Unlike NY’s 23rd District, we don’t have any marquee (perhaps “marquis” would be more apt, given who’s stuck their noses – and money – into that one) races in my town on Election Day, but there’s still stuff to vote on, and I feel obligated to go and be a good little citizen taxpayer. Plus it’s the last time I’ll get to use the lever voting machines that have served me well for the past 30 or so elections (and served my parents and grandparents before me). I don’t like any surprises when I pull that curtain closed, so I’ll be spending this weekend trying to decide how to vote.

First up are two NY State ballot proposals to amend the State Constitution (so I’d be definitely be interested in knowing what other NY’ers – like Sue – think about them). First up is (not surprisingly) Proposal Number One.

We have a clause in our Constitution called “Forever Wild,” which prohibits any development in the Adirondack Forest Preserve unless the State Constitution is specifically amended to allow it (instead, our old growth forest is being steadily killed by acid rain from the smokestacks of the Midwest). A constitutional amendment requires passage by two separately elected state Legislatures, and then must be approved by voters.

The following amendment was passed unanimously by the Legislatures that took office in 2007 and 2009, and is now being presented to the voters on Tuesday’s ballot as Proposal #1:

PROPOSAL NUMBER ONE, AN AMENDMENT
Amendment to section 1 of article 14 of the Constitution, in relation to the use of certain forest preserve lands by National Grid to construct a 46 kV power line along State Route 56 in St. Lawrence County.

The proposed amendment would authorize the Legislature to convey up to six acres of forest preserve land along State Route 56 in St. Lawrence County to National Grid for construction of a power line. In exchange, National Grid would convey to the State at least 10 acres of forest land in St. Lawrence County, to be incorporated into the forest preserve. The land to be conveyed by National Grid to the State must be at least equal in value to the land conveyed to National Grid by the State. Shall the proposed amendment be approved?

So, at first blush, it seems like, well, they get 6 and give us 10. Sounds good, right? Well, the problem is this: it’s already happened.

That’s right, as per the League of Women voters:

This amendment will make constitutional an action that has, in fact, already taken place. The NYS Power Authority, with the involvement and agreement of the interested environmental and municipal groups, approved the building of a back-up power line through forest preserve land to protect the health and safety of the residents of the village of Tupper Lake. The line was built and activated in May of 2009.

WTF? Sounds like a scam to me. If you’ve already done it, why should I retroactively make your illegal actions constitutional? Sounds like bullshit to me, but, then, (again, according to the LWV),

Before this new power line was built, the village of Tupper Lake had frequent power outages caused by damage to its single electrical supply line, principally from falling tree limbs in forested land along its route. There was no back-up line in the event of power failure, and during the winter alternative shelter had to be provided to village residents. This was considered an urgent situation that could not wait for the completion of the constitutional amendment process for relief, since it affected the health and safety of the villagers. The most environmentally friendly route for the new line traverses about two miles of Adirondack Forest Preserve land, affecting a small number of physical acres. While the new line could have been detoured to avoid forest preserve land, the detour would have involved a six mile cut through old-growth undeveloped forest and wetlands, endangering the habitat of wildlife. The chosen route along an existing road through previously cleared preserve land was judged to be more ecologically friendly. National Grid, the builder of the line, will compensate for the loss of existing preserve land by conveying new forest preserve land to the State. This new land must be of equal or greater value than the land that was lost. Environmental and civic organizations are supportive of this remedy to what was a serious and persistent public health and safety issue.

Hmm. So, it sounds like a good thing that I would have agreed with, and, while I’m somewhat inclined to vote against it (just ‘cuz they didn’t ask first), I suppose I’ll have to grudgingly vote for this one.

Next up, it’s (you guessed it), Proposal Number Two, which is yet another amendment, this time to article 3 of the NY State Constitution. This one “would authorize the Legislature to pass legislation to permit inmates in state and local correctional facilities to perform work for nonprofit organizations.”

Supporters of this amendment say that slave prison labor would provide under-funded non-profits with access to a “willing” labor force, and gives the prisoners a way to “give back” to the community.

That sounds all well and good, but it seems like this would be an incentive to under fund non-profits even more than they are already. It also seems like a slippery slope leading to judges imposing longer sentences to non-violent offenders in order to keep the “willing labor force” well-stocked, and Attica inmates stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart for kickbacks to the State.

