And Speaking of Patriotism....

Actually, this has nothing to do with patriotism. But I only just now realized that if the government shuts down on March 4 that means me, too. Like, I won't get paid. And yes, I've kinda been thinking about taking a few days of personal leave because, well, I can...but taking it because John Boehner is a prize jackass wasn't exactly the scenario I envisioned.

I'm kinda freaking out a little here.

I Got Your Patriotism Right Here

The population I work with is, generally speaking, pretty conservative. Not all, mind, but most. Meanwhile, none of my co-workers are. Because of the environment we are in, we keep our mouths shut about politics, unless we're all alone in the office. And it's fine. I hear some stupid stuff from time to time but I can finesse it. Except for this:

A big (and very attractive) framed picture of the President hangs on the wall of our office. We're not obligated to have a picture of the President in our office but when Public Affairs offered an extra one, MAB and I snapped it up. And it makes us happy. But a couple of times it has happened that someone has been in the office and said something along the lines of -and I'm not making this up- "Can we turn that to the wall?"

Now mind you, as a federal employee I am to conduct myself as a non-partisan while on the job. But when I hear something like that it makes the big vein in my head go "thumpa-thumpa". Until I hit on the perfect response. I look at the person who just uttered the offensive comment, smile sweetly and say, "Sir, with all due respect, that is the President of the United States, the Commander in Chief and my boss. We will not be turning it to the wall".

And every single time you know what happens? The offending person shuts the H up.

Just a Little Thing

After the Republicans repeal health care reform* I would like them to do something really useful and make more hours in the day. Not, mind you, work hours. 8 of those a day is plenty. My request is very simple, too. I would just like 2, maybe three more hours in the day. One of them would be wedged between 6 and 7 am and the other between, well, as it turns out, 6 and 7 pm.

The extra morning hour would give me time to blog before I go to work AND still have time to actually get the day started, maybe do a thing or two that would advance the household agenda and maybe even eat a damn breakfast. The evening hour would allow me to just muddle around doing things before I have to put food on my family.

Is that too much to ask?

I think not.



*Oh, and btw, I get why the Republicans are going to go after health care. But if they had some class the FIRST thing they'd do, before stripping millions of Americans from the new security they are beginning to enjoy, is opt out - every one of 'em - from the government health insurance they receive as federal employees. If they don't want government to provide health insurance for regular folks, it seems a little, uh, disingenuous to be taking government health insurance for themselves, don'tcha think?

I'll Have the Arrogant Twit Face Omlette with a Side of Hypocrisy, Please

I was reading today about the Purity Resolutions" the Republicans are considering. Channeling the still-dead Ronald Reagan, they've decided that if you're with 'em on 8 of 10 major principles, then you can get money and support when running a campaign. If, on the other hand, you support 7 or less of the 10 points deemed GOP worthy, then you can suck it.

Now, first of all, I would just like to say that I was relieved to understand the actual nature of these "Purity Resolutions" because at first I thought they were going to go for, you know, "purity" and I thought, "Well, THAT would be very interesting, wouldn't it?" (Mark Sanford, Sarah Palin's unwed mother daughter, like that). And then I thought, "And who are the folks who will comprise this 'Purity Panel'"? You know, the folks who are so without sin that they get to cast the first stone.

But turns out this isn't about breaking any commandments.

The "Purity Resolutions" are about adhering strictly to a "conservative" ideology...an ideology, btw, which is more and more wing-nutty all the time. (Go ahead, read the article. How much of that sounds like Dwight D. Eisenhower?) And all I can say to that is:

If they go through with that, the GOP will only demonstrate once and for all what most of us have been suspecting for some time: that they are revisionist, narrow, afraid of both dissent and debate and completely out of touch with mainstream America.

Also, if they keep this up, they are gonna be way surprised at how few elections they win.

Yippee.

Who You Callin' a Surrender Monkey?

Per our conversation the other day about haters on Facebook? 'K, so I was just reading through all the feeds for the day on my Facebook page. And I noticed something very interesting. A lot of my friends posted stuff about it being Veterans Day, most of 'em in fact.

Some didn't and that's cool. But interestingly, among those who didn't post a word about Veterans Day was every one of the Barack-Obama-is-Satan-liberals-are-driving-us-to-rack-and-ruin-and-not-only-do-I-think-George-W-Bush-was-the-best-president-ever-but-I've-totally-forgotten-that-it-was-the-Republicans-that-started-two-wars-squandered-a-surplus-and-drove-up-the-deficit Republicans.

