremely happy with President Bush tonight, because he bought me an iPhone! Yay! Thank you, President Bush.

In case you’re wondering, I didn’t actually get an iPhone in a gift box from George Bush.  Actually, my husband and I used our stimulus check for iPhones. Being the responsible citizens that we are, we felt the need to do what the stimulus check was designed to do–that is, stimulate the economy–so we went out and SPENT IT! And even better, we spent it on iPhones, which locks us into a 2-year expensive contract with AT&T…which means we’ll stimulate the economy each month when we pay our bills.  Yes, we are just that civic-minded.

Here’s the way I see it.  I pay a good deal of money (especially when compared to my gross income) every year to support a bunch of government programs that I am not using. Some of them, such as taxpayer-funded abortions, I morally disagree with. I don’t have a choice, though, so I pay Uncle Sam every April 15. Well, THIS time, a government program is benefiting ME, in the form of an iPhone. So, I figure I owe President Bush a thank you for paying for my iPhone.

Although, when you really think about it, all the government did with the stimulus package was give us back our own money.  So, lest we become too joyful, let us remember–the government takes off the top.  See, they are smart where ordinary citizens aren’t. They know that we citizens have a tendency to blow extra money on things like–oh, say, iPhones. If we were to have first crack at our money, the government knows they might not get what has apparently become rightly theirs. So, they do what we are too stupid to do and pay themselves first.

So, I actually bought myself an iPhone with my own money. Hmm…. So maybe, to be perfectly accurate, I should say, “Thank you, George W. Bush, for allowing me to use my own money to buy an iPhone.”

In all seriousness, I’m not sure whether the stimulus package is going to “work.” I’m not an economist. But I would venture a guess.  The economy has gained some steam in recent weeks and months, growing just under 2% April-June. At least for now, the “recession” is nonexistent (remember, you have to have 2 straight quarters of negative growth for a recession).

I’m going to guess that the stimulus package will have a modest positive impact on the economy. Sure, there will be some smart folks who actually save or invest their stimulus check.  But, let’s be real.  The rest of us are way too used to spending first and saving last to be able to resist spending at least some of that money. I’m not that good at math, but I figure if a whole lot of people spend a whole lot of money, that has to end up doing some good for the GDP.

As Barbara Streisand says in Hello Dolly, “Money is like manure. It should be spread around.”  Well, I just spread mine around but good! And did I mention I got an iPhone?

I’ve never been much of a political activist, but I decided to lend my advertising savvy to the John McCain campaign, free of charge. I’m sure they’ll never know how to thank me, but, out of the kindness of my heart, here is the WOL Top 5 List of John McCain bumper stickers and campaign slogans:

1.  YES WE CAIN!

2.  CHANGE: what you want have any left of, once Obama is elected

3.  McCain Got Brain (I’m also envisioning a gangster rap campaign jingle to go along with this one)

4.  Just say NO to the big O (bama)

5. I Left O-town on the McCain Train!

That’s all I’ve got for now, but I’ll post more if I’m so inspired.

I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with running. As in, sometimes I love it, sometimes I hate it, and sometimes I love to hate it.

From my early teens through college, I usually jogged at least a few days a week for most of the year  to keep in shape.  But, as often happens, I gradually got out of the habit of running, and soon found myself taking only the occasional jog.

I began to think my running days were over.  Perhaps it was for the best, I thought.  After all, running is really terrible on the joints, and bad backs do run in my family.  And I’ve always had that sensitive achilles tendon–I can never seem to really run the distance when it flares up.

But then, it happened.

I started to think about running again.  What would it be like to put back on my running shoes, to head out the door and leave the troubles of the day behind me in a trail of dust and sweat? What would it be like to be in shape again? To “run and not grow weary”?

Like an ex-boyfriend, I started to miss it.  Started to remember the way things were, when I was a runner.

I started talking to runners.  I snuck a peek at a training schedule for a half marathon. Would I–could I ever do something like that?

It was last week that it got the best of me.  I headed out for a walk in the blistering heat.  I’d walk through the grove near our house, I told myself. It would be nice and shady in there. No need to over exert myself in this heat. And then, it happened.  Glancing at my unsuspecting walking partner, my husband, I innocently asked, “What if we ran every other block?  You know, just until we get tired.”  And we did.  And it felt good.

