"Why is this man crying?" or "Karma's a You-Know-What"
First of all, I have to give credit to fellow blogger, Daily Kos, for first using this image in a campaign ad on his site. You know what they say about imitation, right?

So, I've kind of been on the sidelines for alot of the political goings-on in recent months, but this is one I had to move on.

The man in the picture above is Republican Congressman Darrell Issa, representing California's 49th Congressional District. This is a photo from a press conference Issa gave last summer.

Why do I care?

For those of you who may or may not know, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Governor of California.

Let me repeat that.

Arnold Schwarzenegger is the Governor of California.

And who do we have to thank for this? Well, we can start with Darell Issa. Issa, who started out as a petty car thief and then graduated to stealing an entire business that has since made him millions, was the chief architect of the campaign to recall Gray Davis. Issa used nearly $2 million dollars out of his own pocket to pay "volunteers" to get signatures for the recall petition - not exactly a groundswell of public support to throw out a man who'd only been re-elected 6 months prior.

Presumably, Issa expected to become Governor himself. Then the National and State GOP realized what a good thing they had going and decided to push Arnold instead. Hence the picture above, where Issa announced, after considerable behind-the-scenes encouragement - can you say Karl Rove? - his withdrawal from his own campaign.

Well, Issa's up for re-election this year, and this gentleman, Mike Byron, an Army brat, an ex-Navy guy, and a dude who has a Ph.D. in Political Science, is the Democrat running to unseat him.


I don't know much about Mike Byron. And I don't live anywhere near the 49th Congressional District (it's Northern San Diego county and parts of Riverside).

But Darrell Issa helped the GOP steal my state.

For that alone, I'm giving Mike Byron some of my money.

If you live in California, or if you're simply offended by the gangster tactics of the Republican Party, I suggest you give Mike Byron some money, too.

Click here if you want to send this crybaby home to his mommy.