Well…there has been an interesting development on the local level of politics here in Michigan, and some would say a betrayal of the citizens of Grand Rapids, at least the Democratic ones by state Rep Roy Schmidt who just over the past few days has switched from the dems to the repubs. There are so many ways this tactic hits the ethical rock bottom, even for the repubs, that I have to comment on it…first, there must have been long term talks for this change to happen and all the while, rep Schmidt has been raising money for his reelection from his dem base…yep, that’s right, he is going to use the money from his dem supporters to run as a repub..at the very least, this liar should return every dime that he has gotten from any fundraiser or any other source that is dem affiliated. Second, the timing of the change was planned to ensure that the dems would not have anyone to oppose this turncoat in the election for this newly drawn district…just another instance where the repubs know they can’t win an election fair and square so they have to resort to this kind of shenanigans to manipulate the system to win…just like they are doing with all of the voter suppression measures that have been passed across the country. I say this to rep Schmidt…your whole career is a result of the dems supporting you and you would never have been elected, not once, if you would have run as a repub….this is political opportunism at it’s worst…you will fit right in with your new repub buddies….
All posts by James DeVol
May 16th
Well…it was a nice day yesterday and I was good last night so I feel pretty good today…did 30 miles on the bike yesterday and there are the pains from that to deal with but I don’t hurt anywhere near what I should…might do that again today but that may have to be in the afternoon since it is not going to be too warm today…but it looks like summer weather is returning for the weekend and that will be welcome…..I did have dreams last night but I forgot them in the walk between the bedroom and the couch so they really must have been nothing…I feel good that there were no more bird incidents on the trail yesterday but there were snakes again which was kind of neat to see….not much to do today….need to get motivated to get the golf clubs cleaned up and get them in the car and after the rain last night, I need to wash the car today since the pollen on it is thick enough to have to use the wipers to clean the windshield…I will be back for more later to try to keep up for the month and actually have something to say….
Okay…it’s later and I do have a few things to add to today’s post before I get to the politics of the day….which I think may be a local one for a change…but, first things first…I have had a busy morning this morning and I have felt better than I have in a long time…have loads of energy and that got me to wash the car, work out, go hit a bucket of balls, get the bike ride in, and even repair the duct tape on the car…and, I went over 1,000 miles today for the year which is about 2 months faster than I have ever gotten there..pretty cool…and I’m going to have another day off today since I don’t have drinks with G until tomorrow….that’s about it…need to read the online papers and finish the coffee…
A short one about the republican playbook..
Well…this thought just came to me as I have been reading about the vagueness of the economic proposals that are coming out of the Romney camp…it occurs to me that this is the exact same playbook that Scott Walker used to get elected in Wisconsin…lie to the people about your true intentions and make yourself look as innocuous as possible…never revealing your true, radical agenda until after the election…the only problem is that there is no way to recall a president that does that like there are in many of the states. this appears to be in the repub playbook all across the country as we move toward the election….just more of the “bait and switch” that the repubs have done so successfully over the past few years…
One last thing…the repubs have sunk to a new low today in Virginia for rejecting a judicial candidate just because he is gay and supports civil rights for gays and lesbians. While I abhor this kind of conduct by the repubs…I also feel that it is going to hasten the inevitable decline of those troglodytes and we may not have to deal with them anymore by the end of my lifetime….we can hope, anyway…
More republican hypocrisy…
Well…I know it’s been a few time that I have used this title but it just keeps occurring and it just fits so well…this time the hypocrisy comes from an unusual source within the party, the “Log Cabin” republicans; the part of the repub party that is made up of gays and lesbians. So, when they came out the other day (nope, didn’t plan to say that) criticizing the president for his delay on his support of gay rights and marriage, I laughed my butt off…and that laughter was driven by the fact that they have not said anything about Romney’s blanket declaration in opposition of those rights….so, it’s bad to delay but eventually support gay rights if you are a dem but it is okay to continue to oppose them if you are a repub? Just the kind of hypocrisy that makes my job easier and shows that the modern repubs have no class or honesty….but, did we expect anything different with these idiots?
