I had a spirited discussion with someone about whether or not the country is on the brink of a recession. All signs I see point to a yes. The president is expected to announce some temporary tax cuts in his State of the Union and I can't help but think, too little too late?

I'm no economist, so what do the leading economic indicators tell us? Foreclosure rates are still up, the credit crisis is not leveled out, either. Oh, and the dollar continues to fall. Consumer confidence is still low. So, what industry is 'recession proof' and do you work in that industry? If not, are you cutting back on spending?

Hillary's mantra, "four more tears" will be her path to the presidency? Nixon rolled out Checkers. Many other candidates strive to fake their humanness and generate sympathy. Get a grip! We're talking political expediency here -- if it gets votes, do it! Heck, it beats fearmongering and saying "9/11" every five minutes.

As a side note, I might cry, too, if I were running for president. The job means a lot of extra hours and dealing with gross incompetence and the pay isn't all that great. Talk about a career slump!

Note: This post is by the long-absent Bluebonnet, and not PD. Although he may agree with me!

Okay, unlike other blogs (*cough*ITPT*cough*), we don't endorse any candidate. I'll vote for Hillary if I absolutely have to, but I won't be happy about it. Given that . . .

I don't know how many of y'all read Jezebel, Gawker media's blog on women/feminism/pop culture, but I read it pretty religiously. Yesterday morning after Hillary's win in New Hampshire, a post on the site basically asserted that the only reason Hillary won the state is because she cried (and the bloggers gave a "f*ck you" to anyone who voted for her) which drew much ire from commenters. What I think of this theory: it is complete bullshit.

True, there are voters that are easily swayed, but a majority of people who vote (I like to think) have known for a while who they wanted to pick. Whether because she is a woman, or because they trust the last name Clinton, or they approve of her campaign platform, a good amount of voters surely knew before the "crying" incident happened that they were going to vote for her.

To me, the idea of Hillary (at this moment in time) showing public emotion rings so extremely false that I couldn't help but see it as a ploy. And it's not like she bawled, because that would have been too much (memories of Howard Dean yelling). No, she just got a little choked up, like some are wont to do upon viewing Hallmark ads (you know you do!).

The whole thing with the media trying to find a reason for why the polls were off and using the "it's because Hillary cried" line, well, it's just ridiculous. She had been the presumed leader since talk of the election began, right?

Right. See the following "Colbert Report" clip for more (including a pretty funny chat with Huckabee):

And in other news, Kerry is endorsing Obama, for whatever that's worth.

But for different reasons. Houston will have some sexy and sexist emails to discuss throughout the campaign. We'll only have this whole "passionate about prosecuting crime" thing.

The county GOP is worried about the fallout from the recent email scandal. Just for the record, I'm not interested in a 'sexy' email. If you are trying to sex me, try whispering something about cash or real estate in my ear.

Bill Richardson has dropped out of the race and Bloomberg is gauging his potential support. I'm guessing we'll have to wait until after South Carolina before Fred Thompson backs out.

I saw a headline that said Romney pulled his ads in SC and FL, but I didn't care enough to read why.

It's McCain. Kooky, man. I wouldn't guess that this momentum won't last long, but I'll wait until after South Carolina before I make any statements about Super Tuesday. I expect Huckabee to do well in South Carolina and Michigan.

As for Clinton and Obama, not really a surprise. I do think most people thought Obama would pull it off, though. As for Edwards, he is clearly hanging on by a thread. When I saw his whatever speech that was supposed to be I actually yelled at the screen. He was talking about some girl that died because her health insurance didn't pay for her liver transplant. What in the hell was that? Shouldn't you talk about how you would be a good president? He's an idiot.

Check out KXAN's great coverage and comments from local pundits.

It's Tuesday, that must mean somebody is voting somewhere. It's another tiny state, insignificant in so many ways, that will once again give a media and money bounce to someone. Please let it be that kook McCain.

Senator Clinton almost choked up in an interview. Is it the first time I've ever thought she is a real live person that is passionate about something other than winning? Yipes! Could it be?

On the other hand, I'm not sure how I feel about Obama saying, "I'm riding this wave. You are the wave and I'm riding you." Uhm...dirrrty!

Somehow I got an email about Hillary Clinton from a weirdo, not as much of a weirdo as the Ron Paul supporters, but still..This one started off claiming that Hillary Clinton is a witch. It went downhill from there. Here's an excerpt:

Like in the witchery, at her age of 61 years old Senator Hillary RODHAM CLINTON is to become overnight a candidate for a change, pulling a rabbit out of her hat. This can happen only in the witchcraft that she and her husband William J. CLINTON, former President reportedly believe in and practice.

This is leads to another question of whether the souls of Clintons are with the Satan in witchcraft and/or Evil Empire of former Soviet Union/Russia...

I'm at a loss. I did reply and told this person they ought to be ashamed of themselves for spreading this type of email and then I asked them if believing in witchery also meant they believed in fairies and flying nuns.

Dear God, my prayer today is that you deliver me from the raging stupidity that I have been confronted with so early in the day. Please give me peace and keep morons and idiots from my path as I try to get through another day without having to see the Your mistakes with genetic dilution of cognitive thinking. Amen.

For Chrissakes! The all-volunteer run station, KOOP, is off the air after its third fire since 2006. Seriously, just give up and shut it down. It's becoming a menace to the community.

The best part of the presidential campaign being so freakin' long is that we get gems of criticism like this one from Keith Olberman.

During a national election I try to pick a candidate I like fairly early and then I look at the candidates from the opposite party I've decided upon. This year, I cannot decide on either.

Just finished watching the GOP and Democratic debates in New Hampshire. What a challenge to find the BEST candidate! With the most recent political stalemate, I begin to wonder if the Bloomberg Independent Candidacy could be a reality. Bill Richardson actually made the most sense, but he doesn't stand a snowball's chance in New Mexico.

. Ok, so why would you expect anything different that Bill O'Reilly would act like the jerk that he is and push is way around?. I would like to see a mud wrestling match between "Mofo" Perry and O'Reilly -- we could give the proceeds to the record number of Texas uninsured children.

Uhm...it's way up north? It's small? It's got a reputation for having kooky people? I dunno. I'm of the opinion that these early votes that states always clamor for are so last decade. But, here we go. The New Hampshire primaries are tomorrow.

Will it be Obama or Clinton to pick up the lead? Clinton could use a good showing, and Obama is certainly riding high. On the Republican side, Romney could use push here. I see McCain is rising in the polls. The Republican primary is much more exciting as moderate Republicans are freaking out over the Huckabee and Romney campaigns in the first place. Anyone seeing how they are tearing apart Huckabee? I'm not paying much attention.

Oh well, let's all see how it goes! (BOOOOOOORRRRRRRING)

The Fox Business Channel isn't doing so well. According to unconfirmed reports, the Fox Business Channel is getting about 6,300 viewers on an average day. Who are these 6,300 people? Seriously, that's just embarrassing.

This is a testament to two things. A.) The business network is already crowded and the audience for this niche has already built relationships with other vendors. B.) TV viewership, as a whole, is down year over year. TV now confuses their viewer with too many choices.