Every. damn. one. of. them.

WTF?

I'm not beginning to suggest that ones patriotism is measured by whether or not he or she posts something about Veterans Day on Facebook. Let's be clear about that. But there is just something damned ironic (don'tcha think) about people who pop off at will questioning MY patriotism who can't spare 2 seconds to thank those who made it possible for them to freely come back at me with a "why do you hate America" every time their status quo gets rattled.

Man, if it weren't for the fact that there's an authentic deep dish Chicago pizza about to come out of my oven right now, I'd be plenty bent.

Ha!

You thought I forgot to blog today. Wrong.

So a while back I said I'd write about my conundrum about haters on Facebook. I'll try that now. (Sorry it took me so long, Nic).

I have friends, actual people, who do not share my political persuasion. I can handle that. Each to his own and all. But it has put me at a loss when it comes to some of the things they post on Facebook. For example, I have a friend with whom I recently reconnected. I don't remember that he was a conservative of any stripe. Maybe he was and I just never noticed. (Although in the period during which I knew him I was about as radical as ever I was in my life so you'd think it would have come up). During the health care debate he was constantly posting status updates about "Obamacare" and skewing statistics and generally being fairly Glenn Beckish. And I never responded because, despite the wild inaccuracy of some of his stuff, I figure dude is entitled to his opinion. Except sometimes it got pretty outlandish. And what I really wanted to say was, "Remind me again who you work for?" Because he works for a giant insurance company. Hello? But I didn't do it because it seemed petty.

But it still bugged me.

I have another buddy who I really like on so many levels. In this case, I've always known my friend's political leanings and she knows mine. It's nothing to do with the core of our friendship so we let it lie. But sometimes she puts up stuff that is so outrageous that it makes my heart hurt. Seriously. Because, I'm sorry, when you start out a post with name calling that just tells me right away that we're not going to be able to have a civil conversation. Not to mention, it frankly disturbs me when someone who I know to be compassionate and loving sounds so damn hateful - there's no other word for it - when she starts talking about the President.

So what to do?

I think that if I have any charge to lay at the feet of the GOP, and I have one or two, it is this: when did y'all abandon civil debate and discourse. Let's disagree, sure, but can't we do it without the name calling and aspirsions and vitriol? Must we be so certain of our position that we can't entertain even a fair hearing of the other side?

Maybe social media - networking sites and blogs - have made it all too easy to spout an opinion without much risk of challenge. Typically, we all align ourselves with people who generally think as we do. Most of my friends on FB agree with my position about health care (and most other stuff). But it's not that there are people who disagree with me. Again, it's the sheer anger in the disagreement that leaves me completely confounded as to what to do.

In most cases, I don't do anything. I ignore the hateful posts and comment when they put up something pleasant. But that doesn't really do it for me all the time. Especially when the outrage seems so misplaced or perverts facts. But the few times I've come back with anything the response is just more outrage. And the only reason I feel compelled to respond in the first place is partly to serve notice that not everyone agrees with them but mostly it's to try and engage in civil debate.

And then I remember that civil debate isn't possible with someone who so hates this President that they call a health care plan he didn't write "Obamacare".

Oy.

Bottom line, I got nuthin'. And I think part of the reason is because I'm a Democrat. Because truth be told, one of the things Democrats take heat for is not being tough enough. And that's deserved. I mean, seriously, who do the Democrats have that could be even remotely compared to, say, Ann Coulter? No one. Maybe Jim Carville or Rachael Madow or Keith Obermann. But historically Democrats are not out there in front of issues setting the tone or proclaiming the agenda. Not like Rush and Glenn and all those dudes. And maybe we need more of that but it still has to be truth telling and record setting straight stuff. If we're just gonna get down in the mud and wrestle with the other side and see who can use "why do you hate America" more than the other guy we still haven't gotten much farther ahead, now have we? (And of course, my deep desire for the debate to be more civilized might prove the whole Democrats-aren't-tough-enough argument. But again, if by "tough" we really mean being ugly and playing dirty, I don't want to be tough).

Consequently, I'm guessing that more often than not I'm going to be letting that stuff slide because I don't want to engage when there doesn't seem to be a point in engaging.