May 15th
Well…it was a pretty good day yesterday with such a nice lunch with T…it was good to get caught up and laugh a lot….and there is free HBO on the dish so the afternoon was a total veg out…I’ll try to do better today and get some things accomplished but I think my allergies are flaring like crazy…it can’t be another bug…at least I hope it isn’t. Didn’t even make coffee or read the papers yesterday but I am going to go out in a few to get them today….I do need topics for later and I miss reading them…not much to do today…going to do a long ride and then do some cleaning around here then try to do some meal planning since I am getting tired of the same old things…I think I’ll get out the cookbook that T gave me and see if there is anything easy to make…more later…
A preview of things to come with Romney…
Well…it was an interesting week last week with the revelation of a 2 billion dollar loss at JPMorgan that was caused by trading in the same kind of unregulated derivatives that caused the meltdown in 2008/2009, and the losses might even be bigger once all of dust settles. I find it funny that the companies that have fought the re-regulation of the financial sector the hardest continue to make these types of trades putting the economy at risk with their “trust us” attitudes but little else…and if ole Mitt is elected, he has stated that one of his first goals is to cut the weak regulation that has been passed in the past few years and “get government out of the way” basically letting the banks do whatever they want, including risking the entire economy to make the obscene profits that flow to the 1%; never to anyone else. It’s just another example of the vision that the repubs have for the country…that the lucky and connected few reap all of the rewards and everyone else takes the risk….and the middle class continues to disappear…geez…
May 14th
Well…another long day and I am worn out today so this one is going to be short for now….I did win at pool yesterday so that was something but there were so many bad drivers out there that I am still stewing a little about that…but, I need to get over things like that a be a better person but it is harder than I expected…have to keep trying, though, and I will. No dreams to speak of and I didn’t sleep well but I really don’t need to talk about that anymore…HBO is free for the next couple of days so I think there will be some serious vegging here and I am looking forward to it…I will be back later for more but right now it’s couch time…..
Okay…got out and got the ride in and there is life left in me so I’m back for a short update…there was some trail weirdness to report today…first, there have been lots of small, black birds that have been flying out of the grass alongside the trail for the past couple of days with quite a few near misses to report…today, though, I ran over one of the little things and I felt so bad until I turned around to see if there was anything I could do and it was flying away….and I had hit it full on with the back tire to where it was like running over a rock…that made me feel a lot better….oh, the other weird thing was the guy practicing roller disco in the parking lot of the little park that is my last water stop…he just seemed out of place…more later…I do need to read the papers…
May 13th
Well….it was a total veg out day yesterday but I did bake some bread and got a long bike ride in…and, I was good last night so I feel okay today…and that shows in getting this one out so early for a Sunday….I did have dreams last night that included weddings with lost shoes, Russian baseball, and inappropriate gifts….one of those dreams that you just can’t make sense of….could have slept better, though, but no plans for today so I can take a nap later….the bike ride isn’t going to happen until later in the day since there is F1 race on in an hour or so and then the final day of the EPL..looks like Man U is not going to win the championship but that is okay….I will try to get another one out later today and it may even happen….more later…
May 12th
Well…I am running late today and I’ll blame it on the F1 qualifying that I watched until 9 and then I had to run out to Meijers to get a bread pan since I am going to make some bread today…but, I’m here now an that’s all that counts…okay, that’s not all that counts but it sounded good…don’t have a lot to do today but have my coffee, read the papers and get on the bike and it looks like it may rain here in a bit so I may even have to put the bike ride off until this aft…we’ll see…right now I am going to go read the papers before my coffee gets cold…more later…
Okay..it has been an absolutely veg day so far today and it looks like I may just have to write it off…or I would if the guilt wasn’t too bad..but, what to do? I could clean but that is not appealing right now…I did make some whole wheat bread that came out okay…the only reason I made it was to use up the flour I bought to make pizza crust…it is just way too much nonsense for a crappy loaf of bread…I think I’ll go look at the online papers and see if I can find a topic for today…
Let’s remember this about Mitt…
Well…just a short one to share something that has been troubling me since the “Mitt the bully” story broke earlier this week….while ole Mitt dismisses the attack as just a prank, if it were to happen today, let’s remember that this would be a felony assault and Mitt wouldn’t be running for anything but the president of his cell block….the country has evolved to view these “pranks” as the vicious violence that they are and Mitt can’t just dismiss it with a wave of the hand and an “I don’t remember”….this kind of stuff, that continued to happen as ole Mitt went through college and into his “missionary” work in France and through the Bain years where he had no feeling for the people who he threw out of work for personal gain, is an accurate indicator of the man’s personality that continues to this day…you can imagine what an administration run by a man who “likes to fire people” and thinks that everyone can start a business with loans from their parents would look like…and it’s not pretty…geez….