Stevie Joe Has More For You About Katrina

"Katrina's Hidden Race War" as published in The Nation.

Reading is fundamental,
Stevie Joe Parker

More from Stevie Joe on Racism

Another useful eight minutes or so:

Feelin' a bit down about some folks,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Looks at Racism in 21st Century America

And here I thought that David Duke was hiding under a rock somewhere.  This is a well-done report.  It's worth the 8-1/2 minutes (trust me).

Yikes!

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe's Sustainable Christmas

So, old Stevie Joe has been pondering his options for this year's round of Christmas shopping.  What with the economy being in the crapper and all, I'm trying to be careful with my selections.  I've been thinking about how to make our economy more sustainable since it seems that this whole notion of buying and using more and more stuff ain't gonna last for long.  I mean, how long can we keep shipping bottled water halfway around the world?

During my in-depth research on the matter, I came across a little project that the folks at Patagonia clothing are doing.  It entails examining the economic and environmental impacts of some of their products.  It turns out that the polyester shirt made in Thailand might use less electricity, create less waste, and be a better overall use of resources than an organic wool shirt made in the US (or something like that).  In any case, the answers aren't always as clear cut as we might imagine.

Patagonia has a big section on their website devoted to this project.  They call it The Footprint Chronicles.  There are detailed videos and slideshows illustrating each step of a given item's manufacture.  Trust old Stevie Joe when he tells you that you can spend a great deal of time looking at all this stuff.  Maybe the price you pay for their merchandise is worth it after all.

Sustain is not just a sign of a good guitar,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and Holiday Music

CNN just ran a story about the best and worst holiday music. Personally, Stevie Joe is not a big fan of holiday music. It seems that every year a whole new bunch of pop artists feel compelled to record their versions of old holiday tunes. If the old songs are so hot, why don't we just listen to those instead of new versions?

Anyway, this story ran on for nearly three minutes without a single mention of "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer."  How can you do a story about annoying holiday songs without mentioning that piece of crap?  That has got to be the numero uno annoying holiday song.  

Best holiday song?  "Run run Rudolph" (original Chuck Berry version).

Ho ho ho,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Thinks Peace Is a Pretty Good Idea Most of the Time

Given our own recent mandate for change, it seems fitting to try to reduce the violence around the world a wee bit. Check out these folks with their own Roadmap for Peace.

Peace out,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Is Proud of his Fellow Hollerites

The election is upon us, and I've had some time to reflect on how the folks here in Junebug Holler have approached the whole deal. See, on a national level, things have been pretty ugly. Sometimes, it goes that way around here, too. When Junior goes and does something stupid like falling asleep drunk in the thorn bushes outside the fire station, we'll give him plenty of grief about it. But we all love him anyway.

When Sarah Palin spends $150K on clothes or John Edwards spends $400 on a haircut, we might laugh and joke. However, we don't let that affect how we are going to vote. Just like Junior in the sticker bushes, it's all irrelevant in the end. So, Dickie Jensen delights in referring to Barack Obama as "Toby," but we know that, as dumb as he is, Dickie is more thoughtful than that.

I'd like to think that it's my influence on the unwashed masses of Junebug Holler that has produced this effect, but that's not quite true. Underneath all the silliness and drama, we're good folk here. Some will vote Obama. Some will vote McCain. When it's all over, we'll get together over some coffee and Denver omelets and discuss it as friends.

Here's to a fine, peaceful election,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and Opie Cunningham

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Heeeyyyyyy!
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Does It Again - WOOO!

Sorry,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Apologizes

OK. In retrospect, I have to admit that the Sarah Palin video that I posted was a little juvenile. I certainly don't wish Gov. Palin any harm. The video fed off of my own frustration with her answer to that particular question: "What newspapers and magazines did you regularly read?" Of course, she can't give any specific answer because she'd be admitting that she listens to the liberal elite "gotcha" media. Plus, "Terry Tate's" face at the end is priceless.

To make up for that little faux pas, here is a very intellectual and enlightening piece about the two candidates for president:



He didn't say it in front of the UN so we should be OK,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Can't Stop Laughing

Watch until the end. Trust me.

