The DC List (3 of 3): Republican Membersof Congress...... and when they turn 103.....

Greetings to our beloved blog readers around the world in Germany, Serbia and Turkey.

This is the last installment in our look at when just re-elected Republican members of Congress will turn 103; the joke is that these will also be the years when their seats are competitive again, because Republicans have drawn up perfect politic maps to suit their interests across the nation.

It should be pointed out that Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va., pict. top) is a man I respect and admire despite personal political differences. It should also be  pointed that I think Cong. Mark Sanford (R-SC, pict, bottom) is a scoundrel and a hypocrite for having an affair on his wife with a woman from Argentina while he was governor of South Carolina. Amazingly enough, voters in that state sent him up to Washington, DC.

There were also some good Democrats who won last Tuesday, including Cong. David Price (D-NC) and Cong. Jared Polis (D-Colo).

Here are the years when these ten members of Congress will turn 103:

1. Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va) 2061

2. Cong. Mark Meadows (R-NC, pict center) 2062

3. Cong. Mark Sanford (R-SC) 2063

4. Cong. Steve Womack (R-Ark) 2060

5. Cong. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) 2081

6. Cong. Kevin Brady (R-Tex) 2058

7. Cong. Lee Terry (R-Neb) 2065

8. Cong. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) 2062

9. Cong. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) 2055

10. Cong. Tom Petri (R-Wisc.) 2043

www.foxnews.com/politics/ (Folks we disagree with)

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics

http://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cenk-uygur/ (Link to columns from my fellow liberal Turkish-American Cenk Uygur)

http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com (for more GOP members and when they turn 103)

Comic Strips Survey from the Roanoke Times: Will Anyone in Portugal Read This

Yes, we are wondering if anyone in Portugal or Romania for that matter reads our Sunday comics strips, but if you are checking us out from Lisbon or Bucharest, we hope the weather is nice in your respective nations today.

We are featuring photos of a random exotic fish, a Siamese cat, and Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va), because each of them pertains to the top three comic strips in "The Roanoke Times." (I suppose the next time we choose a photo of a House of Representatives members we will go with Cong. David Price, D-NC, to show we are nonpartisan, even though we make no secret of our center-left politics here).

"Speed Bump" by Dave Coverly was this week's winner as his strip showed a fish who had combed his hair just for his date, who was also a fish. Second place went to "Get Fuzzy" which depicts a mad Siamese cat named Satchel. Finally, the bronze medal goes to "Pearls Before Swine" which ventured into new territory by making fun of how corporate donations to members of Congress taint the political system. "Pearls" is usually an apolitical strip!

"Blondie" edged out "Dilbert" for tenth place. The two comic strips seem radically different, but unusually enough they are the two comic strips which seem to focus most on the workplace, except we never actually see Mrs. Dilbert (if there is one) in Scott Adams' strip.

Here is our top ten:

1) Speed Bump

2) Get Fuzzy

3) Pearls Before Swine

4) Doonesbury

5) Non-Sequitir

6)Funky Winkerbean

7) Garfield

8) Zits

9)  Agnes

10) Blondie

To see our Washington Post comics survey, go to our sister blog: http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com

http://www.roanoke.com

http://www.gocomics.com/speedbump

Happy Thanksgivingukkah: Our Dream Thanksgiving Dinner List

Since tomorrow is the first known Thanksginukkah, a combination of Thanksgiving and Hanukah, in the modern calendar, we thought we'd post an entry for the occasion with the 16 people we'd most like to have for dinner. Of course, as you'll soon see, many of the people mentioned here may have problems sitting beside each other. But, that would, of course, make the occasion which is highly unlikely to ever happen all the more ironic and enjoyable.


Here we go:

1. Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va, pictured top)

2. Michael Moore (a liberal documentarian)

3. Bruce Tinsley (a conservative cartoonist of "Mallard Fillmore" fame)

4. Keith Knight (a liberal cartoonist of "Knight Life" and "K-Chronicles" fame)

5. Rudolf Bekink (Dutch ambassador to America)

6. Clarence Thomas (the most conservative Supreme Court justice)

7. Sonja Sotomayor (one of the most liberal Supreme Court justices)

8. Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC)

9. Parker Posey  (film/stage actress perhaps best-known for "Waiting for Guffman;" pictured center)

10. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va)

11. Joe Lieberman, a former member of the U.S. Senate, though he was a Democrat for three of his four terms it seems like he is more popular amongst Republicans.

