Misc

A party called the Reasonables….

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Well…on the eve of the primaries here in Michigan, I thought it might be an idea to start to put down on paper (or on the computer) what I propose should be the manifesto or platform of the the new political party called the Reasonables that I want to start. To begin, anyone can be part of the party; from the right, left, or center…I don’t care…but anyone who joins will be required to follow a few guiding principles whose purpose will be to change the toxic political landscape.

First….there will be no shouting allowed. None of the ranting that passes for political dialog these days.
Second….there will be no attack advertising by any of our candidates…it will be limited to policy statements that show what you are for…and solutions to the problems facing us.
Third…there will be no lying or distortions in our discussions or political interactions….truth will be our motto…
Fourth…you will be required to know what you are talking about…all opinions are not equal and ignorance will not be tolerated…
Fifth…..any candidate of ours will be required to put the country first…not business or his or her re-election…
Sixth….there will no mention of religion, or god, or Jesus by any of our candidates…religion will be a private matter and the separation of church and state will be supported…
Seventh….any candidate will use public financing of the election…there will be no billionaires buying seats in congress…
Eighth….our party will support and champion individual rights over those of the government and business….

That’s about it for now…as time goes on, I’ll be adding what I think is important to this platform and I welcome any comments on what you guys think should be done since we are building this thing from scratch…more later…

My Life

August 2nd

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Well…started the birthday celebration for the twins yesterday and I am a little worn out today…I think it’s going to continue early this aft so I better get some coffee and a workout in as soon as possible….that will probably be the only thing going on today but who knows? For the first time in a long time my back is killing me today and the pain is down my legs making it really hard to just sit and write this so I’m going to end here…more later….

Misc

Maybe a little light in the darkness?

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Well…have been thinking about how we can get out of the mess that the hyper-charged politics of the day have put us in and a couple of articles I read today might be the start of this climb. Normally, I like to read conservative columnists to try to understand where they are coming from, since I truly believe that good ideas are good ideas no matter if they come from the right or left…and I don’t want to be one of those people that just automatically dismiss anyone’s ideas. In David Brooks column today (I should add that Brooks is a well known conservative commentator) he walked across the aisle and with an unbiased eye, looked at Obama’s agenda and could admit that some of what has been done was necessary and will be effective in addressing many of the problems that face us today. But what was also refreshing was his making objective, well thought out suggestions on how to do better and improve the legislative agenda. So, to David Brooks I say thank you…can you transplant your brain into the rest of the right?

The second column I read today was by Kathleen Parker in the Washington Post and it was not about politics at all; but about what it is like living in the neighborhood she lived in in DC. Again, Parker is a staunch conservative columnist who I rarely ever agree with but today she made a point that I think needed to be made…that is that the American values of friendship, community, and love are not just embodied in the folks that Palin and her Ilk call the “real Americans”; from small towns and rural areas…but can be found all across America; no matter where you live. One of the things I found so striking about the article was her oh so kind words about the neighbors who were the rocks of the neighborhood; who were such a stabilizing influence…but who also happen to be gay men who have lived in a committed relationship for 25 years. I was pleasantly surprised to find that one of these men is a columnist that I read in USA Today…Craig Wilson. I don’t know Kathleen Parker at all, but for a committed conservative to finally speak out against the bigotry that is an integral part of the Repubs, and in such an elegant way, gives me some hope that the principled people that I know still reside in the conservative movement are getting their voice back and will be heard more often. But, then I read some of the comments to this heartfelt piece of writing and it made me sick…the haters were out in force and my tiny little spark of hope that I have been nurturing was buffeted almost to it’s end. But not all the way…I refuse to let the haters stomp on the flowers that have grown up through the cracks in the hate of the world….so, thank you Kathleen for you wonderful column.

My Life

August 1st

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Yeah, I know…I didn’t come back yesterday but I was still recovering from Thurs night and really had no energy…plus my head felt like mush and I wasn’t thinking too clearly. So, it was probably a good idea that I didn’t write more and just bore you to death…well, I probably do that every day but please let me keep my illusions. Not much to do today, (where have you heard that before?) Still taking care of C’s house and I did get a text from K yesterday so there may be a Sunday Funday today…that will be fun, haven’t seen her in a couple of weeks. Hmmm….the F1 race is starting so I’ll end here…more later…

My Life

July 31st

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Well…I feel much better today and I will try…that is, try to get a couple of these out today…not a lot to do today but get the bike ride in and then over to take care of C’s house..had a really fun lunch with T yesterday and got a bag full of new books to read,,yay…so that will be on the agenda for today…got a copy of the hot new series “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” from her and I will update you what I think of it…not much else for now…but I will have more later…

My Life

July 30th

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Well…that was a long night out (for me anyway) and I am worn out today…so, this one is going to be short until my brain clears out a little…looking forward to lunch with T today but I think that will be all I’ll do until later….I’m amazed at times at what I can do to myself and still survive it….water really tastes good this morning….more later…

My Life

Observations and musings….

