GERALD FORD STUNS THE WORLD * EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT!!

God Bless Betty Ford and R.I.P. Gerald, who seems to be speaking from the grave with his shocking post-mortem tape. I adore Betty, and have always liked Gerald Ford for his humility and integrity. More on the Ford tape below.

I am thrilled that John Edwards has thrown his hat into the ring! He is such an honest, hard-working all-American patriot and visionary with real solutions for America. I love both Edwards and Gore. Obama and Hilary are equally qualified, but Edwards or Gore have a better chance of winning.

Breaking News: A new Associated Press poll has Bush as the NUMBER ONE VILLAN OF 2006. One out of four Americans chose Bush.

AP's Poll the breakdown; Biggest Villain 2006
Bush.......25%
Bin Laden..8%
Saddam.....6%
Pres. of Iran..5%
Dictator of Korea..2%
Satan.......1%

From Clif: "Bush is worse than Saddam, Kim Il Jung, Ahmadinejad, Bin forgotten, and EVEN Satan."

I just watched Chris Matthews interview David Gergen on Gerald Ford's stunning admission that the Bush administration made a catastrophic mistake in invading Iraq under the guise of routing out "weapons of mass destruction." Ford's taped interview was released upon his death; he would not allow it to be released while he was alive. He really sounds disgusted by the neocons.

Gergen said that there is a big difference between a true Republican -- and a neo conservative like Rumsfield and Cheney, who both played prominent roles in Ford's administration. Gergen said that everyone has noticed an astonishing change in Dick Cheney; he is not the man he was. It almost sounded as if he was saying Cheney has been posssessed by some demon. He did say "Once Cheney was made CEO of Haliburton, maybe he acquired CEO-itis." In any case, it was not a compliment. The implication is that Cheney and the Bush neocons have taken the country down a very dark path, fueled by greed and fear.

Gerald Ford and his courageous wife Betty are true heroes of mine. Betty Ford's honesty in admitting her alcoholism, and establishing the Betty Ford Center in Rancho Mirage has helped countless people admit their own helplessness in this devastating disease.

I am posting Step 11 shortly. My favorite step.

Christmas wrap up: In our house, I do all the cooking, baking and housework — so it's not easy keeping up with the blog. Right before Christmas I scrubbed the house from top to toe, getting behind every piece of furniture and literally washing the woodwork by hand. My sweet husband strung icicle lights all around the house and then proceeded to accidentally hose down the boxes of kids' gifts which were hidden on our side porch. After I calmed down, we went to Costco to use the gift certificate my mom and Chuck sent us. WE LOVE YOU GUYS! My sister hung out all day on Christmas and helped the kids put their gifts together. We are so blessed to have each other. We are one of the few houses in our neighborhood with Christmas lights. My son is going to 6 Barmitzvahs this year; I wish we, as Protestants, had this ritual for our boys on the verge-of-manhood.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!