12. Joan Baez, popular '60s folk singer

13. Abdullah Antepli, a Turkish man who is the first imam for Muslim students at Duke University.

14. Gwen Ifill, the PBS moderator of "Washington Weekly."

15. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn., considered to be one of the most liberal members of the Senate)

16. Namik Tan (Turkish ambassador to America; pictured bottom)

http://www.kchronicles.com

http://www.joanbaez.com

http://www.vashington.be.mfa.gov.tr

http://www.dc.the-netherlands.org

http://www.morgangriffith.house.gov/

http://www.hagan.senate.gov

The Govt Shutdown is Finally Over (after 16 days)

Thanks for those of you coming over from our sister blog "The Daily Vampire" http://www.nocturnalguy38.blogspot.com where we reported on how House members in Congress representing North Carolina voted on the bill to stop the federal government shutdown.

There are three House members representing Virginia, including Congs. Jim Moran, Gerry Connolly and Bobby Scott. Every Democrat in the House favored the bill.

It was disappointing for many of us in southwest Virginia to see Congs. Bob Goodlatte, Morgan Griffith and Robert Hurt vote against the measure.

But, at least three Virginia Republican reps voted for the bill:Congs. Frank Wolf, Robert Wittman and Scott Riggell.

The other two Republican members from Virginia are Congs. Eric Cantor, a majority whip, and Randy Forbes.

This means that many national parks in Virginia, including Skyline Drive in Front Royal and the Arlington National Cemetery are back in business.

Our entry last week suggesting Cong. Griffith dine with Turkish ambassador Namik Tan remains highly popular!:

http://politicscultureandotherwastesoft.blogspot.com/2013/10/dc-week-teaser-perhaps-cong-morgan.html

http://www.vademocrats.org/

http://www.rpv.org/

http://www.thehill.com

DC Week Teaser (1 of 2): Perhaps, Cong. Morgan Griffith Can Have Lunch with Amb. Namik Tan Now....

Hmmmm................in hind sight, perhaps we should have put the image of Ambassador Namik Tan (pictured bottom), who is Turkey's ambassador to the United States, on top, and the photo of Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va; pictured top) on the bottom.

At either rate, if the government shut down lasts long enough perhaps Griffith (full disclosure: We know Griffith) and Tan (full disclosure: Turkey is my late father's country) can meet at Meze Restaurant in downtown Washigton, DC, or at the Famous Anthony's in Blacksburg, Va., which is in Griffith's district (full disclosure: Since we are Democrats, we probably wouldn't get invited).*

At any rate, on Thursday, we will start a week-long, eight-entry series dedicated to Washington, DC, regardless if the federal government shutdown is on-going or not!

*-On the flip side of the coin, I also oppose the Turkish government policy of requiring visas to Americans who visit my father's motherland, so perhaps Charlie Rose should be the third man at the table.

The middle image is of the Jefferson Memorial, which is closed at the moment.

http://morgangriffith.house.gov/

http://vasington.be.mfa.gov.tr/

http://mezedc.com/

http://www.famousanthonys.com/index.php

http://washington.org/

http://www.charlierose.com/schedule

Saturday Night Tweets: Political Futbol

With images of Cong. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), the Aston Villa soccer team and a map of where Kansas is in the United States, we present this entry that we're calling 'Political Futbol' since all the entries pertain to soccer or politics/political figures.

There were two major upsets in European soccer play today (the first weekend of the season) as Aston Villa shocked Arsenal 3-1, and in Turkey, Konyaspor surprised Istanbul powerhouse Fenerbahce 3-2 after being down by two goals.

The soccer team for the nation's capital here in America, D.C. United was also in action today, but they lost to their  Major League Soccer rivals from Canada, Montreal Impact.

Here are the tweets:

1. DC United @dcunited: "Final #DCU 1 Montreal Impact 2. Conor Doyle (a young player for DCU) nets his second, but it's not enough for the Black and Red."

2. Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va) @RepGriffith: "Rep. Griffith hit 333,333 miles on his car outside the Jonesville courthouse yesterday!" (Jonesville is in remote southwestern Virginia, far away from Griffith's hometown of Salem, Va., and even father away from Washington DC, we believe Nashville is actually closer to DC, and perhaps even Salem!).

3. Turkishsoccer.com @turkishsoccer/Ahmet Bob Turgut: First game of the season: Antalya 0 Kayseri Erciyes 0! Boring....

4. Cong. Ami Bera (@RepBera): "To everyone celbrating in India and, at home in the US, and around the world_ Happy #IndianIndependenceDay"

5. Stephen Olson (@Silent_Fusion, a soccer fan in Buffalo, NY): "Premiership is back baby! Glory Glory Man United!!!" (Manchester United won their home opener today)

6. Tom Perriello (@tomperriello, a former Democratic Congressman from Virginia): "Good to see @TerryMcAuliffe w/Bishop Campbell and Rev Avon Keene remembering Bloody Monday in Danville (Va)." (Terry McAuliffe is the Democratic candidate for governor in Virginia; Danville is a city in south central Virginia, which is 50 miles north of Greensboro, NC).

