A sad article in today’s Gazette indicates that both McCain and Obama have decided West Virginia is a solid red state in the General Election, so neither of them needs to bother with us. The comments that follow below the article are pretty depressing, too.

WV Democrats voted solidly for Hillary. OK, it’s obvious that Obama has the nomination locked up. But West Virginians can’t seem to get over the fact that the superdelegates decided to throw their weight behind Obama, as if their half a dozen votes would change the events at the upcoming convention. Obama has it locked up, get over it. The only thing the superdelegates can do now is throw their support behind the presumptive candidate and try to get some voice in the VP slot, or maybe convince Obama that WV is not a McCain lock, and get him to get his ass into West Virginia so the voters can see and touch him.

If West Virginians are such racists, I wonder what the black population in McDowell County thinks about Obama staying clear of West Virginia? But I digress.

Even McCain is taking WV for granted, which I find insulting, and I’m a Dem! I’m insulted that either of these guys think they can count on WV to vote the way they think. I’m insulted that neither one thinks we’re worth their effort. I only hope that Obama’s lack of interest doesn’t make WV Democrats vote Republican yet again.

I propose that WV Democrats, if they get pissed off enough at Obama’s disinterest, just not vote at all in the Presidential race. Oh, definitely go to the polls and vote for the other races, but if WV is going to be a Red State, don’t give them your vote to count. Just don’t check either McCain or Obama. Imagine if, after the votes are counted, it’s noted that there were ten thousand fewer votes cast in the Presidential race than in the others. That might just make a statement.

Has Scott Adams been visiting Culture and History?

The Kanawha County School Board voted 4-1 to continue the incentive pay for teachers to show up for work every day. You don’t know how much I hate agreeing with Pete Thaw.

Obviously, if there’s been a sudden drop in illness among teachers, it shows that they were abusing their sick leave privileges in the past. You are only supposed to take off sick for legitimate illness or appointments. I wonder if students have noticed their teachers showing up for work more often?

I wonder how Joe Manchin would feel about this policy for state employees?

But we knew that before he made the stupid joke about West Virginia on video.

Nick Rahall gets quote of the day:

“We may owe the vice president a debt of gratitude for yet another great West Virginia slogan: ‘Dick Cheney is not from here.’”

Interesting items to take away from Phil Kabler’s report on the Fred Armstrong firing:

1. Randall Reid-Smith has a low threshold of pain when it comes to “disrespect.” Lack of self-esteem?

2. Kay Goodwin is not RRS’s boss. She didn’t have anything to do with hiring him, and was not involved (she says) in firing Armstrong. His backing comes from Manchin’s Chief of Staff. What the hell does she do over there all day? Apparently the Governor’s office didn’t even consult her before appointing RRS, which also shows that they were waiting for their opportunity to get rid of Troy Body and give the job to Reid-Smith.

3. RRS was given assurance he could “form his own leadership team when he was hired to carry forward his vision.” Apparently that included appointing a Museum Director with no prior experience in museums. One wonders if they are going to find an Archives Director of equal qualifications.

4. RRS claims to be a visionary, but the idea about the cafe came from consultants. Then again, no idea that RRS has come up with on his own since his tenure as Culture Czar has been a good one.

After pounding his nail, Governor Joe tells WV Public Radio “I’m committed to getting this completed. I really have been. And I’ve been very vocal about it.”

Apparently, he’s a recent convert, since he told Acting Commissioner Troy Body that he wasn’t going to sink any more money into that “million dollar hole in the ground.”

Professional Liar Bil Lepp managed to slip a Heather Bresch reference into his story at the Vandalia Gathering Friday night.

To briefly set it up: Bil, in California, encounters a mountain lion, and in order to save himself, preaches and then Baptizes the lion. (Bil is also a minister) Out of nowhere a California Natural Resources officer appears, and when she pulls out her wallet and flashes her badge, the plastic accordion card holder rolls down, revealing her National Herbal Tea Drinkers card, her membership in a couple of other granola groups, and her EMBA card from WVU.

The audience howled for a full minute.

Well, perhaps in answer to the museum in limbo, The Culture Palace announced today that the Gov is going to pound the ceremonial first nail in the museum next week. One wonders what he’s pounding a nail into, since if the museum is going to be built with wood, what is the other $16.5 million of renovation money going for? A “world class museum” is not built out of wood.

There’s a good letter to the editor pointing out that

London has the most surveillance of any city in the world, but London Chief Inspector Mick Neville is quoted as calling the system “a fiasco.”

Danny Jones needs to learn from Inspector Neville. This would be a total waste of the user fee.

Phil Kabler writes that the State Museum project is in limbo because the contract for the specialty fabricator still hasn’t been awarded. Three bids were submitted, but one was tossed, no reason revealed yet. Phil seems to think that they are taking too long to reveal the bid award, even though the dollar amounts of the bids have been published. Perhaps there’s a technical issue? After all, the low bid isn’t necessarily the best bid.

But for once, it’s unfair to say the museum is in limbo, it appears work is going great guns on framing up the space. Culture and History’s website has some pictures and drawings of the museum progress, although the pages appear unfinished and not up-to-date; maybe it’s the website that’s in limbo?

In any case, it’s no longer a $6 million hole in the ground, as Joe Manchin so politely put it several years (and commissioners) ago.