Yeah, right...

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There is an old story about a college professor making the claim that two spoken positives cannot be turned into a negative.

From the far reaches of the typical classroom (read: arena) came a loud "yeah, right..."

As I write, the McCain campaign is running TV ads in Florida showing Barack Obama in a pane next to Fidel Castro. No, it's not a cigar commercial.

Man of integrity, truth, honesty, forthrightness, a maverick.

Yeah, right.

The Future

Dear Senator Obama,

The future of the Country, and perhaps even the World, hinge upon your victory.

Energy. We know where we need to be: complete energy independence. The technology, enthusiasm, and determination are finally all aligned.

Peace. I believe real inter-country world peace is attainable, and your ongoing trip is making that even more realistic. I believe China will increasingly be a solid ally in that endeavor, and, frankly, the Vatican has been ignored or not forced to the table as a worldwide force for peace and social justice.

The Economy. We must end the miserable failure of trickle-down economics and deregulation, and establish a Health Care system that helps the Economy thrive- not bog it down.

Allow me to very humbly suggest a sure path to victory.

Sir, you need to put together a plan I am loosely calling "Vision 20/20 for the Year 2020."

Perhaps others have used the "year 2020" and the "perfect 20/20 vision" connection, but even if they have, it is still fabulous for your use.

My friend Tom mentioned JFK's Moon speech to me after I started melding the two together in my head.

JFK's "We will land...on the moon..." determination gathers my thoughts very nicely.

Unveiled at the Convention:

• In the year 2020, we WILL have energy independence.

• In the year 2020, we WILL have peace between all Countries of the World.

• In the year 2020, we WILL have rebuilt our Economy and once again be the biggest creditor nation, and not the biggest debtor nation, in the World.

The August 28th "I have a Dream!" speech anniversary/connection is very emotional, and very important, but you MUST go beyond that, to carve out Path Obama.

Somewhere in there amongst the 20/20 vision and the year 2020 connection is a beautiful, catchy phrase that will be just as good and effective as "It's the Economy, Stupid!"

The longer version would be:

"Energy...Peace...Economy... Never more reachable, never more urgent."

PS- we can't start with "Peace", or we will have the acronym P.E.E.

Experience? Vision?

Al Qaida was not in Iraq before we invaded- an invasion undertaken on the grounds that we 1) needed to avenge 9/11, 2) that they had WMDs, and 3) we needed to "bomb them over there before they bomb us over here."

The American commander at Bastogne summed up a similar situation very succinctly: "Nuts!"

Attacking Iraq over 9/11 was like bombing China over the attack on us at Pearl Harbor.

OBAMA: CORRECT ON THE WAR!

Barack Obama has said he will implement a timetable for the removal of US troops. George Bush and John McCain disagree. The Prime Minister of Iraq, and the Iraqi people, want a timetable. OBAMA: CORRECT AGAIN!

Barack Obama has said he will talk to our enemies, even "terrorists" as long as it is in the best interest of the U.S. George Bush and John McCain disagree- but wait! All of a sudden, we are negotiating with both the North Koreans and the Iranians! OBAMA: NOT ONLY CORRECT, BUT OBVIOUSLY LISTENED TO BY BUSH!

The Surge? Working? Maybe, but we will never know what would have happened without it- besides, using the surge as such a "victory" is like saying Viet Nam was a success because we were able to achieve the "success" of evacuating some of the Vietnamese citizens from Saigon as the war ended. Ridiculous.

This week, John McCain made the profound, startling announcement that we will never allow another Holocaust- except what about Rwanda, Darfur, and, maybe-coming-to-a-mass-grave-near-you-soon, Zimbabwe?

Oh wait! It's not those folks he's trying to both scare and win over- it's the Jews. I guess Holocausts (Holocauses?) are ok as long as they are not aimed at our great Israeli allies- and, by extension, at their rich American cousins.