7. Grant Wahl (@GrantWahl, a Sports Illustrated writer): "Dig 3-1 win for Brad Guzan and Aston Villa at Arsenal, where the boos rain down." (Guzan is an American international playing for Aston Villa who is a goal-keeper).

8. Cong. Tim Huelskamp @CongHuelskamp: "I guess violating the 4th amendment 2776 times is ok now." (Like Griffith, Huelskamp was elected in November, 2010. He is an arch conservative representative from Kansas, one of America's most Republican states. His first district includes 63 counties, which is most of the Jayhawk state).


http://screaming-eagles.com/

http://www.americanprogress.org/about/staff/perriello-tom/bio/

http://morgangriffith.house.gov/

http://turkeyfootball.blogspot.com/

http://www.7500toholte.com/

http://www.ksdp.org/ (Kansas Democratic Party)

http://ksgop.org/ (Kansas Republican Party)

Pre-Election Day Tweets_Should Election Day Be a Holiday?

Before we begin, let's congratulate Marsha Line, the 2012 Cave Spring High School (Roanoke, Va.) homecoming queen; we presume that even though my home state is a swing state which reportedly the closest one in the country, along with perhaps Colorado, that neither President Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has sought out her endorsement.

The 9th district of southwest Virginia has a fairly interesting Congressional race between Cong. Morgan Griffith (R), who is from Salem, Va., and his opponent Anthony Flaccavento, a successful organic farmer from Abingdon, Va., which is 2.5 hours from Salem and 7 hours from Washington, DC.

Coal has been one of the hot topics in the race in which Griffith is favored as coal miners, normally reliable Democratic voters, have been voting more Republican because of cultural issues and fears of environmental regulations, though climate change/global warming was the issue which made New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, the most recognized political independent endorse Obama.

We have tweets from both candidates in this final round-up of Pre-Election Day tweets, taken from last night:

1) @Slate (Slate.com): "Latest polls show President Obama ahead of Mitt Romney in Ohio and Florida."

2) @CNNPolitics (CNN Politics): "Washington Redskins lose, San Francisco Giants win, election still unclear."

3) @lmcnelly (Lucas McNelly, a liberal activist): "I'm spending way too much time cursing at Republican attack ads."

4) @afor9th (Anthony Flaccavento, pictured bottom): "Thought telling truth and standing up for working people would rally folks. And it has. #Flaccavento in Wise County."

5) @MorganGriffith (Morgan Griffith, pictured top): "At the Dickenson County GOP Dinner. We've made over 40 stops and traveled more than 3,000 miles. Two days to go." (John McCain narrowly won the far southwestern Virginia county over Obama in 2008 according to "The Roanoke Times").

6) @CrowleyTime (Michael Crowley, a reporter for "Time" who previously worked for "The New Republic"): "Even weirder if Mark Warner hadn't bailed out in '08, Obama would likely be in the Senate or making first WH bid now." (Comment is in reference to Virginia's Democratic Senator Mark Warner).

7) @DavidFrum (David Frum, a center-right pundit and former George W. Bush speech writer): "Why isn't election day a national holiday?/Aka The Nightmare Before Christmas." (This is why we have a Charlie Brown Christmas tree image)

8) @NeilDiamond (Neil Diamond, the one and only iconic singer): "Working the phones for Obama. If I call you, don't hang up, it's me and I need you."

http://www.flaccaventoforthe9th.com

http://www.morgangriffithforcongress.com

Virtual Postcard from Virginia- The Big Pencil

Today, we send you a virtual postcard from my home state of Virginia with this image of The Big Pencil in Wytheville, a southwestern Virginia town that is one hour west of Roanoke. Wytheville is also known as the place where highways I-77 and 1-81 intersect, and the town is reportedly exactly half-way between New York and Miami.

The Big Pencil was once featured in a "Zippy the Pinhead" comic strip, that is the brainchild of Bill Griffith. The town is in the congressional district of Cong. Morgan Griffith (R), a Republican from my hometown of Salem, Va., whom I know personally. But......well, I am not a Republican, but of course one should not say negative things about a friend in spite of political differences. It would be great if I could challenge him to a game of chess, bowling or mini-golf, but we doubt the freshman congressman has time for that. We should also point out that the cartoonist and the congressman are not related.

SIDEBAR: Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, you probably can not spell the words Gladiolous and Crustaceaology, those are two words that were once used as Spelling Bee championship words in 1925 and 1955 respectively. Gladiolous, hope we spelled that right, is a type of flower; the other term was once used for the study of all things crustacean.

SIDEBAR: We are 'taking off' until Tuesday....We hope....!

http://www.zippythepinhead.com

Things We Learned on Google Today- IFK Goteborg Lost to Another Swedish Soccer Team

NOTE: Normally, in this slot, we have our series dedicated to the 15 former republics of the Soviet Union. But, we thought it would be keen and neat to switch the entries around today with our other blog "The Daily Vampire"..........ok, we did sort of mess up and hence Javier the Intern has once again been fired.