But that said, there's one thing I have been thinking about, and it's something that may be employed. Let me go back to a time, a few years ago, when I was visiting the folks. Dame Judi has picture magnets plastered on her fridge. Each picture is of someone she keeps in her daily prayers and she puts them on the fridge because she goes there several times a day and it's a good place to house such reminders. So I'm looking at the pictures and there in the middle is one of George and Laura Bush. And I exclaimed, "Why is there a picture of Bush on here?" (forgetting, in my surprise, that she likely voted for him). "Because," she softly replied, "Scripture tells us to pray for our leaders and that reminds me to do so".

Oh.

And further more, yes. Admittedly, I didn't pray for George W. Bush as much as my Christian duty called me to do. But there's a lot of wisdom in the notion. First of all, if you're praying for someone, you really can't hate them. And hate is a bad thing. Second, my general philosophy of prayer is that you never know how powerful it can be. I mean, seriously, if every praying person in this nation was intent only on upholding the nation's leaders, whoever they might be and praying for them to be wise and good and focused and if we were doing that on a daily basis, who knows what could happen.

So I'm not going to be going head to head with most of my right wing FB buddies (who also happen to be evangelical Christians). But every now and again I may just leave a comment that says, simply, I Timothy 2:1-2.

I Really Need to Remember that Wednesday is Late Start

Then I wouldn't be yelling at The Child to get up when she doesn't actually have to.

Not much to report, kids. The job closed...now we just wait to see if Rainey is on the list of candidates. Stupid government hiring. Keep those prayers and naked pagan dances coming.

We went to a concert Saturday night at our friend David and Tine's house. It was awesome. Talented young dude out of Idaho named Marcus Eaton. Sling, you'd really admire his chops. You can actually watch the show we saw on his website. You won't see me. You might hear me clapping and "whooting".

BSG "The Plan" is out on October 27. That's a wonderful thing.

I'm drinking more coffee more often now that it is fall.

I need to make my bed.

I have no idea what we're having for dinner tonight.

I need a pedicure but my hair is awesome.

MAB has been out of the office all week. Geez, I miss her.

"iCarly" is the best show on television. You should watch it even if you don't have a teenage girl in your house.

Looks like Nancy Pelosi has grown a pair and is pushing for a "robust" public option on health care. I smirk a lot when I hear people bitching about that. Especially the ones who I know are receiving government health care. Like Republican congresspeople.

Ask Not

There was a time, long ago and back in the mists thereof, when I lived and died by my site meter. I checked it constantly and if it was up I was elated and if it fell I was all self-castigate-y and "how will I regain my audience" and such.

Then I got over it.

Then I pretty much forgot about it.

Then once, a few months back, on a whim I checked it and I was averaging 30 readers a day. Which, given that I have no ad-driven revenue and pretty much just do this for my own amusement seems like a lot, right? Except, of course, that I used to average more like, uh, 120 hits a day.

So then I get kind of depressed because I know that the whole not blogging daily thing hurts and all that but holy hell, really? 120 loyal readers and then, like 70% of them go away? (Is it 70%? Remember, I was an English major). Talk about abandonment issues.

Right, so I stop with the looking at the site meter thing again because really, who needs the aggravation?

Then the other day I checked it, after the "Recapalooza" on "Blogging Project Runway" because that used to always boost my numbers (like, double them) so I just wanted to see if that trend was holding. And it kinda was but more importantly, I saw that I was now averaging 70 hits a day. On non Project Runway days. And I thought to myself, "Hey! People are coming by again! See what a little effort can do?"

And then I thought about how yesterday the President of the United States of America addressed the youth of America to basically encourage them to exert some effort and take some responsibility and, you know, not just sit around waiting for good stuff to fall into their laps and then I thought, "It's almost like he's talking about blogging".

Know what else I thought about yesterday? I couldn't help wondering about the folks who were all kerfuffled about the unprecedented act (if you exclude Reagan and Bush I, who did it before him) of a President going on telly to address the youth of the nation. I was wondering if any of them gathered together, fire all up in their bellies, to watch the President's [incendiary, god-forsaken] speech (far from the listening ears of their children, mind). And sure, they were only subjecting themselves to the horrors of listening for 15 minutes to the wretched man (who they despise beyond all reason but not because he's black) so they could go out there with an "informed" opinion and rail to whatever microphone that was available afterwards. And I just wondered if, when they heard the POTUS make his remarks about personal responsibility, working hard and not making excuses while never once talking about any political issue or declaiming an agenda, at least one or two of 'em looked around and caught the eye of another parent and had the grace to feel foolish.

