This morning

+ Shaken Saddam is sentenced to hang. Good. And the Sunnis complained. I'm past ready to put a fence around the Sunnis and let them fend for themselves. We'll see if they can get any help from Saudi and Osama.

+ Nice article about Lovie Smith.

+ Finally for this post, Tom has a column in the Knoxville News Sentinel today (free registration required), where he argues that everyone should vote Democrat Tuesday because a Democratic Congress balancing President Bush would be better for our foreign policy.

I agree with his reasoning throughout the column, but with the caveat I keep harping on. Here I'm reposting my latest articulation:

my 2 cents: i want to vote for the Democrats. i really do.

if only they could pretend, like the Repubs, that they wanted my vote. like TM said a couple of days ago: put away their scary people until after the election (not even including Kerry's foot-in-mouth).

partisan balance would be a major improvement. if only the Dems could improve their connection with Middle America (Midwestern and Southern, middle income, some traditional values).

a stronger Democratic party would improve current politics for all of us immediately.

but i hate to vote for them just because the Repubs stink so bad, just because balance would be better.

i wish i kinda wanted to vote for them. voting Dem is in my background. i usually do. but they're struggling to connect with me, not to mention those Middle Americans...