How about "Stevie Joe's Journal of Pain?"
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Finds Fellow Genius

Here's a smart fellow.  Read all about it here.  He sure doesn't hold back.

Hemp, you say?

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Loves Zombies

And no Photoshopping either!

It's the time of the season,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and the Economists

Some economists give their thoughts on the presidential election here.  No word on whether they agree with old Stevie Joe on the Wall Street Bailout (but why wouldn't they?).  Still, it seems that they prefer Obama over McCain.  Check it out.

Laughing at the Laffer,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and the VP Debate

The finer folks of the Junebug Holler community came over to the Parker estate last night to watch the Vice Presidential debate.  Like the rest of the nation, there was more interest in this event than in the Presidential debate.  Junior, for his part, came to watch because he thinks Sarah Palin is kind of hot.  He sat over on the davenport with a pillow on his lap. 

In any case, our interest did not remain piqued for long.  Even the resident John Birch Society members of the assembled citizenry had to wince just a little at every "maverick" reference.  Add in a few "darn rights" and "heckuvas" then top it off with a "everyday American people Joe Six Pack hockey moms," and by the time we heard "I may not answer the questions that either moderator or you want to hear, but I'm going to talk straight to the American people" we were ready to switch the satellite on over to the Cubs-Dodgers game.  That proved to be even more depressing, but that is another subject for another time.

What irked me about the whole thing was not Biden's goofy grin or Palin's struggle to avoid electoral suicide  but the whole irrelevance of it all.  It's a game, a distraction.  Arguing whether the lipstick belongs on a pig or a pitbull has become the national equivalent of rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic.  

This debate did not have record ratings because Americans were hungry for information on which to base their vote.  Folks tuned in because the eighth season of American Idol doesn't begin until January.  While the country analyzed Sarah Palin's french braids, Congress passed a $700 billion Wall Street Bailout.  

Now, do you think the average voter knows more about the bailout bill or how many times Sarah Barracuda winked during the debate?

Getting the goods for your reading enjoyment,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and Some Guy with a PhD in Economics

Some smart guy agrees with Stevie Joe about the Wall Street Bailout plan.  Read all about it here.

Favored by most smart folk,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Is Back!

I know what you're thinking, "Where the heck has Stevie Joe been?" Well, I'll tell ya. I've gone underground to prepare for the upcoming class war. Now, there ain't much further underground than Junebug Holler. So, I went down in the basement to conduct some pondering.

I figure that the class war is already on. Most of us just don't recognize it. The upper class has been carpet bombing the rest of us for a few years now, but we've been too busy watching American Idol to notice.  Being a peaceful man myself, I've been thinking on how to fight back without, well, actually fighting.  After all, they've got unmanned drones and cruise missiles and what-not.  We've got TiVo remotes, but I don't think they will be of much help.

Some hope has finally appeared on the radar:  the failure of the Wall Street Bailout.  Now, this will likely be approved in a few days, but for a few brief moments, America stood up and said "No!"  

The politicians, including both Obama and McCain, have insisted that the poor saps who oppose this plan are just too stupid to realize that it benefits everyone, not just the financial tycoons.  We just need it explained to us without all the big words.  However, these folks might be ignoring two possibilities:

1)  The American people aren't that stupid (although I have been burned by overestimating the intelligence of the average citizen before) and just don't believe what we are told any more.  Who says that the bailout is good for the average guy?  Wall Street.  Frankly, their credibility is a wee bit suspect.

2)  The American people accept the fact that the collapse of Wall Street will be bad for everyone, and they want to do it anyway.  Maybe, Americans are ready to bite the bullet and  live through another Depression just to see the financial markets wiped clean and begun anew.  Folks are tired of the super rich getting richer and richer.   

In any case, it's just a small sliver of hope shining through the darkness that the Great American Spirit is ready to reappear.  If so, I offer a Great American Hero for guidance:

Looking for a place for my stuff,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and Alice

Pretty trippy.

Far out,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Ponders Peace

Just yesterday, I saw a fella wearing a t-shirt that said, "Peace Through Superior Firepower."  That got me to pondering about how I think of peace.  "Superior firepower" sure didn't fit my definition, but maybe it could.  As I sat whittling away at a branch that fell out of my Silver Linden tree (which tends to drop an awful lot of junk on my lawn, but that's another matter), it occurred to me that having military superiority could achieve peace in one of two ways.

