Ok, so before you start on anything I'm going to say, go enjoy this, from Bob Again.

Some thoughts on rankings, first and foremost. We say goodbye to two blogs this week. Deep Thoughts with Mr. Boothe is closing down. Iowa Ramblings has a great name and nearly a month of inactivity. Visit them both as you would visit a favorite bar one last time before it closes.

On a positive note, this week we welcome John Deeth. I honestly haven't read enough of his stuff to make any kind of informed comment yet.

On a side note, I'm starting to release how much I'm missing in the world of sports. This week a Brewer (Carlos Lee) won a Silver Slugger Award and the NBA season started, and I didn't even know til the next night! Normally, this is the kind of thing I'd be up all night over. I used to write for Baseball Think Factory and spend probably 5-10 hours a week in their forums, but before tonight, I hadn't been there since June. It's a good thing I don't have to worry about Snowbaseball.com anymore.

Now, on Saturday, my Badgers play for the lead in the Big Ten, but instead of watching it, I'll be attending the Iowa Democratic Party's Jefferson Jackson Dinner.

(rant begins)

I recognize that every local party everywhere has an event like this, but I loathe the Jefferson Jackson Dinner, and here's why:

It's unapologetically elitist. Make no mistake, if you're a Democrat, we want your attention. But we also want your money. If you've got $100, you can sit down at a table. If you've got $25, you can stand in the back and listen to speakers. The speakers include a guy who used to be a Senator, a respectable Senator, a Governor who's stopped doing his job so he can run for President, A Lt. Governor who appears to have no political future, a Congressman who's stopped doing his job entirely, too many Congressional candidates to name (but no one who's running to replace Steve King), not one, or two, or three, but six gubernatorial candidates (sorry, Gregg Connell doesn't have a website. Actually, if you Google Gregg Connell, I come up 4th.), and probably some Secretary of Ag candidates. If this sounds like a party to you, you just may want to seek some help.

But if you can't spare $100, you can't eat there. And if you can't spare $25, you can't even get in the door. I thought we were the non-big money party. What a goddamn joke.

KL