If John McCain were truly a man of integrity, a man of honesty, he would stand up and proclaim: "Barack Obama is not a Muslim. Barack Obama is a Christian. Barack Obama did not take his oath of office on the Koran. Barack Obama is a United States Senator, elected from the great state of Illinois, in the heartland of this great country! Choose between us on issues, by our vision, by our experience, by our abilities- but, please, not by the lies, rumors, and whispers being spread around the country and internet by people who are anything but patriots or true Americans. George Bush and Karl Rove did that to me in 2000- it was wrong then, and its wrong now."

Home from vacation... to McCain in meltdown.

ooo
It was great to be home- for about 5 hours.

Let me digress. We had a great time at the Lair of the Bear. Great times with mom and dad, my wife and daughter, and the Evan and Lisa family. We found a great "local" fishing hole, had good food, took some small road trips, missed Rotary, spent some time people watching- and performed a wedding ceremony for a couple of women who could be a showplace for what a family should be. They left right away for a softball game, which provided just the right amount of humor.

The 5 hours? It was about that long before I started going downhill fast, wracked by the worst stomach and intestine ailment I can remember- with the feeling of having been run over by a fire truck as the backdrop. B-r-u-t-a-l.

However, back to the really senior Senator from Arizona, about whom Barry Goldwater would be rotissering in his grave.

Poor John. He complained that Barack had not been to the Middle East for a while, but now that Barack is there, he's complaining that it's nothing but a political trip.

Barack has been saying that we should have focused more on Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and now violence there is rising sharply.

Barack has been calling for an exit timetable, and the Prime Minister of Iraq, as well as the Iraqi people, apparently agree/s- but Bush and McCain are in denial, and keep bouncing around on what was really said/meant/interpreted.

McCain has been touting the effectiveness of the surge, but it rings hollow when it was a surge for a war that never should have been waged. And the permanent result jury is still out.

Today he mentioned the Iraq/Afghanistan border- which, of course, does not exist.

And, today, he started running a campaign ad that blames Barack Obama for the high price of oil. D-e-s-p-e-r-at-i-o-n. Already? This soon? Wow...

We also now know that, when Bill Clinton coined the phrase "It's the economy, stupid!" he was talking directly to John McCain.

The truth about oil is we are still exporting oil from this country, as well as refined gasoline, the oil companies are sitting on thousands and thousands of oil leases they are trying to keep in reserve, and the Bush/Cheney Oil cartel is intent upon helping them do so.

As my t-shirt states so bluntly, the G.O.P. is the Grand Oil Party...

Tim Russert...

I have been contemplating Tim Russert's death for a few weeks now, and it seems to me that his loss affects two groups more than any others- those who were ready to be great fathers, and those who were ready to be great sons.

I was saddened by some of the petty jealousies that reared their ugly heads, as we lost one of the greatest political journalists of our time. But the loss of a political scientist pales when compared to the loss of the father we all wished we could have been, or that we could have had.

One of the tragedies of life is that so often we have one or the other, but not both, in the same generation of the same family. Rare indeed is the real-life version of Sally Field and Julia Roberts in Steel Magnolias, but that's exactly what Tim and Luke Russert were. Life gets no better than a father who wants to be the best he can be who has a son who feels likewise.

I will remember forever the pictures of Luke walking around the set his dad ruled for so long- from my viewpoint as the son who wanted that kind of father, and also as the imperfect father who did better, but not as good as I, or Tim, would have liked.

Nuts... x 2

xxx
I wondered not long ago how those nice pink hammers floating around Ace Hardware, and other, stores in support of Breast Cancer research came to be in existence. It seemed like an odd choice of tool, although my daughter Meghan was so proud to buy them for her mother and step-mother, and both recipients were thrilled to receive them. There is a "blow against sexism" quality to them, to be sure, and that's a very nice touch, indeed. I guess I was just thinking that maybe a pink "Shed (flash)Light on Breast Cancer" might have worked better, or maybe even a nice pink set of "Tools Against Breast Cancer".

For a few days before the Jesse Jackson comment about cutting Senator Obama's walnuts off came to light, I had been thinking about what we might use as a symbol for Testicular Cancer. Obviously, Jerry Lee Lewis should be our official crooner, what with his "Great Balls of Fire".