I think it is veryvery important that we all remember that "conservative" does not categorically mean "wingnut", anymore than being a Democrat makes a person a leftist (or even a liberal, for that matter). Our definitions have become very garbled and it has become entirely too easy for all of us to slap on big, sweeping general labels on those who disagree with us. I am surrounded every day by people who generally do not vote as I do but can count on one hand the number of them who are, by any accepted definition, "wingnuts". I think it would be a good thing if we all stepped back from the generalizations and more often use our powers of critical thinking.

Meanwhile, Iwanski delivers, once again:

Town Hall Ruckus

It's time to weigh in on the haters. I wasn't going to give them the ink but now I realize I'm too ticked off.

Last night The Spouse made a very good point. "This never would have happened in W's America," he said. It's true. Bush orchestrated all his events. They were invitation only. If you had the "wrong" politics or the wrong look or the wrong T-shirt, you didn't get in. That way, he was always preaching to the choir and got his tidy, we-all-agree-and-ain't-I-just-the-best photo ops. But the Democrats, who apparently still care more about the actual process of democracy than their counterparts, aren't doing that. They're letting anyone in to these health care town halls, even though they know that the GOP is sending in clowns for the express purpose of disrupting the meetings. (Historical footnote: The Nazis enjoyed doing that, too).

I granted The Spouse his "celebrate the democracy" point but it still ticks me off. And here's why: it's not about health care; it's all about politics.

A few nights ago one of our reps held a town hall, sponsored by the American Legion, for the purpose of discuss Veteran's issues. The meeting was high jacked by haters, who insulted the VA reps, accusing them of eating up time with their presentations (the ones they were asked to give) instead of letting the "people" air their grievances. It was, according to reports, pretty ugly. And the irony in this particular situation is that the people who were raving about not wanting government health care are largely receiving Medicaid and VA benefits. (Hi, those are government programs. Just sayin').

You see, these ruckus people aren't interested in democracy or in having legitimate questions answered. They are just interested in disrupting the process. They don't want to listen. They don't want misinformation corrected. They're just there to hate.

And hate is the issue. You see, the GOP knows that Barack Obama cannot be "allowed" to win on health care. If he is successful in getting any legislation passed, they will suffer. They have to defeat Obama on this so they can congratulate themselves on having him under their boot. It's not a secret. The success of Barack Obama, on any level, is a defeat for the GOP. They still can't believe he got elected, they're still pissed about it and the only strategy left for them at the moment is bringing him down. If they can't do it with the "birther" kerfuffle (which is in itself so ridiculous that I really cannot bring myself to give it any more space than I just have), they'll do it by derailing an ambitious effort to do something about the catastrophe that is health care in America.

The thing that bugs me the most about it is this: out of all the plans before Congress, none of them came from the Republicans. Obama said at the outset that he didn't care where good ideas came from; if there were good ideas or plans put forward they would be taken under advisement. All the current plans came from the Democratic side of the aisle or are bi-partisan. (We will continue to give snaps to those Republicans who are still interested in doing their real job). There is no major, comprehensive reform legislation from the Republicans. Why? They don't want to play. They don't have any desire to reform health care. Let's say there was a Republican plan to be debated. Let's say it was a good plan. Let's say that it passed. In the narrow, twisted view of the current GOP leadership that would still be a bad thing. Not only might it cut into the profits of their friends at the health insurance and drug companies, it would still, in their minds, be equated as a win for Obama. Because he's the one who wanted reform. And they just can't give him that. Screw the millions of Americans without insurance. Screw the millions who go into bankruptcy every year because of their medical bills. Screw the folks who happily pay their premiums only to lose their insurance the second they actually become ill. Hey! That's worked for 20, 30 years. Right?

Wrong. No, if the GOP leadership had a nit in their heads they would have crafted a decent proposal, tried to push it through and then run with that success to the mid-term elections. But they don't want to boast about reforming health care. They want to boast that they've kept Barack Obama from effectively leading. "He tried to reform health care but he couldn't do it. What a loser". That's what they want to be able to say.

Despite all the noise (and the perception it creates that no one wants health care reform), I don't think this is the strategy that will allow the GOP to regain the majority in the mid-terms. I just don't. Until they understand the motivations of the voters who swept them out of power, until they understand the thirst for true leadership that most Americas still feel, they are not going to get their power back. And if they are successful in scuttling health care legislation, they'd best not crow too much. I'll bet the DNC is already working on the ads: show clips of angry posers in town hall meetings, show a picture of the Republican candidate and end with "This is the guy that saw to it you don't have health care". End scene.