Then again, some guy doing six months for DWI would probably greatly prefer (and benefit from) the ability to cut the grass at Catholic Charities or something, rather than rot in a cell 23 hours a day.

What with the state of the State budget these days, I think non-profits are gonna need all the help they can get, so, what the hell, put those prisoners to work. I hope somebody’s planning on keeping an eye on ‘em, though.

Now on to my important local races. First, the election for State Supreme Court Justice. This is one of those “Chinese Menu” elections, where you vote for any two people, even in the same column. Column 1 has a guy running on the Democratic, Republican, Independence, and Conservative lines. Well, f*ck him. Pick a team, pal. I don’t vote for people who are running unopposed, and I won’t vote for somebody that’s on every line. Just doesn’t seem ‘American’ to me. That leaves a guy running as a Democrat/Conservative Party candidate, and another guy on the Republican/Independence Party lines. Hmm. Tough call there. I don’t like Conservatives too much, and neither do I care for Republicans, just on general principles. I might have to write a couple of people in, here. Remind me to bring a pencil with me on Election Day.

Next up, County Court Judge. Easy one here, with a Democrat running against a Republican/Conservative, who’s an incumbent that’s been in office forever. When in doubt, I vote against the incumbent.

Moving along, it’s four more unopposed candidates. Two are on the Working Families Party line, so I may just break my rule and vote for them (I usually just vote the whole WFP row). The other two are SOL, though (makes me think I should have run for something).

Town Justice is an easy one: a happy looking-fat guy with a happy-looking fat wife and happy-looking fat kids who’s on the WFP line. Plus his opponent’s name is ‘Jokyl,’ which I have to assume is pronounced “Yokel,” and we have enough yokels around here as it is.

Finally, another Chinese menu list for three Town Councilors. Easy call there, with two WFP and one Dem, and my work is done for yet another year.

Now, off to don my biblical garb and head out to Trick-or-Treat, or maybe do some bobbing for beer bottles. Happy Halloween, y’all.

Somebody wrote a letter to the editor here, suggesting that parents have their kids dress up as biblical character to offset the pagan influence of Halloween. He wrote that Halloween “…has become a superstitious and empty way of imposing mindless triviality.” Funny, that sounds more like religion than trick-or-treating to me. He also writes that those who celebrate Halloween “are in reality celebrating death….” Unlike Good Friday, I guess. In the comments, one person suggested that adults dress up like priests and chase the little boys around. I thought maybe I’d dress up like Jesus (got the beard, but I think I look to Irish; if Jesus had been Irish, they’d have had beer instead of wine at the Last Supper) and bring a big bag of stones, which I would toss at people who are, themselves, with sin, yet cast aspersions on others. I’d need an awful lot of rocks, though.

Looks like you folks out in the Denver area have a little bit of snow to deal with. I see it’s supposed to heat up in the next few days, though, so no white Halloween for you. I say just call in sick ’til it melts. Speaking of heating up in Denver, the Nuggets opened the NBA season on fire last night, with everybody’s favorite former Orangeman Carmelo Anthony picking up where he left off in preseason, scoring 30 points, grabbing 8 rebounds, and handing out 5 assists. Let’s hope they keep it up. Everybody’s other favorite former Orangeman, Jonny Flynn, scored 18 points in his NBA debut, overcoming the flu (swine, no doubt) to help the Minnesota Timberwolves win their season opener over the Nets. Everybody’s other other favorite ex-Orangeman – Etan Thomas – only had 2 points in 9 minutes in the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season opening win. I feel kinda bad for Etan. I hope it’s OK (so to speak) for an articulate, outspoken black man to live in Oklahoma City. That’s enough sports, I guess (don’t have time to look up all the former SU players and see how they did, and I’m not really an NBA fan anyway), except I feel obliged to mention that the Phillies stomped the Yankees last night in Game One of the World Series. I’m not a Phillies fan (not much of a baseball fan in general), but everybody hates the Yankees, right?

