Had to get to Rand Paul….

Well…after getting out to Kava I feel quite a bit better and might even be lucid enough to make some sense so I’m going to give it a try. I just have to comment on Rand Paul’s speech last night…where the true colors of the Tea Party have finally been allowed to come out. The gist of the speech was that Paul was going to personally block any legislation that he doesn’t like…no talk of moving the country forward, no talk of creating jobs, just a screed that stakes out the position that his vision is government of, by and for Rand Paul. If it wasn’t so dangerous, I would just laugh at this kind of thing…of the tea party’s supposed reverence for the Constitution until it get’s in the way of their radical right-wing agenda. I, for one, don’t want the senator from Kentucky setting the direction for this country, when he has stated his hatred for anything progressive…including the Civil rights act…Social Security, and basically anything that the government does. They want to go back to the days of child labor, industrial poisoning of workers, and sweatshops…the time that these nuts revere.

A thought came to me as I was mourning today…with Michigan going back to the bad old days of the repubs…that the Red Wings will still play, that it could have been worse and the Senate could have fallen, too. But, it didn’t and it may be a pretty interesting couple of years…and I know it’s going to give me a lot to write about and some of it is going to include “I told you so”, but I’m going to try to maintain the reasonableness that has been a goal…so, go about your lives…I’m going to try….more later…

Oh, one last thing, it made me feel good when I saw that the richies that tried to buy elections in many places generally failed to do it…especially in Cali where Meg Whitman lost after spending 140 million of her own dollars…and Carly Fiorina also lost…but the best news was that the know-nothings queen, Sharron Angle lost to Harry Reid in Nevada….silver linings in the cloud that now covers this country…

November 3rd

Well…I was going to start the day with a post that went on about the political changes that we are going to see but it’s not ready in my head yet. So, I’ll just do this one….crap…not thinking again today…don’t know if it’s the BV but it is something. I did avoid all of the political reporting last night and just watched comedies….and did not sleep for crap…up really early and I think I want to take a nap already. Not much to do today..out to Ada later and that should be fun…okay…no flow to this stuff this morning so I’m going to stop…more later…

A running commentary…* *

Well…I think I’ll keep going with a running stream-of-consciousness commentary on the day since it is an important one…I did get out to vote and it only took about 15 minutes even though my polling precinct had changed….and I have to thank the people that man the polling places and keep a smile on their faces through the crushes and the boredom. I forgot that I had finally updated my address…but the new precinct is in sight of my place so that is really convenient. I have to thank T for setting lunch for today and I think that will offset the gloom that I am feeling…but I will still believe that we can come through this as a nation…but the question is: “will it be better for folks like you and me?” If we can go by history, we are in for at least two years of gridlock and posturing where the repubs highest stated purpose is to defeat Obama in 2012. Is that any plan for governance? Nope, and we have seen they don’t care about that…my hope is that the dems (or some middle of the road third party) will take the next two years to sharpen their message that will further define what the repubs really are….and if all goes well…the repub leadership will anger the tea partiers and drive them away. The knives have already come out against Palin from the repub establishment but is Karl Rove any better? Questions, questions, questions…more later…but I may just edit this one..look in the title for stars…if you see one, I’ve added or edited…

I think a kind of resignation has set in this afternoon but the lunch and talk with T got me down off the ledge….it’s going to be a bad night so the BV will flow later and I may have to just turn the tv off and watch a couple of movies on the computer, but, being the political animal that I am, I don’t think I’ll be able to completely avoid all of the political stuff. If they lose badly….I think the Dems should scrap the healthcare plan they passed and go for broke in the lame duck session..to a single payer system that cuts the parasite insurance companies out of the loop and pays them back for the unlimited money they spent buying the government through the repubs. And, a disclosure law that forces this money to be identified…then we in the middle can make them pay in their profits; since it is the only thing they understand. More later…

Okay…here’s the last one for the day….I will say this…I like the BV…it’s one of those things that I told my kids and I have to remember….don’t worry about things until they happen…I know it’s been predicted that it will be a bloodbath for the Dems…but, I’m going to take the rest of the night off from thinking about the election…since the losses haven’t happened yet…I think the sun will still come up tomorrow…but I’m not sure…

November 2nd

Well…I won’t politicize this part of my post today…I’ll keep it just life stuff and thoughts…another night at home but that was okay….and I was not completely successful staying away from politics and the news. I do need to get out and vote this morning but I don’t know if the address change form renewing my license in July will have an effect…if so, I’ll have to move to another polling place. Luckily, it’s in sight of this place so that will be easy. Not much else to do today…there is lunch with T that I have been really looking forward to and the normal morning routine. I did make G’s rib recipe again yesterday and I am still amazed at how good they are…and 4 lbs of ribs really go a long way when you are eating alone….as the day goes on, I’ll relay any changes in the darkness…okay, that was political but, I’m a political person so what did you expect? More later….