Sometimes I wish I was a Republican so that I could be on the inside screaming, "You guys! Wake up! People are tired of the status quo. We want to win, we have to start leading! Remember Eisenhower!" Or something like that. But I'd just be shouted down. It seems that's all the GOP is capable of right now. And that's really, really sad.

On another note, Sarah Palin should be institutionalized. The woman is delusional and it's scary. Poor thing.

And the Band Played On

Is is just me or should someone stage an intervention for Dick Cheney? Someone really needs to let him know that he is not in power any more and that by continually shooting off his mouth, as he did again yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute, he does nothing to substantively challenge the Obama administration or to rectify the legacy of the Bush administration. For 8 years he alternately sat in an undisclosed location or behind the throne, wielding an ungodly influence that succeeded only in making America less secure, less prosperous and less moral. That history will judge him harshly is all but guaranteed. By continually going up against the current administration in the loose cannon fashion he's employed does nothing to change that.

It also displays, I think, a complete lack of class. Disagreeing with the powers that be is the right of every citizen, even those who once served in government. But as a former administration official I think he has an obligation to be less public about his rhetoric. It is not really a done thing for former Presidents and Vice Presidents to be quite so impolitic. Geez, have you heard even one word from W since he flew out of Washington? Former presidents and vice presidents give lectures, write books. They do, occasionally, give an interview. What they do not do is book public, televised speech after speech after speech with the sole intent of undermining the sitting president. It is not done and the more Cheney engages this behavior the more he looks exactly like the angry, bitter, slightly crazed man that the left always took him to be.

I don't think he's doing any favors for the Republican party, either. Sure, there are still plenty of neo-cons in the ranks and they are all having a terribly, terribly hard time accepting the new reality. They still can't believe they lost and they still don't understand any of the reasons WHY they lost. But the empire-building, unregulated free-market, keeping women-children-minorities-etc. in their place social agenda of the neo-cons has proved to be a failure, utterly rejected by the American people. The ship of state, you see, never manages to list too far right or left, not for long anyway. And now she is righting herself and at the helm is a centrist. Neo-cons simply don't understand that Obama isn't some far left socialist crazy. (Neither do the left understand that he is not the the answer to all their prayers, but that's a discussion for another day). What we have now is a pragmatic, intelligent leader who is going to weigh evidence, consider nuance and balance opinion. No wonder the neo-cons don't get it.

But back to the Republican party: if they are going to save themselves they are going to have to reframe their agenda and take into account the realities of the world. Yes, the citizenry by and large prefers a more conservative approach to fiscal matters...which is possibly the only strength to which the GOP can currently play. (As soon as people forget that the current economic crises was fueled on their watched and by their unfettered greed and anti-regulation free-market notions). But the citizens also want peace in the world, government to stay the H out of their bedrooms and justice for all. They don't want to be called unpatriotic because they disagree with their leaders, they don't want to live in constant fear and they don't want to be told that giving peace (and negotiations and new ideas) a chance is dangerous. They don't, I'm quite sure, want to hear much of anything from Mr. Dick Haliburton Cheney. And I'm pretty sure the GOP would, on balance, prefer another face and voice to represent them in this time of party turmoil.

Sigh.

Many of us waited for 8 years to be shod of the Bushies. Frankly, I think we all deserve a respite from those harrowing years. This might be a good time for Cheney to go back into one of his bunkers for a while.

Here's a little something from one of my favorite Republicans. (I seriously want David Brooks to come to dinner sometime).

And here's a little blast from the past:




The Temptations "Ball of Confusion"

Funny Thing Is, I Never Worry About Gumbo

A Note of Clarification: I didn't thoroughly proof yesterday's post. So it read like I was worried about the gumbo I made for the Fisherfolk. I wasn't worried. Gumbo is easy if you get your roux dark enough, which I did thankyouverymuch. No, the thing I'm attempting to not worry about was actually number 6 on yesterday's list.

Moving On: I was very eager for the not-State-of-the-Union last night. At the last one, as the President was announced and started walking toward the front of the chamber, I had this moment wherein I realized that the odds were really good that the next time that walk was made it would be by a woman or a black man. And I wanted to see it for real.

It was awesome.

I think Nancy Pelosi peed a little.

The grandest thing of all was the President's speech. Oh sure, I expected the elegant prose and Obama delivery. But it ended up being more than I expected. Because I have never ever in all my years of watching these annual addresses never ONCE heard a President talk to me like President Obama did last night. In the end, he wasn't making a speech so much as issuing a call to action, perfectly balanced between the statement of stark realities and encouragements of tangible hope. He looked, acted and sounded real. It was so refreshing.