First, you can use the threat of force to get the other party to submit to your demands.  This avoids armed conflict (and thus, preserves peace), but it does so through coercion.  This is the oppression of one party by another.  It might be the most expedient way to achieve some end, but it is still coercion.

Second, you can use actual force to create peace.  Using force in this manner is not peace in itself but a mechanism that may lead to peace.  It does this be either convincing the opposing party to surrender and submit, which gets us back to coercion as discussed above, or by eliminating the other party.  Using force to create peace in this manner is genocide.  This strategy is rarely successful as other parties will object to the genocide and intervene.

This might be what bothers me about concealed-carry gun laws.  In general, I believe that folks should just be allowed to do as they please as long as they don't bother anyone else.  Yet, the concealed-carry thing bugs me a bit.  See, folks claim that if ordinary folks can carry concealed weapons, then the bad guys will never know who might have a gun.  This may dissuade them from doing their usual bad guy stuff.  If it works, it does so through the threat of force.  Nobody has to actually shoot the gun.  They must only create the fear that someone might shoot a gun.

The downside, or the thing that bugs me, is that this requires all of us to live under this fear, this threat of force.  The lower the likelihood of someone whipping out a gun and shooting it, the calmer I am.  That's just me.  

Anyway, the difficulty in all of this is figuring out the alternative.  So, if we don't use "superior firepower" to contain our enemies, what do we do?  We have to learn to make peace.  That's what, and it's a heck of a lot harder than making war.  Making war is easy.  We're good at it.  Making peace is hard.  It's a continuous process.  Once you have a bad guy with a loyal army, it's already too late.  

Same thing with crooks.  Catching them and locking them up is simple compared to the task of preventing them from becoming crooks in the first place.  That's hard, but it's worth trying.  Same with making peace.  

I think that's what JC would do, anyway.

Peace out, 

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and Public Service

Things are just a mess.  Take a look at politics today.  Who'd be fool enough to run for public office?  Here in the Holler, we got ol' Mayor Barney as our local chief executive because nobody else in town wanted the job.  There aren't any perks (well, not any that an honest man can come by).  Yet, the mayor gets those phone calls from Mrs. Frenchak complaining that the streetlight outside her parlor window is too bright or that Junior's dog, Junior Junior, is peeing on her rose bushes.  Nobody, not even Mayor Barney, has the heart to tell her that the odds are even that it's actually Junior himself.

On the national level, consider the race for President.  This is some rough business.  So rough, in fact, that I think it's having a detrimental effect on the whole country.  

Take a look at the Dumbocrats latest efforts to lose yet another election.  Hillary Clinton is shocked, just shocked, that Nancy Pelosi had the audacity to suggest that the nomination should go to the candidate with the most votes. 

Let's put aside for the moment the fact that leaders of both national parties have now casually discarded the notion that our leaders should be selected by popular election.  Apparently, the will of the voters is no longer all that relevant.

What is interesting about the Pelosi incident is the response from the Clinton campaign.  They rounded up their biggest financial contributors and had them write a letter to Ms. Pelosi.  In this letter, they suggested that she re-think her position or else they may stop all financial contributions to the Democratic Party congressional campaign.  That's right.  Hillary Clinton is blackmailing her own party.  Things better go her way, or she'll help the Republicans regain control of Congress.

Talk about scorched-earth strategy!  This is the state of politics in the US today.  Do you think that this is good for our nation?  Me neither.

"Nice party you got there - it'd be a shame if anything were to happen to it,"

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe, Eliot Spitzer, and the Mortgage Crisis

Everyone knows about Governor Eliot Spitzer's dramatic fall from grace, but there was another story buried beneath all the headlines.  That story was Spitzer's Washington Post commentary explaining how the Bush administration willingly aided banks in their predatory lending practices.  Some have even alleged that the timing of Governor Spitzer's scandal was orchestrated to minimize the effect of this commentary.  

Well, ol' Stevie Joe doesn't know about that, but it is an interesting column nonetheless.  Check it out here.