Just yesterday morning I was telling Gino and the gang at my local Ace that I had solved the dilemma: a Nutcracker. High-quality, stainless steel, with beautiful blue ceramic or porcelain handles, that work equally well on small nuts, like almonds, or bigger nuts, like walnuts. After all, all nuts were not created equally.

But what caused this usually-blunt-but-eloquent spokesperson for social justice to utter such a comment about Senator Obama? Purportedly, it was Barack's Father's Day speech. I don't get it.

For brevity, I have cut three paragraphs from the speech, and I present them here in sequential order, but understand that there was a lot of speech in between paragraphs 2 & 3.

But if we are honest with ourselves, we'll admit that what too many fathers also are is missing - missing from too many lives and too many homes. They have abandoned their responsibilities, acting like boys instead of men. And the foundations of our families are weaker because of it.

You and I know how true this is in the African-American community. We know that more than half of all black children live in single-parent households, a number that has doubled - doubled - since we were children. We know the statistics - that children who grow up without a father are five times more likely to live in poverty and commit crime; nine times more likely to drop out of schools and twenty times more likely to end up in prison. They are more likely to have behavioral problems, or run away from home, or become teenage parents themselves. And the foundations of our community are weaker because of it...

...I say this knowing that I have been an imperfect father - knowing that I have made mistakes and will continue to make more; wishing that I could be home for my girls and my wife more than I am right now. I say this knowing all of these things because even as we are imperfect, even as we face difficult circumstances, there are still certain lessons we must strive to live and learn as fathers - whether we are black or white; rich or poor; from the South Side or the wealthiest suburb.

Did I miss something? A black senator from Chicago, talking to a predominantly-black audience about parental responsibility- something that statistics show significantly affects both white and black families- includes a comment that frames his audience as "...black or white; rich or poor; from the South Side or the wealthiest suburb." Yet, somehow he has talked down to the brothers and sisters.

What needs to happen here is for somebody to buy a nutcracker, though I'm not sure what size, but with or without nice blue handles, place them appropriately on the Reverend Jackson, and squeeze sufficiently enough to increase the obviously-lacking oxygen to old Jesse's brain...

Interesting parallel events...

I think two very interesting developments that have taken place over the last few days are tacit endorsements of Barack Obama and his willingness to talk.

The Prime Minister of Syria has said that peace with Israel is desirable, but won't take place with the Bush Administration in power.

The Prime Minister of Iraq has said, and was echoed by his Foreign Minister the next day, that Iraq will not sign any new agreements for U.S. bases/presence etc., unless there is an exit timetable included.

One candidate is wanting to continue George Bush's Iraq policies. One does not.

One candidate prefers to use saber-rattling, hyperbole, and threats as his chief diplomatic tools.

The other candidate wants to open lines of communication with all of our "enemies"- not unconditionally, as his opponent is repeatedly and inaccurately saying, as well as advertising ad nauseum on both The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz web sites in a particularly-Liebermanesque and despicable case of sliminess.

Rather, the interest in opening lines of communications has not been put forth unconditionally, but when "...it furthers the interests of the United States."

It could not be more simple, more sensible, more logical, or more reasonable than that.

Lying Bastidge

Today, John McAncient stood there on TV and said that he was under the impression that today's missle tests in Iran were performed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. He went on to say that he voted to classify them as terrorists under a Kyl-Lieberman bill, and that Barack Obama did not.

John McHonest, John McTruth, John McBush, did not vote for Kyl-Lieberman- he missed the vote entirely.

Last week, George Bush gave John McCain credit for, and John McCain himself took credit for, the new G.I. Bill. John McCain opposed the GI Bill, but once it passed, he and the president obviously wanted to appeal to their military constituents- even if it meant lying.

It's outrageous.

The Second Amendment

The Supreme Court is a disgrace.

We have 5 Catholics, which is noteworthy because they, as Catholics, have a higher allegiance to a foreign government, The Vatican, than to the USA. No other religion is structured like that, and Our Forefathers would be outraged.

