Some of us were still a little groggy from getting up before dawn for the long drive to Indy. Eventually we woke up and managed to have a good time.

Noah & Shawn are the conference organizers.

The conference center is almost new and is a perfect facility for a blog conference.

I got to hang out with some of the people who keep us informed on state issues, like Thomas from Blue Indiana. Thomas is representing Indiana bloggers at the convention in Denver. Doug blogs on political and various other topics over in Purdue country. Ruth Holliday and Chris Hardie both like to dog the MSM in their respective communities. Ruth has the inside track on print media, having been a journalist for 37 years.

PROFILE: Thirty-seven years in the old, tired, dull and greedy media have not killed my love of news. The only difference is, I no longer drink.

The featured political celebrity was Laurin Manning, Obama's National Blog Editor.

From the enthusiasm I saw throughout the day, I predict a bigger Blog Indiana will be back next year.  

From MSNBC

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - A man barged into the Arkansas Democratic headquarters and opened fire Wednesday, fatally shooting the state party chairman before speeding off in his pickup. Police later shot and killed the suspect after a 30-mile chase.

Police said they don't know the motive for the 51-year-old suspect, whose name has not been released.

The editorial board of The New York Times is endorsing Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination and Senator John McCain as the Republican nominee.

Hil

This generally is the stage of a campaign when Democrats have to work hard to get excited about whichever candidate seems most likely to outlast an uninspiring pack. That is not remotely the case this year.
The early primaries produced two powerful main contenders: Hillary Clinton, the brilliant if at times harsh-sounding senator from New York; and Barack Obama, the incandescent if still undefined senator from Illinois. The remaining long shot, John Edwards, has enlivened the race with his own brand of raw populism.

and McCain

We have strong disagreements with all the Republicans running for president. The leading candidates have no plan for getting American troops out of Iraq. They are too wedded to discredited economic theories and unwilling even now to break with the legacy of President Bush. We disagree with them strongly on what makes a good Supreme Court justice.
Still, there is a choice to be made, and it is an easy one. Senator John McCain of Arizona is the only Republican who promises to end the George Bush style of governing from and on behalf of a small, angry fringe. With a record of working across the aisle to develop sound bipartisan legislation, he would offer a choice to a broader range of Americans than the rest of the Republican field.

I can only say AAACCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!!!!!!!

From "A Day in the Life of a Crazed KY Dem"

Finally, our opportunity!  "Senator, I want to talk to you about the war in Iraq.  It will just take a minute of your time".  Heaven's screaming, "Do you want my dad to die?  Should I start training for war?"  Holy crap, my heart is going to come out of my chest!  The goon security man yells at my daughter, "We won't have any of that!" to which I replied, "What are you going to do?  This is free speech!"  Then we resume asking the Senator for a minute of his time.  Vrrrrooooommm - his rented SUV halls ass out of my alley - presumably for the first and last time.

In retaliation for this horrendous 1st Amendment assault, Mitch is apparently threatening to dump all his Paducah earmarks into the toilet. Also, mom's job is in jeopardy.

The elation from last night has since turned to trepidation and perhaps a tinge of outright fear.  Little did I know the firestorm that was about to ensue.  Apparently, yours truly, "The Little Vet Who Could", and her pre-teen daughter "The Little Girl Who Did", rattled the Senator to such a degree that we were the subject of great discussion during Senator McConnell's exclusive fund-raising event in Western Kentucky, towards which he laid rubber out of my theater's alley to attend.  Yet, the fun didn't stop there.  Little did I know, we were also the topic of discussion at many other emergency meetings throughout this tiny town of 25,000 on this cold, blustery Paducah day, January 16, 2008.

Within the past 24 hours, tens of millions of dollars in funding for all programs previously promised from the Federal Government to our fair city's River Front Revitalization Program have suddenly been moved into the "uncertain column"; at least until the city fathers can prove that crazy rabble rouser "Heather Ryan" is not associated with their programs/organizations.  That's right ladies and gentlemen, in no uncertain terms, I've been informed that my little "escapade" in videotaping the Senate Minority Leader has suddenly put Paducah Pork on the chopping block in Mr. McConnell's book should me and my silly little girl remain in the forefront of Paducah Politics.  Last night, at a dinner attended by my superior, myself, my husband, and my daughter Heaven, I was informed that if I did not cease my political activities in Paducah I would LOSE MY JOB.

h/t to cubswin39 at the orange place and briansmith at BlueGrassRoots  

Here's a holiday tribute from the blogmaster himself. You go Robert!

Thanks to Bryan Zepp Jamieson of MyTown for the tip.