Also, Michelle looked beautiful.

I didn't stay to listen to the rebuttal guy (I never listen to the rebuttal guy/gal. I think it is one of the silliest exercises in all of America politics. Let the President have his say...there's plenty of time to parse the validity or not of his words later. There's just something very silly about rebutting the State (or not-State) of the Union speech and that's why I never listen to the rebuttal). I ran over to see The Neighbor real quick and she muted Rebuttal Guy while we talked. I did note that his expression never changed and the cameras - at least on PBS - had him lit so he looked green. I decided he wasn't very impressive. The Neighbor said he was one of the GOPs newest, brightest lights. I felt bad for the GOP. When he finished his speech David Brooks, of the NY Times and my favorite conservative, looked apoplectic and did his best not to just laugh like a hyena. We did listen to him and he basically said that if the Republicans honestly think they are going to win hearts and minds by remaining mired in the past then they are just not going anywhere anytime soon.

I love David Brooks.

Also, interesting that the newest bright light tapped to do the rebuttal was the governor of Louisiana rather than, oh, I dunno, the governor of Alaska. Has the GOP already seen the error of their ways on that one? One can only hope.

And Finally: Today is Ash Wednesday so I'm not going to eat any meat. Or sweets. Or much of anything. You know what is sad, though? Yesterday was my last shot at eating sweetie things for 40 days and I didn't have a sweet-tooth. Isn't that just silly?

The Neighbor and I are going to go to services at the VA, which should be interesting. Actually, the most interesting part should be just taking a break and walking away from my desk...something I don't do very often. You have to understand, the nature of my job is such that I'm running around all the time and lots of my job is totally fun stuff like hanging out talking to people over coffee or pinching baby cheeks or, I dunno, organizing stuff (which you know I love to do). So it doesn't feel remotely like an office job though I have an office and jobs to do in it. But the point is that I rarely leave the house (except to shop for the house...which is also something I love to do), even for lunch because, hello? it's full of food.

But even though I love the house and the people in it and the things I do there I do need to walk away from it a little every day...to clear my head or see something new or disturb the notion that I'm indispensable. Whichever.

"See something new"...I just gave myself an idea for a Lenten art project. (makes note to pack up camera)

Have a good day.

Tiny Wonkism

I've been hearing and reading a lot about President Obama's "mistake"...about the "bad" day yesterday when Tom "Doesn't Everyone Have a Chauffer?" Daschle withdrew his name from nomination for a cabinent post....about how the President was out on the news shows (all scheduled before Dash decided to withdraw) beating his breast and sighing "Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa". Golly, Mo Dowd just got all up in his bi-nis in her latest editorial.

Well, while the honeymoon may be over, I for one had the following reaction to yesterday's news:

a) Good. Dashchle should have withdrawn. I know he is a fundamentally a good man, a policy wonk without peer with regards to health care and has over 30 years of public service under his belt. He'd likely have been an excellent Secretary of Health and Human Services. And I'll even grant you that folks make mistakes on their taxes. You bet they do. But this one was huge and it did show a decided lack of being-in-touch. Most folks don't have cars and drivers given them by satisfied clients.

2) Good again. The President of the United States went on national television and conceded a mistake. Because even the President of the United States isn't perfect (and really, until we little folk get over the notion that our leaders must be perfect, we're always going to end up disappointed). But I think that the reason it is all playing so large in the media right now is that i) people are tired of hearing about how crappy the economy is and more importantly, ii) everyone is just shocked and blatherpatted in the face of such candor out of the White House.

The news isn't that the President made a mistake, it's that he admitted it. Personally, I found it refreshing as hell.

Something That Bugs Me

I'm a big fan of prayer. I do it all the time. I like to pray. Prayers are beautiful.

I am not a big fan of email chain prayers that have flashing pictures of angels and end with "Now make a wish, spin around 3 times and email this to 412 people and your prayer will come true".

I'm not a theologian, but I can tell you right now, that ain't how it works.

I admit that sometimes the prayers I'm sent are very lovely. If they are so lovely that I feel compelled to share them I copy and paste the prayer, just the prayer, into a new email and send it to those I think might appreciate it. But I'm here to tell you that I do not and will not, pass on a stupid, superstitious, pagan "don't break the chain" prayer email and I don't care who sends it to me.

