Shakesville has an ongoing series of posts on phallic imagery in society and nature. How could they leave out the world's largest phallic symbol.

Allen couldn't help himself. Don't people realize that the more strident the denials and the crazier the claims you make in your defense, the worse things get? Bloggers are having a field day with this one...

Change in Tallahassee:

In a sometimes-emotional statement delivered in front of his attorney's office, Allen sadded, "This is an ugly and unpleasant situation that has been thrust upon my family."

Seriously, "thrust." That's the word you use to describe it? And who was it doing the thrusting, Bob?

Tallahassee Democrat Editor's Blog:

He says he is not guilty of a charge related to an accusation he offered to pay a male undercover police officer for oral sex in a bathroom at a Titusville park. I believe his exact words were: “absolutely not guilty.” He will, he says, emerge stronger from this whole test.

Grassroots Brevard:

Florida Rep. Bob Allen has no intention of resigning his House seat and [said he] is "absolutely" not guilty of soliciting for prostitution, the 48-year-old Merritt Island resident told FLORIDA TODAY Thursday afternoon.

Pushing Rope:

''I am filing a not guilty plea. I am vigorously going to fight this,'' State Rep. Bob Allen, a co-chair of Republican presidential candidate John McCain's campaign in Florida, said at a news conference. ``I am not resigning my office because the people elected me and want me to do a good job. I am going to do a good job for them in finishing this term.''

Smashed Frog:

He stumbled upon mention of his family--who were not by his side at the Titusville, Florida press conference--and urged anyone listening not to make a decision based on "fast" news--a swipe at the blogosphere, methinks.

Allen may hate the blogosphere, but is seems quite clear that the blogosphere is very fond of him. We hope he does "vigorously defend" against the situation "thrust" upon him. We hope he keeps saying "thrust" a lot. We hope he keeps saying dumb stuff. We support his right to expose himself not only as a lying hypocrite but as a total dumbass as well.

It's also a bad sign when your friends say things like this (Broward's Blog)

Republican Party of Florida Chairman Jim Greer released the following statement today regarding Representative Bob Allen's announcement that he will not resign from the Florida House of Representatives:

"While this is an extremely serious matter, the House of Representatives and the judiciary system have established a process to deal with situations of this nature. We are confident in the leadership of Speaker Rubio and we have no doubt that this matter will be addressed in a timely and appropriate manner."

And House Speaker Marco Rubio released this statement:

"The charge against Rep. Allen is serious. Because it is a misdemeanor, not a felony, the House rules don't provide for a specific response in the event that he is found to be guilty. Rep. Allen has advised that he intends to defend himself vigorously. That is his right and the House will respect that right. We will continue to monitor the situation and take appropriate steps if necessary."

Or this one (Flablog)

Brevard County Clerk of Courts Scott Ellis referred to the "bizarro world of politics" when he heard about the arrest. "This is so bizarre there is nothing to comment upon," he said. "There are few things in politics that ever leave me speechless anymore, but this is one.

Mustang Bobby sums it up best (Bark Bark Woof Woof):

I agree with Tucker Carlson; as long as it doesn't hurt someone else or violate the law, a person's sex life is nobody's business, and that standard should apply to everyone, regardless of their politics. But when they make a big deal over someone else's sex life, bring the government of the United States to a screeching halt while you clutch your pearls and fan yourself on the fainting couch, and they're also doing such things as committing adultery (Newt Gingrich, Henry Hyde, Bob Livingston, Dan Burton), renting hookers (David Vitter), or chatting up well-muscled teenaged boys on the internet (Mark Foley), the double standards are not only showing, they're blindingly and hilariously obvious.

It's always good when MB posts about Florida, although it did hurt my eyes to read the phrase "I agree with Tucker Carlson."

"Seeing is not always believing." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Not surprisingly, there's a lot of stuff out there about Bob Allen's escapades. Here's the best of that info. Keep in mind, that if Allen were simply gay, that wouldn't be a problem. The problem is that he is a massive hypocrite.

Talk To Me:

As expected, Florida's blogs are alive with posts regarding the arrest of Florida state Representative Bob Allen, R-Merritt Island.

Ybor City Stogie:

State Representative, Robert "Bob" Allen, was arrested this afternoon at Veteran's Memorial Park on East Broad St. in Titusville for Solicitation for Prostitution.