Oh, I do forget to pass this along…have been trying to reset my metabolism by eating more…1200 calories a day is just too little when I burn off about 900 from my fitness routine…it is really weird to eat 2500 a day but I am going to revel in it for the week or so it takes to get things back to normal….and it feels a lot better….but it is strange to gain weight on the limited diet…there hasn’t even been any beer since last Thurs…

Go vote…

Well…another election day has come and I feel the way I did in 2004 when the whole world couldn’t figure out how we could re-elect ole GW. And now, we are poised to give the house back to the guys that ruined the economy for ruined economy part two. But the bad thing is that the work that the Dems did to keep the economy from falling off a cliff is starting to have some results…that the repubs will take credit for and attribute it to their new round of tax cuts for the rich. But, you should know that…and I don’t know what I can do to make people believe the truth.

I’ll keep this one short for now since the message I want to get across to all of you progressives and anyone else that may be sitting on the fence at this late date…”Get out and Vote”….I hope we’ll survive this mess…

November 1st part two..

Well…another boring night here..no drinks with G since she isn’t feeling well and this will make 4 days in a row home….I do have to start finding new things to do… was on the phone with my daughter for a while and may be going to Aruba next summer if the kids mom doesn’t want to go….hmmmm…tomorrow will be 5 days home since we are moving Ada back to Wed for this week….I think there is something like a little black hole in this place..it just keeps sucking me in and keeping me here….I have been avoiding the news today and will probably keep doing that tomorrow even after I vote…looks like lunch with T tomorrow which should be fun but I am getting some whiskey for tomorrow night…and probably watch movies to stay away from the disappointment the I’m gong to feel…and feeling like crap going out to Ada has been done before…successfully, too….no more later…it is 8 after all….

Throttling back my dismay…

Well…I know that some of these over the past month or so have been extremely strident and they have not lived up to my call for reasonableness in our political discourse. But, I’m human and seriously flawed so what did you expect? As I said a couple of days ago, I have to remember to not take this stuff so personally…but, if I do that, I won’t have anything to write about but flowers and puppies and I don’t think you’ll come back. It’s like taking antidepressants…yeah, they work, kinda, but the edges get taken off so you look like Iowa…really flat. So, I’m going to continue to rail about the things that are not right, that are not for the benefit of ALL of the people, not just the rich and powerful. And, one promise that I will make that none of the outlets and bloggers on the right will do, I will stick to the facts…there will never be any lies that will come out of this site, and if something good happens, I don’t care whose idea it is…if something gets this country moving again and proves me wrong in my opinions…I will freely admit it and tip my hat.

I only want one thing from the citizens of America…hold the new guys accountable this time…just as you have held Obama accountable (even if it is for things he didn’t do)…open your eyes and ears to the lies and really see when inequality is being sold as fairness and infringement of your rights is being sold as safety..after all, we are Americans, and we are tough and fair, let’s not let money scare us into voting against our own self interest. See you on the other side…of the election…

November 1st

Well..another month starts and with the election coming, I just want to cover my head and sleep for the next two years. But that’s not for this part of the post….I’ve been sleeping pretty well while I’ve been sick but now that I’m starting to feel better, it’s back to the same old fitful stuff that is normal. Oh, well….I had hoped that a new pattern had emerged but it doesn’t look like it. There wasn’t a lot to do yesterday…you didn’t see that one coming, did you? But, I did get the living room cleaned up and all of the spiders are gone…at least in here but I have to keep that up today and finish then move on to the kitchen. Not looking forward to that….

My back has been killing me with the pain running down my left leg when I sit or bend over but it’s nothing new and I guess I can just live with it until it gets better….not a lot to do today…looks like it’s going to be cold so no bike ride until this aft…maybe out with G later but I’m not sure…but that is about it. I will have a topic for later, of course, this being the last day of political rationality that we’ll see for the next two years…more later…

Trail weirdness part 37…

Well…just a short one to relay some trail weirdness today…it was a little cold but tolerable when the sun was not behind the clouds…but, not cold enough for what I saw…a guy changing into a Santa Clause costume on the trail…nope, no joke, he had his bike parked and was finishing off putting the beard on when I went by….no other costumes, even though it is Halloween. But, isn’t that weird enough? It made me smile at least and I forgot how cold it was for just a couple of minutes…

October 31st

Well…another month gone and not really anything to show for it…it hasn’t been that bad, though, I’ve had a lot of nice bike rides and have gotten cable internet that is really fast so that is a plus…I’m not going to get into the maudlin stuff of time passing, etc. You and I both know I’m getting older but everyone does so it’s not really any revelation. I do feel a little better today but had a slight setback yesterday afternoon where I felt crappy again. Must be a bug of some sort…

Not a lot to do today…had the huge disappointment of both Michigan teams losing yesterday but it was not unexpected…and having Fox sports back for the Wings was a plus…and they played well finally…it was cool to see Pavel back at his best and Ozzie having at least a reasonable game. Not much to do today…might have a SF if K didn’t go out and have to much fun last night but she is a youngster so she should be able to go two days in a row, right? There is also the Lions and Talladega on this aft so I won’t be totally bored even if SF doesn’t happen. So, on that note, I’m going to get to the other online papers that I read on Sunday mornings….might even find a topic for later…who knows?

What you never want to be….