And while I'm ranting, here's another thing. I have some friends who are not of my political persuasion. That's a good thing, for everyone. But with most of those friends we follow a policy of "agree to disagree". I don't send my W jokes to them, they don't send their "Bill Clinton is the anti-christ" crap to me. It works very nicely.

But I have this friend who has been sending me stuff lately. Not just me, other folks, too. A few weeks ago she sent me something negative about Barack and I responded with, "You do know I voted for him, right?" Her response? "Yes, and I love you anyway".

Well, thanks a crap ton for that, sweetie, but it did make me wonder if I was being too subtle. What would make a person think, Obama supporter that I am, that I would enjoy negative emails about the man's character? I'm not talking about a well-reasoned op-ed piece by a conservative journalist who has questions and concerns about the direction an Obama administration might take. Bring it on. No, I'm talking about half-baked dribble drabble that regurgitates Swift Boaty lies and distortions. And I hate that crap.

Right, so the other day she sends me something else, purporting to be from Newsweek magazine, showing all the demographics of the election: how the Republicans won more states, more land area, more counties nationwide were red than blue...like that.

And all I could think was, "What is your frakking point?" Are you suggesting that Barack Obama isn't really the president-elect? That the election was somehow stolen? Or is it just that after 8 years you can't handle the fact that for once the election went the other way? Because the bad news is, the other demographics suggest that all that "land mass" that went Republican is inhabited by 13 red necks who graduated 8th grade and haven't had an original thought since puberty. (Am I stereotyping? Why, yes, I believe I am). I for one am relieved that this time around we as a nation weren't subjected to the tyranny of the undereducated & hyper religious.

Anyrant, I was so mystified by this email that I didn't even know how to respond. So I didn't. Because the one think I refuse to do is mix it up with someone who I otherwise care about but who is clearly so partisan that she can't even give the guy time to be inagurated and mess up before she starts lambasting him. (Oooh, that's a good one...I shoulda told her that). But turns out, I don't have to. At least not this time. Someone else on the email thread did it for me.

Her response was calm and well-reasoned. It included the Snopes link that demonstrated that the "article" in question was a rehash that's been going around for years and then she summed up with "So what? The election is over. Move on".

I liked it so much I wrote to her to thank her and she wrote me back to thank me for thanking her and it was a nice little bit of closure.

And that reminds me of something heartbreakingly amusing. Martha was telling me a story the other night about Mr. Stewart. They'd adjusted his pain meds but it gave the poor guy hallucinations. Mostly it was members of the family kept coming to visit him (which is sweet if you think about it) but sometimes the hallucinations took another tack. Once he told Martha urgently that they had to go vote.

"No, honey, we've already done that. The election is over".

"But I have to go, I have to win the race".

"Honey, the only race you're in is the race for heaven".

He looked at her perplexed and asked, "I'm not Obama?"

Takes some serious meds to make my dear Republican BIL think he's Barack Obama. But it handed me quite a laugh, for which I'm grateful. And yeah, they've since readjusted his meds.

47 Days and Counting

I sent this to some friends the other day. But now I'm sharing it with all of you. Because, seriously, how cool is this dude?

This and That

I spent most of the weekend in bed with a cold. I could have functioned but I have this crazy belief that if you don't feel well you shouldn't try to ignore it, thus allowing your body the time it needs to heal. I feel nearly human this morning.

I watched a lot of TV. I'm all caught up on "John and Kate Plus 8", know everything you could possibly need to know in order to successfully flip a house and discovered that Mike Huckabee has a talk show on FOX. That's hilarious.

I've settled down a little since the election although whenever I hear the words "President-elect Obama" I start grinning like an idiot. On Tuesday night I was obsessively snapping photos of my TV. It seems kinda silly now but what else was I going to do? History was being made, I was a part of it, you record history, even if it's being played out on a screen. Here are some of my favorite shots of that night:
It's almost like I was there.

I'm Psychic

Four years ago I wasn't a happy camper. None of this frothing with joy like an uncorked champagne bottle, no pride at the thought that America was once again a land of promise, no hope over the prospects for the future. Four years ago I was distraught, as were many of my friends. I kept fielding calls and emails from friends who were as depressed as I, who were wondering "what now?" I sent them this email:

A friend just asked if I had any words of encouragement for the posse. Nope. I am sick in my gut, sick in my soul and I'm crying like a baby. I'm sitting here wondering what else I could have done, wondering what is wrong with 52% of this nation. (And let's just keep that number in mind, shall we. No matter what we'll be hearing, that is not a mandate. 48% of us obviously still have functioning brains). Kids, all I can say is that I'm going to sit around today being sad and depressed. I'll probably listen to some Springsteen records and weep. But tomorrow I'm going to pull my head out of my fancy gas oven and get back to work turning up the volume on the progressive voice in this nation. We've been way too passive for way to long and this is the result. We've got four (hard, long) years to get our shit together so let's do it. We can't spend too much time wringing our hands and being babies. We have to work. Or else learn to appreciate hockey and buy a farm in Canada. It's an option, eh?