Denying that I have a client number,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe's Easter Message

Here to hoping you all have a great Easter. Be sure to listen to Jesus Christ Superstar (the original 1970 album, not the later soundtrack) like the Good Lord intended.

Peace,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and the Cost of War

Stevie Joe's Holler Update

Stevie Joe is just getting over the flu, and, boy, did it kick my behind! My body was so sore that I couldn't sleep. Of course, Mrs. Stevie Joe thought I was making it all up as an excuse to lay in bed and get outta doing chores. So, this morning, I licked her toast when she wasn't looking.

In other news, Juanita and Jimmy are fighting again. Lord knows what it's all about this time. They are both so hard-headed. To get Jimmy's goat, Juanita has been hanging around Junior. Everyone knows that Junior is sweet on Juanita. Jimmy has responded by hanging out with Dickie Jensen. As a result, the Great Ambulance Feud of 2008 gains two new combatants.

Now, Juanita and Jimmy are both holding their noses on this one. Hardly anyone except me can stand Junior, and nobody at all can put up with Dickie for any length of time. But as they say, strange bedfellows and all . . .

Toast lickin' for the truth,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe's Breakfast Woes

The Holler is sinking its way on out of winter.  Snow has given way to mud.  The county roads are all busted up from the frost heaves and thaws.  There is just a touch of that organic smell of spring in the air.  Not quite winter yet not quite spring.  Instead, tension has settled in town.

You can cut it with a Stihl chainsaw.  See, there is a feud brewing between Junior and Dickie Jensen, and it has made the morning gossip sessions at the Junebug Cafe and Internet Lounge downright uncomfortable.  When Junior called the ambulance to get Dickie Jensen's nekkid behind out of his bed, he didn't realize that he was going to be charged for the service.

If the EMTs had simply removed Dickie, that would have been bad enough.  However, they went and took him to the hospital where the docs looked him over.  How they could have examined Dickie Jensen and decided he was good to go is beyond me, but home is where they sent him.  Maybe, they just wanted to get rid of him.  I know the feeling.

Of course, Dickie had tried to refuse transport and treatment, which is his right.  The problem was that the EMTs have to be assured that a patient is competent to make such a refusal.  In Dickie's case, such a judgement is questionable on a good day.  A nekkid Dickie just ain't gonna convince anyone.

So, there is a $650 bill to be reckoned with.  Of course, Junior and Dickie disagree about who should pay.  And then there is the matter of who could pay a $650 bill.  Meanwhile, the rest of us have to put up with all this nonsense, and it's making my breakfasts a bit less enjoyable than usual.

Always something interesting going on here,

Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe and the Ambulance

It had to happen sooner or later. Frankly, I'm surprised that it took this long. Last night, an ambulance came roaring up to Junior's house next door. Knowing Junior as I do, I was expecting the worst. When I ran out to see what was going on, however, there was Junior jumping around the yard and screaming his head off. It appeared that the problem was not Junior (at least not the major problem) but Dickie Jensen.

Earlier in the day, Dickie was seen running nekkid through town yelling, "Fuck! . . . Shit! . . . Fuck!" and so on. For Dickie, this in itself was not unusual behavior. Unfortunately for Junior, however, Dickie was heading his way. Apparently, Dickie ran right into Junior's house and jumped butt-nekkid onto Junior's bed.

Now, if Junior had been drunk, this would have been no problem. He just would have passed out on the floor, in the yard, or on my davenport. However, this was one of the rare occasions when Junior was stone sober, and the sight of a nekkid Dickie Jensen in his bed was more than he could take.

Dickie had slipped into some sort of catatonic state and failed to respond to any of Junior's yelling. Junior, at about 120 pounds and with the muscle tone of Jello, would have been unable to remove Dickie even if he wasn't afraid to touch a nekkid man. Not knowing what else to do, he called 911.

So, what was the cause of Dickie's behavior? My guess is the presidential election. Dickie had been in quite the foul mood lately. This began as it became apparent that Ron Paul was not going to win the Republican nomination. It worsened as the conventional conservatives dropped out of the race. When Ralph Nader announced his candidacy, Dickie went on a three-day bender during which he set himself a new personal record for obscenity. Finally, when Mike Huckabee dropped out after Tuesday's primaries, Dickie could take no more. With the well-known liberal John McCain left to defend the Republicans against Hillary and Obama, Dickie had nothing left to hope for.