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Well…the cliff has seemed to have receded somewhat and that is a good thing, I think…there have been some things that I have noticed for a while that I thought I’d share…some of them may even be amusing…first, why is it that there are so many women running these days? When I’m out on the trail, the runners that I see are mostly women but the bikers are mostly men…I know I stopped running because it hurts like crazy and I was always fighting an injury of some sort ranging from achilles tendon swelling to shin splints…I also know that I love the mechanics of the bike; the shifting, coasting, leaning, and sprinting…and all of that without pain…I know, what does this have to do with anything? Well…nothing, really, just an observation…I thought you might like to read something that has no outrage, that shows that I’m not really that pissed all the time..or maybe you don’t care..that’s okay, too…

Oh….the attack bunnies are out again…I think they are trying to distract me; have me fall off the bike so they can then swarm over me and do who knows what….it almost worked today…they’ve gotten smarter and have started to run 3 or more at a time so I can barely miss them…I almost want to stay home since the danger is so great….see….made you smile for a change…

One last thing…saw two Segways out on the trail today….kind of a weirdness to me but maybe not to you…

Misc

Don’t shop at Target….

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Well…with the recent supreme court ruling that corporations can freely contribute to political campaigns, some of them have started to do just that…and with predictable results; they are donating to predominately repub candidates who they can rely on to favor businesses over the people. Target is one of those companies and I will not have profits that I have helped them make go to political causes and politicians who want to go back to the days of Bush..to the days when de-regulation of business led to the biggest meltdown since the great depression. We progressives need to become more aware of what is going on in our country and use both our political and economic power to make sure we don’t go backward, to make sure that the small steps in leveling the playing field that have happened in the last two years are not lost. So…I will never set foot in Target again and I hope that some of the rest of us will do the same….after all, profit and power is all they understand and it is up to us to take some of that profit and power away…

My Life

July 29th

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Well…out to Ada again yesterday..won the night in pool and feel like crap today..oh, well…I knew that was going to happen so I’ll live with it…not too much to do today and that is probably good…just not too motivated to even do this right now but I know it will get better as the day goes on…more later…

Misc

Phyllis Schlafly is still in the 50’s…..

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This is a placeholder until I get done working out…I have to comment on some statements that Phyllis Schlafly made this weekend campaigning for a repub here in Michigan.

Well…I’m back…decided to get a bike ride in, too, before I came back to this. I’m not going to bury the lead this time….just going to give you Sclafly’s (who is the head of the anti-feminist Eagle Forum) quotes at a fundraiser for republican Rocky Raczkowski who is running for congress from Michigan. She started out by saying “obviously the blacks voted for Obama…but, do you all know what group was the second biggest? Unmarried women, 70% of unmarried women voted for Obama, and this is because when you kick your husband out, you’ve got to have big brother government to be your provider.”

I am just stunned by these comments; that this kind of attitude is still in the mainstream of the republican party and is a harbinger of what you will see if you vote these troglodytes into office. Oh, ole Rocky did the republican dance of condemning the comments but that is just diving for cover when one of their own speaks what is really in their minds. That whole party is still mired in the 50’s when Phyllis was flitting from country club to country club; when you could have one income families make enough money that they could have a good life…but the repubs and their cronies made sure that ended.

Phyllis, I can give you many good reasons why unmarried women voted for Obama that you can’t understand…they are tired of the invisible discrimination that goes on in the good old boy networks that still dominate American business life..they are tired of having the choices in their lives limited by a repub party dominated by men…they are tired of being second class citizens that the Christian Taliban would have stay home barefoot and pregnant….to me, that shows a lack of respect for more than 50% of our population; a resource that we need to make this country a better place…my life is better for the strong women that have been in it (that includes my daughter and, of course, G, K, and T) and to dismiss them as needing to be dependent on anyone is a slap in the face that is all too common coming from the repubs…geez….

What you never want to be….