Blast Off!:

Officers say they noticed Allen acting suspicious as he went in and out of the men's restroom 3 times. Minutes later, he solicited an undercover male officer inside the restroom, offering to perform oral sex for $20. Officers realized he was a public figure after the arrest.

Allen, a Republican, represents District 32 of the State House of Representatives. The district spans parts of Brevard and Orange counties. Allen was first elected to the office in 2000.

Smashed Frog:

Shuttle launch for go and Allen was launched-straight to county jail, where interestingly enough, his occupation is listed as "unemployed".

Allen-who never met a sex offender bill he didn't like- called the matter "a very big understanding." (Aside-explain to me exactly why solicitation for prostitution is NOT considered a sex offense?)

Flablog:

A conservative Republican with libertarian leanings, he had been raising money for a Florida Senate run. (And he earned a 92 percent Christian Coalition score in 2006.)

Broward's Blog:

Rep. Allen is the author of failed Florida House Bill #1475, the "Lewd and Lecivious Behavior Act" which would have made public masturbation in the presence of another adult illegal, whether the other adult consented or not. Florida statutes already cover such behavior for when a minor is present and the bill died in committee in two months ago. I'm pretty sure Rep. Allen was violating #1475 when he offered to blow that cop, doncha think? Lucky for him it didn't pass!

In 2005, Allen told right-wing Christian site World Net Daily about his "Sexual Predators Elimination Act" which sought mandatory life without parole sentences for those designated as sexual predators. Allen's now-ironic statement to WND: "We can get away from all those expensive law-enforcement time-wasting factors by simply going straight to the root of the problem, and that is the offender, and put them in a locked up place where we know we're safe." The bill was strongly opposed by the Florida ACLU and did not pass.

Tampa Bay Democrat:

This is the same clueless guy who worked to repeal the bullet train and received contributions from Jack Abramoff.

March on Politics:

As if all that wasn’t enough, some are noting that state Rep. Bob Allen, who made headlines Wednesday being busted on a charge of soliciting a male undercover officer for oral sex, was announced in March as one of the John McCain presidential campaign’s Florida legislative co-chairs.

Grassroots Brevard:

It was rumored that Rep. Bob Allen would run for Bill Posey's State Senate seat (SD-24). I guess that plan is trashed, huh?

FLA Politics:

"Allen is a former Little League volunteer who also donated time to the Boys and Girls Club, serving on its board of directors. Allen is married and has a teenage daughter."

The Buzz:

Florida Today has posted a copy of Rep. Bob Allen's arrest affidavit, in which Allen allegedly entered the undercover officer's bathroom stall and said,"This is kind of a public place, isn't it?"

Pensito Review:

The good news is that Allen might not be in all that much trouble. He is only charged with a second degree misdemeanor, which is no biggie in a legislative body. Heck, everyone’s got a few of those.

Allen faces a maximum sentence of 60 days in jail.

tiny little dots:

I wonder if he’s been pre-forgiven for his sins too?

FLA Politics:

Its not looking good for the Republican Party these days.

"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed - and hence clamorous to be led to safety - by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." - H. L. Mencken

Politics that is. There are a lot of people out there who get involved in politics and put a lot of time and effort into it. Then, after a lost election or a failed issue campaign, they give up. To me, this is terrible. Politics isn't a short-term project. It isn't something easy. It isn't a quickie.

No matter what side you are on or what you believe, your side will lose sooner or later. Guaranteed. They'll also win. The liberals who give up when a Bush gets re-elected or the Democrats fail to stop the war are actually aiding the Republicans, who never give up. How many years do you think conservatives failed before they took power. 30. Really. They had no legitimate ideas. They were a minority. They were unlikeable. And they won. Money played a part. But a bigger part was the fact that they were 100% committed and refused to give up in the face of failure.

If we are going to win -- and we are -- then it will take the same level of commitment. We're going to lose some battles. We already have. We're going to lose elections. We're going to lose on various issues. But in the long run, we'll win because we're on the side of right. We're on the side of the people. We're on the side of the facts. We'll win because we are committed and we refuse to fail.

Readers: Anyone else you suggest that I add to this list? It should be related to war, terrorism and/or national security.