The Conservatives are decrying the recent "enemy combatant" decision by the Supremes, with George Bush mentioning the "deeply-divided Court" as some kind of excuse or wink. I would remind him that it was the same "deeply-divided" margin that gave him the presidency in Gore v. Bush, the worst and lowest moment in Supreme Court history- eclipsing even Dred Scott and Plessy v Ferguson- while making the statement that their decision established no "precedent".

We have been pretty well-served by the notion that, in the context in question, one is either a criminal or prisoner of war- with very specific treatments thereof outlined.

Now comes the recent 2nd Amendment decision that throws out all aspects of "A well-regulated militia being..." and says that "bear arms" is the key phrase. Liberals and Progressives are outraged almost to the man (and woman)- but not me.

It is sad and horrific that people in Washington, D.C. will die because of the decision. Cheap guns flow easily into D.C., particularly from Virginia. Hard to believe, I know.

As a sidebar, with such a firm focus on the Constitution's origins, doesn't the right to be secure in one's person assure the right of a woman's choice to have an abortion?

But back to the decision. Let's focus. Never before in history has a presidential administration violated so many rights, broken so many laws, told so many lies, killed so many innocent people, and signed so many bills- with signing statements that they will only adhere to the parts of the respective bills with which they agree. That's a line-item-veto, that the President does not have.

We should be celebrating the decision, not lamenting it. Our way have life has never been threatened by our government more so than it is today. Remember Tiebreaker's comment when told 80 percent of the people of the US oppose staying in Iraq: "So?"

Obama was right. We should be bitter over what has transpired over the last 8 years. Those of us who are religious, should be clinging to what hope it can give us. I, frankly, am looking forward to the Rapture- I can certainly use the peace and quiet.

We should be, not clinging to our guns, but cleaning them, oiling them, making sure we have plenty of ammunition, setting a few aside in secure locations- all fully-loaded, with plenty of bandoleers or magazines or clips nearby.

The innocent citizens of NYC, SF, Oakland, L.A., and yes, the Heartland, and, worse yet, their children are going to be casualties of war- not an active war, not yet, but at least war preparations.

People question the presence of the Anarchist "A" on one arm and the Vendetta "V" on the other arm of me, an elected official. They should not be surprised. I have sworn to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California, and those are the two most serious and precious commitments I have ever made.

For the most recent justification, they could simply ask Carol Kreck, who was ticketed and removed from the publicly-owned Denver Center for the Performing Arts TODAY for having a "McCain = Bush" sign OUTSIDE, while McAncient supporters listening to him INSIDE were allowed to have signs and buttons supporting him.

And visions of Hitler danced through his head...

Argentine Glacier

An Argentine glacier has started calving during the southern winter for the first time in memory.

Scientists have said that it appears to be more a case of it relationship with an adjoining waterway than a case of the impact of global warming. This fascination with fiction over fact will be our ultimate downfall, me thinks.

Global warming is here (it's 110 degrees as I write this at 1915 hours PDT). How much of an impact we have had on causing it, or how much we can prevent it, are legitimate discussions. However, there is enough legitimate evidence and science- leave the goddamn hyperbole alone!

Breast Cancer Hammer

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For last Mother's Day, my daughter Meghan got Breast Cancer Awareness hammers as gifts for her mom and step-mom, and she was very proud of the gifts, as well she should be.

However, the question persists about how they arrived at hammers for breast cancer awareness? I mean, hammers wouldn't work for testicular cancer or penile cancer, and I can't speak for women, but I would think that hammers to pound out breast cancer would be just as objectionable... But that's just me, I could be wrong...

Jesse Helms

What irony that that paragon of tolerance and liberty, Jesse Helms, should die on the very day we are celebrating our nation's birthday- and the same date on which Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died in 1801.

As Bill Maher said last year about Jerry Falwell, in a New Rules segment, "Death isn't always sad."
http://youtube.com/watch?v=yz5T1EEo8ws It's hilarious.

Racist, homophobic, he presided over, some say orchestrated, the conversion of the Solid South- all because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A disgrace, or a disgracist, if you will- and it will be, as is inevitable, an outrage when American flags are flown at half-mast for him- particularly when some will be paired with the Confederate flag.