seriously...what the heckarooney is going on with the democratic party these days? ever since obama took office back in january with democratic majorities in both houses, they've been an absolute mess, pussyfooting around when it comes to pushing through all the awesome legislation that the president promised during the campaign. at the same time, the republicans have been constantly on the attack, refusing to work with the democrats on many issues, determined to derail them at every turn. it's as if both sides of the aisle are concerned with nothing more than bickering back & forth, which is SHOCKING to see happening in our nation's capital. as a result, the democrats are getting next to nothing done these days. also TOTALLY SHOCKING.

the most glaring example of the democrats' inability to do something with their congressional majorities is their handling of health care reform. when the current health care reform started out, there was talk of transparency & a cleaned up health care industry & coverage for all. then we got republican congressmen yelling "you lie" at the president when he spoke about his reforms & republican "newsmen" talking about death panels & a republican refusal to offer any sort of alternative to the democratic proposals. now we're left with two versions of a health care bill, one in the senate & one in the house but both severely compromised.

then, two weeks ago, a wave of democratic politicians announced that they'll be leaving office at the end of their terms. first there was north dakota senator byron dorgan, who shocked a lot of people by announcing that he wouldn't seek re-election. then there was senator chris dodd, who sealed his own fate with connecticut voters back in 2008 when, during his short-lived presidential campaign, he moved his kids to iowa & enrolled them in the public school system there. then, to top it off, colorado governor bill ritter announced that he wouldn't run for a second term in 2010. anyway, perfect timing with the announcements, guys. i was just starting to think that things couldn't get worse.

...& then they got worser. today in massachusetts, there's a special election to fill the senate seat formerly occupied by ted kennedy & up until a few weeks back, the democratic candidate, martha coakley, was considered a shoo-in for the seat, as massachusetts is chock full of democrats. it's so chock full that when i lived there, i didn't even bother voting in the presidential elections because there wasn't even a republican party to speak of in the state. sure massachusetts has until recently had a republican governor running things, but there hasn't been a republican senator in the state in over thirty years, so coakley should just breeze right into the senate, right?

wrong. now, with election day finally upon us, scott brown, the republican candidate, has rode the wave of democrat disenchantment & actually made the race competitive. as a result, coakley's actually had to get off her ass & start campaigning. the democrats have been forced to bring in bill clinton & obama to try to give her "campaign" a lil' boost. let's just hope that the results end up in her favor. if the democrats end up losing ted kennedy's former seat & therefore lose their sixtieth vote in the senate & therefore lose all chance of passing health care reform, they might as well just stick a fork in obama...cause he'll be done.

#143 - you blue it!
snack: boulder canyon sundried tomato with basil rice & adzuki bean snack chip / goldwater's papago peach salsa
drink: bud light



for christmas, my sister sent me a huge box packed with a ridiculous amount of snacks from the arizona area, where she currently resides. the box contained a number of salsas & dips, including the goldwater's papago peach salsa, which is made by the daughters & granddaughter of former republican senator barry goldwater, whose name is synonymous with conservative values. the goldwaters have been making salsas since back in 1989, gaining initial popularity on the back of their fruit salsas. since salsa ain't jack without chips, i paired it with a bag of boulder canyon sundried tomato with basil rice & adzuki bean snack chips, which i first came across last year when my sister declared that their chipotle cheese flavor ones were an AWESOME snack.

the sundried tomato with basil ones are even better. they're about the size of a wheat thin but instead of being flat like a wheat thin, they're slightly curved & airy on the inside. the flavor's pretty robust & it's tasty enough that you don't even need to dip them in salsa to enjoy them...but i did, because i like MAXIMUM FLAVOR. as for the peach salsa, it's a bit more watery than i'd prefer, but it's still filled with lots of chunky junk. if you're like me & love sweet, fruity salsas with a spicy kick, it's right in your wheelhouse.

in honor of president obama's cowardly beer summit choice, i had myself a bud light with the chips & salsa. sure it's america's best-selling beer & joe six-pack loves getting blasted on a twelve-pack of them, but i've always pictured obama as more of a sam adams sort of guy. i can only assume that someone in his circle suggested that he go with a beer that the average american could identify with & since there's really no more american beer than bud light (brewed by the belgian/brazilian-owned anheuser-busch inbev conglomerate) he went with that.

i also figured that since we're right in the heart of football playoff season & i've actually been watching a few games this year, it was in my best interest to drink at least one bud light. i've seen a shit ton of bud light commercials over the past few weekends & got a bit scared that if i didn't drink one, all that flashy, manly ad content would get clogged up in my brain & push out something important like a simpsons quote or a naked image of christina ricci. that would be a tragedy.

tastewise, bud light is basically one of the weakest beers you can get your hands on. you'd think from their commercials that it's a ridiculously tasty brew (great taste! less filling!), but if you've ever had one, you know that it's akin to drinking club soda with a slight beer taste. while it is possible to get a beer that tastes worse than bud light, you really have to be scraping the bottom of the barrel with some natty light or something to do so. in that, i guess it was a fitting choice for obama. after all, so far all we've seen is a flat, watered-down version of his vision.