Then today, it happened again. It was after dinner, not the time I usually like to run.  It was still hot and the air was thick outside.  But still, I couldn’t resist.  I laced up my runners and headed out into the twilight.  Yes, I walked a few blocks when I needed it.  But for one glorious half hour, I was running again.  I ran to the edge of our neighborhood, which backs up to a giant field. I was greeted by the most beautiful sight: on the horizon, a beautiful pink sky was melting into a blood red glow.  I stopped for a moment to admire the beauty all around me. This is what we were meant to do, I thought.

I still haven’t decided if I’ll officially return to running. It’s not one of those activities I like to dabble in half-heartedly. It’s all or nothing. But it’s OK. I’m not rushing a decision at this point. The way things have been going, I have a feeling we’ll figure it out, running and me, whether we are meant to be together or not.

It’s Sunday night.  It’s hot outside. I’ve taken to my favorite spot on a hot summer night such as this: on the couch, in front of the TV, with a Dairy Queen Blizzard to keep me company.  Ordinarily my husband would be keeping me company, but he has understandably chosen not to join me in my choice of evening activity: watching the Miss Universe Pageant.

Definitely the worst thing you could possibly do for your self-esteem is to do exactly what I’m doing: forgo your workout for ice cream in front of the TV while watching a bunch of bikini-clad babes parade around in their fake tans. But, there is a flip side: Miss Australia might have a bone-thin body, but then again, she can’t eat this Blizzard I’m enjoying (that is, if she can eat at all).

Now I know some people are naturally skinny, and it is possible to maintain a very thin physique and even be able to eat some healthy food now and again. It also helps when you’re 6′ tall (or close to it) and all of 19 years old. Nonetheless, during the bikini competition, I found myself cheering at even the hint of a love handle (oh, okay…a hint of a hip bone that wasn’t painfully protruding through the skin).  “Hey, she has muscle!” I exclaim. And then, looking at my Blizzard I ask, “Do you think maybe she eats?”

All kidding aside, I know many of these women are extremely talented and hard-working.  Just take it from the trusted voice of pageant host Jerry Springer. He assures us that these women are, after all, “some of the most stunning, self-assured, captivating young women.”  I don’t know about you, but I’ve been waiting my whole life to hear Jerry Springer say those words about me.

Perhaps the highlight and the lowlight of the program both came from Miss USA Crystle Stewart.  She stated, “I don’t feel pressure to be thin” and credits pageants with having taught her to be healthy and physically fit.  Healthy and phyiscally fit are two things American’s aren’t, so I appreciate the positive life choices she has made.  The lowlight, however, came when for the second year in the row, Miss USA took a fall during the evening gown competition.  Ouch.  So I guess we learn 3 powerful lessons from Miss USA: Be healthy and fit, and if you fall on your skinny little bottom, laugh it off and get back up again.

I have to credit Miss Mexico for being the Miss with the Most Brains. I think out of all the top 5 finalists who had to answer questions (oh, for those of you who don’t know, if you aren’t pretty enough to get to the top 5, you don’t have to worry about using your brain), her answer was the most coherent and also the most direct response to the question.

My overall criticism of the pageant must be leveld at not the contestants, but the administration.  While they did have a national costumes competition, everything else about the pageant was overly and unmistakably western, from the clothing to the typically western sleek, long hair (long live extensions), jewelry, and makeup styles.  Also notably absent from the Miss Universe Pageant were any contestants from other parts of the universe besides earth.

While I do find much to admire in the Miss Universe contestants, including their hard work and dedication, I have to conclude that ultimately, the pageant is an empty pursuit.  The world applauds sexiness, thinness, glamour, and the pursuit of physical perfection.  The outward and external are celebrated.  But it has been my experience that what we often neglect are the only things of lasting importance: who we are inside and what we leave behind for those we love once we’re gone.  Now, a pageant focused on those things? That would be something worth seeing.

Barack Obama says our children should learn to speak Spanish.  I’ll talk more about that later, but first, can anyone out there provide an answer with a credible soure to the question “Does Obama himself speak Spanish?” I’d also be interested in whether or not his children speak Spanish, but I realize that is more difficult to determine.  Also, by speaking Spanish, I don’t mean give me an example of a time he’s read a few Spanish words or phrases from a teleprompter. I mean: can we determine with certainty whether he has studied the language himself or ever spoken it on at least a conversational level.  Let’s find out, people!