Dorothy Thompson, who was born in 1894 in Lancaster, New York, and died in 1961 in Portugal, was viewed as one of the two most influential women in America along with First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt in 1939 when war was breaking out in Europe. Ms. Thompson took controversial stands and backed the underdog. She wrote a column, "On The Record," three times a week and appeared as a magazine writer and commentator on NBC radio.

Ms. Thompson became head of the Berlin Bureau of the New York Evening Post in 1925. She was expelled from Nazi Germany in 1934 when she infuriated Adolf Hitler with her dispatches warning Americans against the rise of Nazism.

Her wisdom from over seventy years ago seems eerily appropriate today.

She also declared in 1935, "No people ever recognize their dictator in advance. He never stands for election on the platform of dictatorship. He always represents himself as the instrument of Incorporated National Will.... When our dictator turns up, you can depend on it that he will be one of the boys, and he will stand for everything traditionally American. And nobody will ever say Heil to him, nor will they call him 'Fuhrer' or 'Duce' (Mussolini's title). But they will greet him with one great big universal, democratic, sheeplike bleat of 'Okay, Chief!'"

Since we're headed into a new year with a new (hopefully much improved) congress for 2007, I'd like to start with a new sig line, too. I thought another Thompson quote would be a good reminder to myself about the attitude I'd like to maintain.

"Only when we are no longer afraid do we begin to live."

MoveOn is offering a reduced rate.

A partial speaker lineup:

Speeches by Academy Award winners Geena Davis and Jane Fonda, and actor Danny Glover.
Insider perspectives from PBS's Bill Moyers, Democracy Now's Amy Goodman, famed White House correspondent Helen Thomas, filmmaker Robert Greenwald, and The Nation's Katrina vanden Heuvel.
Policy discussions with Sen.-elect Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA), and FCC Commissioners Michael Copps and Jonathan Adelstein, and activism discussions MoveOn's Noah Winer and Adam Green.
Over 100 forums, including: "Inside Corporate Media: Can It Tell The Truth?," "Media Policy Is A Civil Rights Issue," "Activism In A Wired World," "Hip Hop Activism," and "Saving The Internet."

I'd go just to hear Bill Moyers and I've been a Helen Thomas fan ever since the Colbert video. Unfortunately, I have a new job beginning Jan. 1 and won't be traveling far for a while.  

Our little town is jam-packed with tourists this time of year and we knew we'd have quite an audience. What made our little rally unusual, was that we had a very special guest,  former Senator Birch Bayh (Evan's dad).

Waiting for the senator to arrive. The traffic was horrible, so he was delayed.

After welcoming the senator, we chatted for a few minutes, then went over to the local volunteer fire dept. fish fry for a sandwich.

Senator Bayh greets a volunteer who is running for local office this election.

Greeting some of the locals.

We left the courthouse and canvassed the downtown, speaking with many of the shopowners and people on the street. It was a pleasure to watch the senator in action. He has a very genteel manner and gracefully deflects comments that detract from his points. People were greeted like old friends and neighbors. Lots of the shopowners took a few minutes from a very busy afternoon to chat politics. I only heard one negative comment from a couple of women who were obvious Sodrel supporters. Most of the feedback we received was quite positive for Baron.

I found it also interesting that Senator Bayh didn't feel the need for an elaborate and expensive security detail to accompany him on his visit. The last time Sodrel came to town, he brought several security types with him.    

Attorney General Steve Carter said today that a California-based group has agreed to stop making automated phone calls attacking Democratic congressional candidate Baron Hill.

However, Carter said the state is still seeking a preliminary injunction against the group, the Economic Freedom Fund, and pursuing a lawsuit in Brown County Circuit Court. A hearing on the injunction has been scheduled for Sept. 27 in Nashville.

Apparently several people filed formal complaints with the Indiana Attorney General after receiving automated "push poll" calls against Hill.

Carter had warned the political parties against such calls in August and is investigating a complaint against another campaign which he has not identified. After holding a news conference announcing that investigation, his office received 12 complaints about the Economic Freedom Fund calls. In those calls, a person purports to be taking an automated poll, which then slams Hill's record. Hill, a former Democratic congressman, is running against Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Sodrel trying to regain the southeastern Indiana seat he lost to Sodrel in 2004.

For the newly active political reader, some background on Mister Perry and his motley crew.

The Associated Press reported that the Economic Freedom Fund is financed through a $5 million donation from Bob J. Perry, a Texas homebuilder with close ties to White House adviser Karl Rove. Perry also bankrolled the Swift Boat attack ads against the war record of Democratic presidential nominee Sen. John Kerry in 2004.

What should we do with this scurvy dog?