Steven Levy, a writer for "Wired" magazine, has a new book called "In the Plex" which is about how Google shapes our minds and the ways we think. All of which has made me think that perhaps we should change the name of this series to "Things We Learned on Bing Today."

At any rate, we had high hopes that our feature soccer team of the week, IFK Goteborg, a Swedish powerhouse which has won 18 national championship titles, five national cup titles and two UEFA cups, would come through for us as they face Mjallby AIF, a Swedish soccer team in the southern Swedish fishing town of Mjallo, but alas they choked. Hence, the final result was Mjallby AIF 1 IFK Goteborg 0. The winning goal was scored by David Lofquist, 25, for Mjallby.

But, there are supposedly some good players for IFK Goeborg, including Stefan Sleakovic, 34, a Swedish national player who has been a star for the team, and IFK's captain Adam Johansson, 28, a fellow Swede.

Goteborg or Gothenburg is Sweden's second largest city as it ranks between Stockholm and Malmo.

SIDEBAR: In the "Gosh, We Didn't Get To It" department, we were hoping to rib Cong. Morgan Griffith (R-Va.) as he is ironically a good friend to me personally, though I'm not sure if he shares that opinion of my blog. He is from my hometown of Salem, Va., and he represents the ninth district of Virginia from western Salem to Bristol, Va.

Apparently, Griffith, who should not be confused with an attractive young woman from Georgia on Twitter who shares his name (yes, this is actually true), addressed the need for deregulation so southwest Virginia could get more jobs in response to President Barack Obama's speech, yesterday.

We were going to say these minimum-wage jobs might well pollute the air and water, and they would be probably be shipped out to El Slavador or China so some Cuban cigar-chomping mine boss could cut living wages, but out of respect for Griffith and our time contraints, we are going to avoid making such a satiric claim which could easily be misinterpreted.

And, to actually be fair and balanced, we should add that we have yet to read what Cong. Griffith actually had to say as of 5:00 p.m., New Haven, Conn., time.

PS: The country we are featuring today in our series which will be on "The Daily Vampire" wil be Lithuania. If it wasn't obvious, Javier the Intern does not really exist!

The Post-Election Day Hangover

Mor


I recall one year when I was in college when my old high school pals Jake and Brett (not their real names) came over and we watched the Super Bowl between the New York Giants and the Buffalo Bills. The Giants won the game, but I will never forget the Jack Daniels hangover that my buds suffered. I was smart enough not to join them!

And, since my Twitter account is frozen up today, which I suspect is a result of following over 1,800 people, media outlets and organizations (yes, Paris Hilton is one of them) the day after a major election.

While Paris Hilton may not have won yesterday, the dubious choice that Kentuckians made in electing far, far right mad man Rand Paul (we actually like Ron Paul, his dad, but like George W. Bush this guy is crazier than his dad!) who according to "The Nation" even opposes abortion when a woman's life is in danger, may be just as fatal for the American political spectrum.

Closer to home, one of my friends (yes, the irony here kills me too) Republican Morgan Griffith from my hometown of Salem, Va., upset Cong. Rick Boucher, who was first elected to office when I was 12 years old in 1982! And, I was perhaps the only kid from East Salem Elementary School who watched the election results that night.

Boucher lost in part from a heavy turn-out in conserative parts of the ninth district, according to "The Roanoke Times," which we presume would include the truck-stop town of Wytheville.

"The Roanoke Times" also stated that Cong. Tom Periello, a first-term representative, who is actually younger than me at 36, lost to Robert Hurt, a conservative state senator from the town of Chatham, Va.

Chatham is in southside Virginia where local churches actually state to be wary of our friend Hot Stuff on a regular basis.

(That is Satan for those of who live in saner parts of the country/world; I am of course alluding to the Harvey Comics character that Perriello is too young to remember and Griffith might well be reading to his young children).

In my current state of residence, North Carolina, Congressional Democrats fared fairly well even though the state house fell to the hands of Satan (the Republicans) for the first time since 1898!

Cong. Brad Miller (D-NC) held off a Tea Party whacko named Bill Randall who like Clarence Thomas is African-American.

In an effort to somehow proclaim that the GOP is now the party of diversity, Fred Barnes of the conservative "The Weekly Standard" (We should mention that neo-con don Bill Kristol of that same publication actually sent me a friendly email during the Obama-McCain race which still shocks me to this day!; of course- it had nothing to do with politics) mentioned that two African-Americans won Congressional races yesterday.

They included Tim Scott of South Carolina and Allen West of Florida.

Hopefully, they will represent their constituents well. If not, the Democratic Party might want to find two fat, old white guys to run against them!