Checking in again to see where our old favorites are:

• Osama bin Laden: whereabouts unknown
• Mullah Omar: whereabouts unknown
• Iraqi weapons of mass destruction: whereabouts unknown
• Moqtada al-Sadr: whereabouts known, but he isn't really a priority, despite his hatred for America.
• Iraqi-U.N. bomb plotters: whereabouts unknown
• The Valerie Plame Leakers: whereabouts unknown (okay, they are known, we just aren't being told)
• The Anthrax killer(s): whereabouts unknown
• The Ricin terrorists: whereabouts uknown
• Numerous priceless historical artifacts in Iraq: whereabouts unknown
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: Killed!
• Saddam Hussein: Killed!
• Qusay Hussein: Killed!
• Uday Hussein: Killed!
• (by Badtux): George W. Bush: Location known. (Hey, given that his actions have killed more people than all of the other people on this list, *combined*, it's only fair, right?)

"America was indebted to immigration for her settlement and prosperity. That part of America which had encouraged them most had advanced most rapidly in population, agriculture and the arts."

"Happy the man who knows the causes of things." — Lucretius

I haven't had Internet service at home since early yesterday. Sorry for the lack of posts. Key rule, when you call a tech help line and the person you talk to can't figure things out that you think should be easy, the best thing to do is to hang up, call back and talk to someone else. Yesterday, we talked to the Comcast people for more than an hour and they came up with nothing and set up a service call for Friday. Friday!!!! I can't possibly be without Internet until Friday. And I knew they were wrong. I called back today, it was fixed in 5 minutes.

I'm not a Democrat by nature. I'm a liberal by nature. My primary loyalties are to my beliefs, which are based in philosophy, evidence, history and, to a lesser extent, interest in the success and well-being of my family, friends and myself. I'm also a trained scientist. That, and my personal philosophy, give me a die-hard devotion to the facts. One of the more important facts out there is that we, in the United States, live in a two-party system. That isn't going to change in my lifetime, and it may never change. Some party may come along some day and replace one of the two current parties, but it's incredibly unlikely. And, as long as I live outside of a few districts in the country where independent or no party candidates have a realistic chance of winning, then that means the Democratic Party is the only game in town.

So I'm a Democrat. That doesn't mean I'm a huge fan of all Democratic politicians and the policies they pursue. Over the years, I've held my nose to vote for a few people I really don't like, policy-wise, and in a few cases in local races, I've voted for Republicans when there were no Democrats in the race or the only Democrats running were criminals. I didn't enjoy it, but I did it. And, as with most progressives, I have no problem complaining about Democrats when I don't like what they do, even Democrats I otherwise like.

There are a few things that I'm devoted to that some of my fellow progressives aren't. One, is that I'm totally opposed to third party politics. I have no problem with people forming groups or trying to change things, but to me it is totally unrealistic to think you can change the system from the outside or that you can change a party from the outside. Can't be done.

Two, I'm dedicated to winning elections. I think the philosophy out there that some have -- they'd rather vote for the right person and lose, than compromise on some things and win -- makes no sense to me. It never made sense to me, but the Ralph Nader-George W. Bush thing made it clear this way of thinking is a bad idea. Sure, vote for your ideal candidate in primaries or in elections that the other side can't possibly win, but when things are close, you have to go with the candidate who can win who is closest to what you believe. Throwing away a vote on a guaranteed loser when there are other options is self-destructive. No matter what people think, Al Gore would've been a better president than George W. Bush in almost every way, and votes for Ralph Nader guaranteed that Bush won. That is criminal to me. You cannot change the world for the better when you don't win elections, and by losing them, it's obvious that you can change it for the worse. And it's pretty clear to me than more than 90% of Democrats are better than 90% of Republicans on almost every issue. Also connect that to the fact that in many cases, it isn't the straight up vote that wins an issue and changes the world, it's a party-line procedural votes. These things are facts. They are realistic. And they are ideologically correct.

Three, on a related note, is that I can't stand people who dismiss candidates, politicians or allies because of disagreement on a single issue. It's nonsensical and it's doomed to failure. If there is one issue that is particularly important to you, fight for it, but not at the expense of every other issue, because those other things not only affect you, they affect your allies -- the people you have to have fighting with you in order to win on your own issue. Battles are won by coalitions, not soloists.

And the people who decide to go the other way and vote Republican? Let's not even talk about them, because I actually like some of them. A few, at least.