OK, on to important stuff like politics. Yesterday, we brought you the shameful story of AR Blue Dog Marion Berry voting against HR 562, “Congratulating Syracuse University for winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Men’s Lacrosse Tournament.” His peckerheaded excuse was that “[h]e makes it a practice not to vote for any resolution honoring sports teams” (never mind that he sponsored a resolution to name a Post Office in his district after Hall-of-Fame 3rd baseman George Kell). Well, yesterday afternoon Berry voted in favor of HR 824, “Congratulating the Northwestern University Wildcats on winning the 2009 NCAA women’s lacrosse championship, and to commend Northwestern University for its pursuit of athletic and academic excellence.” Liar! This guy needs to be ridden out on a rail.

According to the AP, President Obama is considering sending more troops to Afghanistan – just not as many as the military wants. In other words, he’s just gonna stick it in a little.

Now, personally, I think it’s nuts to try and “nation build” in Afghanistan. It’s just not gonna happen, and things can only go from bad to worse. So my choice would be for Obama to ignore all the hawks and have the guts to weather the shit storm he’ll get from faux patriots and cowards like Dick Cheney and Fux News, declare victory, and get the hell out. But I’m willing to entertain the possibility that I’m wrong about that, so if he feels it’s really necessary to “win” over there, then he ought to make his case to We the People (including a specific definition of what winning consists of – no vague bullshit), and then commit as many troops as would be needed to occupy every cave and do whatever it takes to get the job done (likely hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of troops, and tens of thousands of US deaths), even if requires a draft.

Either do it or don’t (either it’s worth billions of dollars and thousands of lives, or it isn’t worth on red cent or one American – never mind Afghan – life); don’t try and have it both ways.

This epitomizes the Obama Presidency for me. Give a good speech about being bold and visionary, then try to have it both ways, with the result being you get nothing (except dead, if you happen to be one of the poor dead soldiers sent on a fool’s mission). It’s more or less the same thing that’s happened with health care reform (if we get a “public option,” it won’t be Obama’s doing), closing Gitmo, Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell…. Did I miss anything?

Speaking of the public option, the House unveils its version today, apparently not the “robust” version with rates tied to medicare, but with “negotiated” rates. So the House will go to conference from that much weaker a position (assuming the Senate can actually pass their version, which seems difficult, what with them having to rely on the likes of Joe Lieberman). Oh well.

“Expert” Chuck Todd is on the Today Show right now, reporting on Obama’s unexpected trip to Dover AFB to watch 8 dead soldiers being returned from Afghanistan. He just told us that one of the fallen was from “Terry Hot” Indiana. Seriously. That’s even more stupid than thinking the abbreviation for Arkansas is “AK.” 🙄

I see by the old clock on the wall, it’s time to head out to face the day. At least I don’t have to shovel the driveway (yet).

There are plenty of reasons to despise “Blue Dog” Democrats. But now one of these monsters – Arkansas Congresscritter Marion Berry (that’s Berry, not Barry) – has gone too far. On Monday evening, HR 562 passed 359-1. That’s right, 146 Republicans joined 213 Democrats in passing this most vital resolution. The one “nay” vote? Marion Berry. It’s high time we drove deranged Blue Dogs like this out of our government. If you live in Arkansas, I urge you to run against Barry in the next AR 1st primary.

The NY Times says Hamid Karzai’s brother – Ahmed Wali Karzai – is on the CIA payroll (which supplements his income from the opium trade). The CIA denies it, though, and they wouldn’t lie.

A cable on the Bay Bridge in San Fran snapped yesterday afternoon, prompting the closing of the bridge for repairs for at least 24 hours. Should make life pretty miserable for commuters in the area this morning (hope you don’t need to go that way, Vernon). It’s sad, but the way things have gotten in this country, I don’t know that I’d trust any bridge these days.

A car bomb in a Pakistani marketplace has killed at least 90 people (mostly women).

Otherwise, not much going in in the world. Joe Lieberman’s still an asshole trying to get somebody to pay attention to him. In other non-news, those two pilots have had their licenses lifted (I mean, really, you can screw off all you want, but you really ought to keep an eye on all those blinky lights and dially things in the cockpit – plus pay attention to the radio; they might need to tell you that you’re about to hit another plane or something). You have to wonder just what the hell these people are up to when they’re supposed to be driving the bus.

So, just to reiterate: if you have to leave the house today, stay off airplanes and bridges (and away from CT “Independents,” AR Blue Dogs, and Pakistani marketplaces).

