So um . . . profound. And this post consists of five short sentences instead of the usual one graf RJ Elliott produces. There is even a list. Is this boy a genius or what?

zzzzzz. Mac Diva on the all too familiar tirade for those blogcritics she disagrees with and dislikes at this site.

Here's an idea: how about doing something intelligent, on topic, and posting your counter predictions of the upcoming race highlighting specifically what states you differ on and why. Then in the future both of you can compare notes a year from now and see who was right/wrong?

That might make for an interesting prediction vs. accuracy discussion, yes/no? Rather than make it a personal thing, make it a friendly challenge thing?

Er, wait, that is factual, and that might be a problem. Also, it assumes that Mac Diva will still be posting here a year from now, which I am beginning to doubt based on all the anger she seems to possess and project for certain blogcritics here. I hope I'm wrong and she gets past this phase because it's pretty self-destructive.

With that unpleasantness aside, RJ, I wonder about Florida. I'm not so sure that Bush will take Florida in light of the debacle that happenend in the last election. I like Kerry's chances, if he turns out to be the Democratic nominee there.

in the long run what will be interesting to see will be the dem voter turnout numbers.

they were very high in new hampshire.

traditionally, high voter turnout hasn't been a good thing for republicans.

Don't see Bush taking WV and OH unless jobs start appearing in the next few months. His immigration policy could lose him AZ, CO and KS but probably not since he'll most likely table it or let it die in Congress.

I don't think much of Bush's chances against any Democrat, but I haven't met most Americans so of course I'm just guessing.

TDavid, I feel pretty good about FL. JEB was supposed to lose big in 2002 and the Dems threw everything they had at him, and he still won in a walk. The Dems could pick FL off if Senator Bill Nelson is their VP candidate, but that's about it (IMO)...

Mark, I agree that high turnout is generally bad for the GOP, but I'm not so sure it's going to be exceptionally high in November. Too early to tell though...

JR, I am also concerned about those states you mentioned (except Kansas), but I feel Bush will be able to win them by small margins. Also, note that apparently, NY and CA are considered "in play" in 2004. I doubt Bush will win either of these states, but Kerry (or any other Dem) will be forced to spend crucial time and money defending them, and that will work to Bush's tactical advantage.

Voter turnout being high this year is a given.

LOL! What's to discuss in regard to a blog entry like this? The idiot has said nothing. If someone posts an analytical entry about Electoral College projections, anyone who knows me also knows I will be all over it with substantive comments. But, pretend some semiliterate Right Wing white boy with delusions of grandeur is pontificating when he can barely paste and copy? Never. I'll leave that to his equally vapid and bigoted big brother, TDavid. Eric sent out a message the other day about readers noticing what sad excuses for writers some of the participants in Blogcritics are. RJ Elliott is an excellent example. There's nothing there. Just an empty vessel.

In yesterday's outing, Elliot trolled for hits by claiming to be sodomized and using several crude sexual references in the two equally short entries he posted about getting a late delivery during bad weather. That is just plain exploiting the site. Today's entry is, too. Someone sees a reference to the Electoral College and expects something of significance to be said. He opens the entry and gets this drivel instead. I write for a living, and I hate to see a wonderful craft devalued. Anyone who likes the entries of Elliott is free to read them as often as he likes. Lord knows it doesn't take long. But, unless the reader is also an idiot, I don't see the appeal.

Eric - is this type of unprovoked racial attack cool with you? I think comments like #8 are over the line of even Mac Diva's normally low standards of commenting and start to border on abuse. IMO, RJ deserves an apology for this extremely poor choice of words.

Mac Diva, shame on you. You who stands up all the time as being the oppressed treating someone of the opposite color this way?

It's one thing to attack his writing, his opinion, the substance or lack thereof, but it's quite another to refer to him as a 'Right Wing white boy'.

Mac Diva's quote:

But, pretend some semiliterate Right Wing white boy with delusions of grandeur is pontificating when he can barely paste and copy?

Do that, please. I want Eric to see just what an exploitative idiot this guy is. In fact, Eric already saw RJ Elliott's racist rants and crude sexual references in yesterday's entries. (If he hadn't, I would have emailed him.) I warned him about Vaknin, another troll you fell all over yourself defending, and I am warning him about this one, too. People with nothing to say who come here to use the site as a troll home debase the site.

As for your ridiculous claim that racism is a nice, healthy practice because if fits in with your far, far Right beliefs, you know where you can stick that. If you want it said in explicit terms, just ask RJ Elliott. He will be happy to post them.

And, no, I don't think Eric, or any sane person, will find the term 'white boy' offensive. Come to think of it, he used to be one.

I know what your real problem is. You were born a little too late to get to participate in lynchings. So, it seems an outrage to you that there is anywhere where you can't shut up an uppity (that word I suspect you use at home) whenever you want. Virtually since my first posts, you have been soiling your pants daily over my presence. Well, keep on soiling'em. I couldn't care less. You're the one sitting in it.

TDavid - I thank you for your comments (both #2 and #9). MD's statements are clearly bigoted (as were her comments about "the Jew Horowitz" in another post). She appears to be an angry, bitter race-baiter who uses this site to inject venom into any discussion, regardless of content. This type of stuff should clearly be discouraged on Blogcritics.org, if we are to remain a rational, respectable site.

As for her comments on the quality of my writing, I admit I am not a professional writer. That being said, I have always felt that the great gift of the Blogosphere was that you didn't have to be a masterful wordsmith
in order to be heard (or, more correctly, read).

One final point: Mr. Olsen is forever imploring us to post more often. This week I heeded his call. I love this site, and wish I had the time to post everyday. Unfortunately, persons like MD take some of the fun out of the medium. Perhaps if Eric is to successfully increase the overall volume of posts, intentionally personal attacks on fellow Blogcritics should be more effectively discouraged. My two cents...

RJ and TDavid- Diva's just using you guys to try to get to me. Diva's obviously just saying this stuff about you to make ME jealous.

It's not going to work, though. I, Al Barger, am the alpha Evil White Man in these parts, thank you very much. Y'all are just the White Boys of Summer.

Al - you can go ahead and have that hypocritical racist all to yourself ;)

Well, along with hundreds of blog readers, daily, actually.

And, TrollDavid, before you leave, tell your understudy that more of these kinds of posts is exactly what reasonable people do not want.

Sticks and stones ...