The conclusion is probably obvious. The path to changing Florida and changing the world for the better is through the Democratic Party. It's not only a path, it's the only path. Spend all the time you want debating this, discussing it and trying to figure out if I'm wrong or right. Meanwhile, I'll be out there fighting to turn the Democratic Party into the party that I think it can be, the party of the people and the party for positive change for Florida, America and the world. Join me.

• Web Site of the Week - Senate 2008 Guru
• Person of the Week - Weston, Fla., Mayor Eric Hersh: Someone is actually fighting against the RPOF's horrible tax plan.
• Dork of the Week - Scooter Libby: Jail or not, he's guilty. And guilty of a lot more than we've been told.
• What's Going On Award - Potential Turkish invasion of Iraq.
• New Movie of the Week - Shooter
• Old Movie of the Week - Blogwars
• New Book of the Week - Lisey's Story, Stephen King
• Old Book of the Week - The Book of Political Lists, Blake Eskin
• TV Show of the Week - "Flight of the Conchords"
• Athletic Team of the Week - Indiana Fever
• Athlete of the Week - Roger Federer, tennis
• Musical Artist of the Week - The White Stripes
• Song of the Week - "Born in the U.K.," Badly Drawn Boy
• Old Song of the Week - "Eaten by the Monster of Love," Sparks
• Album of the Week - "Icky Thump," The White Stripes
• Old Album of the Week - "Valley Girl Soundtrack," Various Artists

"We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it." - William Faulkner

You are invited to tune in today at 3 p.m. for the first episode of our new online call-in radio show, Florida Progressive Radio. You can learn more over at the FPC site or listen to the show at Blog Talk Radio.

Readers: Anyone else you suggest that I add to this list? It should be related to war, terrorism and/or national security.

Checking in again to see where our old favorites are:

• Osama bin Laden: whereabouts unknown
• Mullah Omar: whereabouts unknown
• Iraqi weapons of mass destruction: whereabouts unknown
• Moqtada al-Sadr: whereabouts known, but he isn't really a priority, despite his hatred for America.
• Iraqi-U.N. bomb plotters: whereabouts unknown
• The Valerie Plame Leakers: whereabouts unknown (okay, they are known, we just aren't being told)
• The Anthrax killer(s): whereabouts unknown
• The Ricin terrorists: whereabouts uknown
• Numerous priceless historical artifacts in Iraq: whereabouts unknown
• Abu Musab al-Zarqawi: Killed!
• Saddam Hussein: Killed!
• Qusay Hussein: Killed!
• Uday Hussein: Killed!
• (by Badtux): George W. Bush: Location known. (Hey, given that his actions have killed more people than all of the other people on this list, *combined*, it's only fair, right?)

"Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own Governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives." — James Madison

• Web Site of the Week - Bloodletters: Top 50 Horror Movies
• Person of the Week - Gen. William Odom: This essay says it all.
• Dork of the Week - George W. Bush: Is there any power of the government more useless than the presidential pardon?
• What's Going On Award - The Libby Pardon
• New Movie of the Week - Hostel 2
• Old Movie of the Week - Fast Food Nation
• New Book of the Week - Lisey's Story, Stephen King
• Old Book of the Week - Get That Nigger Off the Field, Art Rust Jr.
• TV Show of the Week - "John From Cincinnati"
• Athletic Team of the Week - Chicago Cubs
• Athlete of the Week - Josh Beckett, Boston Red Sox
• Musical Artist of the Week - John Mellencamp
• Song of the Week - "Our Country," John Mellencamp
• Old Song of the Week - "Eaten by the Monster of Love," Sparks
• Album of the Week - "Icky Thump," The White Stripes
• Old Album of the Week - "Valley Girl Soundtrack," Various Artists

"If you give the people a choice between a Republican and a Republican, they'll choose the Republican every time." - Harry Truman

This time is reads:

This is a good day to do some research! Your brain is ready to soak in new details.

At the surface this may be some decent advice but, considering what my brain was soaking in yesterday, I'd say that once again, the horoscope is misguided.

By official sources, our beloved country is now 231 years old. The world is a better place because of America's existence. Now, do something suitable and go watch things blow up (safely).

And, of course, keep in mind that our men and women in uniform are steal dealing with real explosions in the cause of a misguided and mismanaged war.