So, the “Public Option” will be in the Senate version of health care reform (albeit with a state “opt-out” provision), assuming all the Democrats, Joe Lieberman, and Bernie Sanders vote for cloture when the Republicans try to filibuster. Olympia Snowe is very “disappointed” by all of this. Aw, poor Olympia. No more queen for a day. This is being hailed as a big victory, though I think we’ll have to see what the public part consists of – and what this opt-out really looks like – before we do any celebrating. Then there’s the whole House version, which isn’t set yet, and appears to not have the votes for a “robust” public option (which is thought to mean reimbursement rates set at the current Medicare rates + 5%). We also don’t know what it’ll cost to buy into the public plan. But Republicans and insurance companies seem to be really pissed, so it must be OK.

I’m really looking forward to next Tuesday, because I’m really tired of the negative campaign ads running on the lo-cal news (which is pretty much the only time I ever see commercials). It’s bad enough I have to watch these things for an election that’s not in my district, but since there are three people running, there are at least 33% more ads than usual (maybe more). There are ads by the Democrats attacking the Republican, ads by the Republicans attacking the Democrat, ads by the Conservative, attacking both the Republican and the Democrat – sometimes in separate ads, sometimes together – and now an ad by the Democrat attacking the Conservative (and his riverfront mansion and classic car collection). I haven’t seen an ad by the Republicans attacking the Conservative yet, but we’ve still got a week to go. It’s good for the local teevee stations, I guess (since it’s the only Congressional race going on – I think – the RCCC and DCCC are spending big bucks on ads, and the “Conservative” Party candidate – now backed not only by Sarah Palin and Michele Bachman, but also by Tim Pawlenty and Grampa Fred Thompson – apparently has deep pockets, too), but annoying for viewers.

Turns out those two pilots who missed Minneapolis had a good reason: they were on their personal laptops and lost track of time and ignored the radio. The claim to have been all involved with new scheduling procedures or something, but come on. I don’t buy that. As far as I know, Northwest flights don’t have the Internet, so what the hell could they have really been doing? Watching DVDs or something? Is that what they do up there in the cockpit? I mean, I’ve been known to spend a little time on the old computer at work (which is actually part of my job description), but I still answer the damn phone. Now, if they’d been bangin’ the stewardesses, I’d be more understanding. Personally, I think they suffered lost time due to being abducted by aliens, and either don’t remember what happened or aren’t willing to admit the truth.

Here in NY State, we’re about to be officially in the red as our General Fund hits a $1.4 billion shortfall. The Governor is calling a special session of the State Legislature (like that’s gonna do any good), and is proposing $90 million more in cuts to SUNY, $53 million to CUNY (City University), cutting $260 to state aid provided to each community college student, and getting rid of the $120 TAP payments for poor kids. I think he’s proposing even more cuts to school districts, too. As far as I can tell, that doesn’t come close to $1.4 billion (doesn’t even come close to the “.4” part).

Meanwhile, State residents are bailing out as fast as they can. Eight percent of population has left since 2000. Well, they’re not getting rid of me that easy. Unless my job becomes part of the budget cuts, of course. If that happens, I’m outta here as soon as my unemployment runs out.

Till then, I guess I gotta go to work.

I watched Milk last night (the movie, that is), and it reminded me that long before Florida was known for electile dysfunction, it was known for Anita Bryant. I’d kind of forgotten about good ol’ gal Anita. Her 15 minutes should have ended in 1959 when she was runner-up for Miss America, but she actually managed to turn a mediocre singing career into the prized position of FCC (Florida Citrus Commission) spokesmodel. Sadly, as is often the case with halfwits, bigots, and Miss America losers, she started to believe that people should actually give a shit about what she thought. Her third (and final) fifteen minutes of fame ended after she managed to galvanize the gay community against her twisted homophobic “Kristian” views. After divorcing, going bankrupt, and getting remarried, Anita tried to revive her singing career by playing Pigeon Forge Tennessee, but she was a bust (if you can’t make it there, you can’t make it anywhere).

The Obama administration continues to fall all over itself, trying to figure out where it stands on the “public option.” The only thing I can think of is that they feel a need to get one Republican to vote for reform, so they can pretend it was bipartisan. Either that, or they’re just as deep in the pockets of the insurance industry as the Republicans and Blue Dogs are. Or maybe they really just aren’t as smart as I thought they were. It’s not all that unusual, I guess. Good at running a campaign doesn’t necessarily translate into good at governing. Oh well, at least he’s better than Bush.