Why he chose Junior's bed to be the spot where he lost the will to live, I don't know. I'm just glad it wasn't my davenport. No amount of cleaning could ever make that safe to sit on again.

Wonderin' how much the ambulance charges for moving a nekkid man,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Says "Wow"

Check it out.

Amen!
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe's Bracelet Reviews

Regular readers know that Stevie Joe is an expert in many fields, and fashion is no exception. You may not be aware that the current hot men's accessory is the bracelet (no, not the man-bag, but Stevie Joe has one of those, too). Gone are the shiny ID bracelets of the 70s. What's hip today is the earthy look of leather, twine, and hemp.

Stevie Joe ordered four examples from major labels (as worn by the stars on several popular television shows - David Duchovny, I'm talking about you). Let me tell you right now that while these might be fashionable, the designers don't know squat about practicality.

Bracelet #1, a leather cuff, has no discernible method of securing it to your wrist. It will stay on for a bit, but soon enough, it will fall right off.

Bracelet #2 slips over your hand and then cinches down to fit your wrist. Trouble is, it doesn't stay cinched. Eventually, it is flopping around as you search the parking lot at the Piggly Wiggly for bracelet #1.

Bracelets #3 and #4 have clasping mechanisms that work but are difficult to open and close. #4 has a very traditional clasp. However, it is so small that only small children, miniature space aliens, or hobbits can operate it.

Let this serve as a warning, however, for all the well-dressed hombres out there. Keep an eye out for shoddy clasps or be prepared to rig up a paper clip substitute like Stevie Joe did.

Voguing for all you sinners,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Discusses Presidential Politics in the Holler

Things have been busy for ol' Stevie Joe lately. I've been slaving away down in the pundit mines during the day, and Mrs. Stevie Joe has plenty of chores for me when I get home. Plus, Junior is fully healed and mobile. So, he is causing headaches for the community as a whole. Since we are in the middle of a deep winter freeze, Junior chooses to pass out indoors, usually on my davenport.

The gang down at Prudy's has been all abuzz with the presidential primaries. Of course, this is not your typical high-minded political discourse. It's usually just bitching about having to choose between a woman and Borat Osama, the colored fellow. Not that this is really an issue since most folks in the Holler are Republicans. So, they can safely choose amongst a number of old white men, just like usual.

In fact, one old white man in particular has caught their attention, and that's Ron Paul. Ron Paul is a Libertarian-turned-Republican because nobody is electing a Libertarian to anything. Mr. Paul still believes in limited government, and that is regarded as a good thing around here. When the local face of government is Mayor Barney the Dirt Thief, you want as little government as possible.

However, some of these limited government folks aren't always consistent. Don't touch my guns but feel free to take away the hippies' dope and spy on the malcontents. Cut off the welfare bums but make sure my road is nice and smooth. In other words, "screw the other guy, I want mine." At least the Republicans and Democrats are up front about it.

Of course, there are some folks who say they want the government out of just about everything. It's fine with them to allow the hippies to have their pot, and they are willing to pay to travel on private road networks. We call these people "crazy." It's an idealistic vision that oversimplifies reality. This is true with all pure ideologies. The world is simply too complicated for any one ideology to provide all the best answers. Reality requires compromise, flexibility, and good judgment.

A true libertarian (small "L") would say that everyone is permitted to do what one wishes and that the only just role of government is to intervene when the exercise of liberty by one person interferes with another's. So, driving under the influence would not be illegal. Despite your intoxication, you are not infringing upon anyone else until you run into them.

The libertarian says to punish those who cause accidents, but not those who simply drive drunk. Sounds OK in theory, but it is difficult to implement in reality. Doing away with DUI regulations would require greater personal responsibility. That is, unless people refrain from abusing this freedom, more accidents will occur and more lives will be lost.

Of course, this goes over the head of most folks down at Prudy's. They are just worried about having somebody other than an old, white guy as President.

Don't make me pull out John Locke's Second Treatise of Government,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Rocks Out With Obama

The nation eagerly awaits news of which candidate I will be endorsing in the 2008 presidential race. I am not quite ready to make that announcement, but I can share with you something else. Below are two music videos that feature the words of Barack Obama. They are inspirational to old Stevie Joe, and they rock out pretty good, too.