I would like to point out two bright spots in this otherwise gloomy day. (The sun is shining. The nerve.) Hang on to this: Barack Obama (woof). And Martin Sheen is still in the West Wing.

Maybe I'd better listen to the soundtrack from "Annie" as well. "Tomorrow, tomorrow".

Peace out,

Your depressed little pundit,

L

Well, Martin Sheen is no longer in the White House but Barack Obama soon will be, for real. How did I know, you ask? I just did. When I heard him address the Democratic convention in '04 I heard a voice. It told me that I was watching the future President of the United States. I've only heard that voice one other time, the time it told me I was talking to the man I would marry. I guess it's a voice that only troubles itself for the really big stuff. But I knew. Frankly, I didn't know it would be this soon. I think I thought it would be down the road, after he'd spent a little more time in the Senate. But do I care?

Barack Obama is the President-elect of the United States of frakking America and I'll tell you, I for one have not yet come down from that high.

Oh. And Another Thing...

Y'all are wakin' up in a different America tomorrow.

How cool is that?

Can America Elect a Black President?

Yes

We

Can!

I VOTED FOR BARACK OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And I have the sticker to prove it. Ran into The Neighbor at the polls. It was nice to share that moment with her.

I also have to say that my polling place is generally best described as "sleepy". Using half of the poll workers are knitting or snoozing. Not today. There weren't lines, yet. (Although I heard one of the workers making provisions for that). But every voting booth was full, folks kept filing in and I'll betcha within the next hour they'll be standing on line to vote.

And that is awe.some.

Have you voted yet? Get out there!

VOTE FOR BARACK OBAMA!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm taking the day off. First of all, I want to spend some time doing GOTV stuff and making sure that everyone in my little circle actually does the deed. Second, no way I'd be able to concentrate on anything at work.

Yesterday was crazy. We had 6 families scheduled to check in and got an extra 2 others. One family wasn't going to show up until later. Normally we don't do check in after hours but the couple in question have been to the house before and I love 'em a lot and I wasn't going to be in today anyway so I went home for cocktails with The Neighbor, then went back to the house until 8 frakking p.m. But it was ok. I did a report, set things up to make MAB's day easier and generally puttered until my folks arrived. I'm so productive.

Look at that. I just spent a couple of minutes blogging about something really mundane on this, potentially the most historic election in the history of American elections.

There's a little town in New Hampshire that is always the first to vote, Dixille Notch. Crazy name for a town. Anyway, they haven't voted Democrat since 1968. No, wait. They haven't voted Democrat since 2008. Last night 21 votes were cast: 6 for McCain, 15 for Obama. A trend? Here's hoping.

Man, oh, man, oh man. Today is going to be Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. But won't it be awesome if 'round about 8:30 my time I'm dialing all my buddies in Chicago - who are all going to Grant Park for the big Obama party - and drinking champagne and celebrating the fact that we live in a changed America? Because, my friends, if Barack Obama is elected, America will be a different place. For the first time in a long time the politics of hope will have, in fact, triumphed over the politics of fear. We will have a calm, intelligent, creative thinker in the White House...which we're going to need for the mess the next President inherits. We will live in America where that whole "you can be anything you want to be" mantra will actually be true for ALL children of ALL backgrounds and ALL ethnicities. We will live in an America where no pundits will ever again ask the question, "Yeah, but can a black man be elected President in America?"

If Barack Obama is elected tonight, we will still have a sucking chest wound of an economy, 77 more days for W to continue the wrecking ball that is his legacy and 2 wars. People will continue to lose their homes to foreclosure, families will still have to opt out of sending their kids to college and folks will still be lamenting the balance in their 401k. But it will signal a change. We will have a president who will, and I believe this with all my heart, unite us. He's going to inspire and encourage us. He'll take the reins and start steering this puppy out of the ditch. Because, yes. He can. And we can with him.

That's why I'm off to vote - proudly and with tears in my eyes - for Barack Obama. And if you haven't already voted, I hope you'll join me.