Basketball season officially began yesterday (if an exhibition game against a Division II team can be considered “official”), and the home team looked pretty good. I actually got to watch the second half, after schlepping my 3 tons of wood pellets down to the basement. Granted, they were only playing Cal State-Los Angeles, but for a first game barely a week into practice, they looked OK. Hopefully they’ll still be looking good next March.

Oh well, time to face Monday.

Oh well,

Not feeling particularly motivated this morning, so here’s a quick and dirty look at today’s lineup:

Press the Meat: Schumer, Cornyn, Erin Burnett, Andrew Ross Sorkinm roundtable of Jane Mayer Joe Scarborough, Dan Senor, Tavis Smiley.

Faze the Nation: John McCain, Russ Feingold.

Fux News Sunday: Abdullah Abdullah, Jon Kyl, Carl Levin, fuxheads.

This Weak: Mitch McConnell, Claire McCaskill, Laura Ingraham, Cynthia Tucker, Al Hunt, John Podesta, George :jerk: Will.

Fareed Zakaria: Hamid Karzai, Shashi Tharoor.

OK, back to moving pellets.

.

When asked about Dick Cheney’s criticism of Obama’s “dithering” on Afghanistan, Joe Biden said what I’d have said: “Who cares?” OK, actually I’d have said, “tell Cheney to go f*ck himself.” But then I’m no genius, since I didn’t watch Baby Einstein videos as a kid (since there weres no such thing as videos way back then – not for your home, anyway). Of course, if you or you kids watched Baby Einstein, you’re probably no genius either (if you bought them for your kids expecting them work for your kid, you’re definitely no genius. You can get a refund, at least (not sure if you have to sign an affidavit admitting your kid’s a moron or what).

A rather startling admission from Michelle Obama last night, that the liberal media is, in typical fashion, all but ignoring.

“He beats me quite often,” she said on NBC-TV’s “The Jay Leno Show,” appearing via satellite hookup from the White House. “That gets to be pretty annoying.”

Shocking, indeed. Though if you’d forced me to place a bet, I’d have guessed that she’d being the one doing the beating.

Sad news this morning, as I’m forced to admit that I agree with Lou Dobbs.

Fox Business News — their new hire John Stossel — weighing in with his own brand of myopic idiocy and no information whatsoever sat down with self-described rodeo clown Glenn Beck…what a self-important ass. … He doesn’t understand basic economics. … He’s just a silly little trick waiting to do some sort of Libertarian flip. […]
Immigrants wrecking America — I’ve never said anything close to that. As a matter of fact, I embrace immigrants to this country, I welcome them, I want more — and as a matter of public policy, we need them. In no way am I restrictionist, and to hear this ass continue his act over at Fox News. I just can’t wait until he starts blowing bubbles in the air — that’s about all he’s equipped to do.

Oh well, time to get ready for the day. I’ve got 6,000 pounds of wood pellets to drag to the basement (though I think I’ll save that joy for Sunday).

Looks like Granny gets to keep her job, as the NY State Department of Health has ended its mandate for health care workers to get flu vaccines – for both H1N1 and the seasonal flu. Governor Blinky is attributing this to a shortage of vaccines (supposedly the entire seasonal flu vaccine has been distributed, and drug companies have only managed to produce 23% of the anticipated amount of H1N1 vaccine), but I suspect its more like they thought everybody would roll over for them, and when there was resistance (and law suits), they decided it wasn’t worth it. They’re not giving up on the idea, though, intimating that they may bring the mandate back next year – providing there’s enough vaccine to go around. As for the lawsuits currently pending, they’re a little up in the air, now. Hopefully they’ll continue.

Speaking of Swine Flu, turns out you can catch it from living with a pig.

Rep. Joe Wilson’s wife Roxanne has been diagnosed with swine flu, the congressman’s office confirmed to CNN on Thursday.

Chuck Schumer, among others, will be in town today to officially announce that Indian car company Reva (the world’s largest manufacturer of electric cars) will be opening its first US manufacturing plant here. They plan to begin building their NXR model (introduced at the 2009 Frankfurt auto show) here. It’s a 2-seater which runs on lithium-ion batteries, does 65 MPH, and has a range of about 100 miles on a charge. It takes 8 hours to charge up, but has a 15-minute “quick charge” (good for about 30 miles) as well. That would cover pretty much all of my driving. They’re a bit on the pricey side (looks like they’re going for about €15,000 – about $22,500) for a 2-seat car, though. They’ll be starting out small – only employing 120 people to start – but hopefully these things will catch on. Aside from the obvious irony that now India is outsourcing jobs to the US, we could use the jobs around here.