Yes We Can,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Says "What?"

Apparently, some TV station was broadcasting live footage of the WTC for no reason (since there had not yet been any attack), and President Numbnuts accidentally happened to see the first plane hit it. Wow.

Thanks to Lolo for this one!
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe on Learning

Often, folks write to me to ask, "Stevie Joe, how can I get as smart as you?" Well, hold on there, partner. It's okay to reach for the stars now and then, but that don't mean you can become as smart as old Stevie Joe. Still, everyone can improve (look at me, I was born broke and stupid). So, I am sure that we can tune-up that old gray matter of yours.

Now, when some lad asked for assistance a little bit ago, I told him to Google "Mortimer Adler." This is still good advice. If you have already done this and are still a bit confused, consult a local or online Great Books program. As Professor Adler developed the whole Great Books concept at the University of Chicago, the fine folks running these programs can probably help you out.

Now, some people need their education spoonfed to them. If you are one of them, you might want to consider the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. You might be saying, "Heck, Stevie Joe, I ain't got the dough to be going to no Massachusetts Institute of Technology!" If you did say this, you might want to brush up on your grammar skills first. Then, you can explore the MIT on the cheap by checking out their Open Courseware program.

See, what MIT does is offer a way to experience many of their classes (nearly) free and online. The MIT OCW website offers syllabi, reading assignments, homework assignments, tests, and lectures via downloadable audio and video files. The syllabus for each course will indicate the textbook needed and will often provide a link to purchase one. Since many textbooks are updated every year, some OCW courses were built around an older edition of the text. These editions are often available at a closeout price or used.

So, go on out there and start your learning. You have no more excuses!

You're welcome,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Ponders One Day in Iraq

Thinking of change,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Frozed

It is January, and Junebug Holler is just about frozed up solid. Junior now has his casts removed and can stumble around on a single crutch yet he, like most of us, prefers the indoors these days. That means things have been fairly quiet here. This gives us time to become depressed about the economy and the choice of presidential candidates.

I'm not sure that it is the lack of sunlight that gets folks down in winter. I think it's being cooped up inside with nothing much to do. Plus, IT'S DAMN COLD! Neither the heater in the Big Blue Wagon nor the furnace inside the Parker Estate seem to be able to break the chill. I'm just gonna go crawl under the covers and cry myself to sleep.

Brrrrrrr!
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe Don't Know What to Think About This One

Conspiracy theorists, start your engines!
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe's NH Congratulations

Thanks to the good folks of the Granite State for doing their civic duty, and congratulations to Mrs. Clinton and Mr. McCain. There are a few things bothering ol' Stevie Joe, however. First, there are reports that some folks decided to vote for Hillary at the last moment because she cried on the TV. Now, that is just the dumbest reason for voting for someone. Admitting this in public should be grounds for losing one's voting privileges.

Second, exit polls asked voters if they would keep their vote the same if Bill Clinton was also running. Pretty much everyone said that they would not change their vote except for Hillary supporters. Most of them would rather vote for Bill. This, of course, raises the question of whether they are really voting for Hillary or trying to re-elect Bill.

Third, Clinton won New Hampshire yet Obama received more delegates (11 and 12 respectively). This is because of the "super delegates" which are pledged to candidates separate from the primary vote. Seems kind of odd yet there it is. As a result of this super delegate system, Clinton currently leads the delegate count with 183 versus 78 for Obama and 52 for Edwards. Confused yet?

Fourth, speaking of Edwards, I loved his speech after the Iowa caucuses. Unfortunately, he essentially gave the same speech after the New Hampshire primary. John, keep your material up to date.

Anyway you cut it, it's still some exciting stuff!

Yes we can,
Stevie Joe Parker

Stevie Joe's Congratulations

I just want to thank all the kind folks in Iowa who braved a pretty darned cold January evening to help select the next President of the US of A. Congrats to Barack and Mike. Good job, fellas. Oh, and John Edwards had a nice speech (and managed to beat ol' Ms. Inevitable, too).

Thank you and good night!
Stevie Joe Parker