Ever wished you were homeless, but have just gotten too darn accustomed to having heat, a roof over your head, indoor plumbing, and an actual bed? Well, now you’re in luck, as Dutch By Design is offering bedding to make it look like you’re sleeping on pavement with cardboard boxes for blankets. Don’t worry, 30% of gross (so to speak) profits on the rather overpriced goods go to a charity for homeless youth. And, really, what a chic way for those with a home and roof over their heads to simultaneously support and make fun of the homeless (or, if you’re not an asshole you could just donate directly, I guess).

You might have heard about an off-year special election taking place this year in one of my neighboring congressional districts – the NY 23rd. A special election was required when John McHugh stepped down to become Secretary of the Army. This district hasn’t been represented by a Democrat in a long time (it’s pretty hard to tell just when, what with all the redistricting that’s gone on over the years – NY’s districts have been severely gerrymandered by Republicans). This year, Democrat Bill Owens is running against “moderate” Republican Dede Scozzafava, and we’ve been subjected to a great deal of negative campaign commercials – particularly snotty ones paid for by the NRCC. What’s interesting this year, of course, is that Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman is simultaneously running against both Owens and Scozzafava. And now Sarah Palin has decided to weigh in on the race, throwing her support (for whatever that’s worth) behind Hoffman. All of which is good news for Owens, who’s in a good position to win the seat (for a year, anyway) with a decidedly small percentage of the vote. And with the census coming up, guess who gets to gerrymander now?

This just in: it’s illegal to be naked in your own home. In Virginia, at least. Now, I was pretty sure I once read that what you do inside you own home was up to you, and there was no way you could be charged with indecent exposure, whether you had your curtains closed or not. In fact, I thought it was quite the opposite – that there were “peeping Tom” laws that made it illegal to peer through the windows of private residences.

Big day today. Not only is it Friday, but we have 3 tons of wood pellets being delivered tonight. That ought to keep us nice and warm this winter. It ought to keep me nice and warm this weekend, too, as I’ll have to drag all three tons from the garage and down the stairs to the basement. That’s 150 round trips, which means my back will probably be a little sore by this time Monday morning.

Oh well, time to go.

It appears that, with a bit of a lull in the Balloon Boy story, there’s nothing much going on in the world. Well, except that Amy Winehouse’s dad likes her new boobs. That’s nice. I guess if you’re a young woman with a shithead for a husband and a drug problem, nothing will make you feel better than a little plastic surgery. As long as your dad approves, of course. I don’t really get the appeal, personally. Having grown up seeing my sister’s Barbi dolls in various states of undress, fake plastic boobs really don’t do it for me. I much prefer the real thing. I’m also not much for garish makeup or false eyelashes that make you look like you have a couple of bats glues to your eyes. But, to each his (or her) own.

In other big news stories, Rosie O’Donnell and her wife are having “issues.” Why I should care about that is uncertain, but there’s a mention of it on the front page of the HuffPost, so I know I should. I just wonder if I should be surprised or not (no offense to Rosie, but she strikes me as somebody that might be just a tad difficult to live with).

Speaking of gay people, I’ve never actually heard of Adam Lambert (I take it he’s famous), but why do the gay guys always get the girls? Just doesn’t seem fair.

I may be disappointed in Barack Obama’s presidency, but this study makes me glad I didn’t vote for John McCain:

Men who voted for Obama maintained stable testosterone levels, while men who voted for McCain saw those levels drop more than 25 percent.

Makes you wonder what happened to the PUMAs when Hillary lost the nomination.

Poor Glenn Beck. He’s apparently come to the conclusion that he’s relevant, and is now employing an armed bodyguard (despite nobody seeming to know of any threats against him). My guess is he picked him out of the Jeff Guckert catalog.

In the “they all look alike” department, fellow SU alum and MSNBC, um, anchor or whatever you call those people, Contessa Brewer called Jesse Jackson “Al Sharpton.” Both black, both Reverends. Eh, close enough.