Well….there have been some things happening in Wisconsin that I wanted to comment on today starting with the new polls that are out today showing that the likely challenger to ole Walker is leading in the polls…a small lead to be sure, but still in a lead in spite of the huge amount of outside money that has come into the race. Over the past couple of weeks ole Scott’s billionaire buddies, starting with the Koch brothers, have spent over 13 million dollars trying to keep this idiot in office and all it’s done is to make his approval ratings continue their downward slide. This is one thing that I find so repugnant about the big money that supports this guy and other repubs like him across the country…they will spend countless millions trying to influence the vote to install their radical right-wing agenda…but when it comes to paying their fair share of taxes to allow us to start to repair our infrastructure and educate our children, they are nowhere to be seen. So, this is one to watch over the next month, to see if we can start to take back democracy from the people who think that those who work for a living are just numbers on a balance sheet…not people that are just trying to live and raise their families in the face of this onslaught of the rich…geez….
The new do-nothing republicans…
Well….it has been an interesting time since the repubs took control of the House in 2010 and this congress is shaping up to be one of the most do-nothing congresses in the history of the country. Where are the jobs bills that will help put people back to work? Where are the infrastructure projects that will start to repair our crumbling country? Where are the forward thinking ideas that will help us compete in the future economy? The answer is nowhere…since it would go against the repubs stated goal of tearing down the government that is so “intrusive”…do they really believe that the private sector will take up the slack and build and repair the bridges, roads, and rural high speed internet that the country needs to prosper? This is the first time in my long life that I see this country going backward led by a party that, when you really take a long look, wants the country to fail for purely political gain and can’t see past party to do what’s right for all of us, not just their large donors. Maybe it’s a good thing that the House is not doing anything since the ideas they bring to the table are so far out of the mainstream that they would be laughable if the press would just say so….let’s remember that the repubs are the party of can’t do, who would like nothing better than to use policy to cement our status as an also-ran country while they profess to protect traditional values…the traditional values of the US are innovation, leadership, and inclusiveness…just the opposite of what the modern repub party stands for…geez….
May 2nd
Well…woke up this morning almost immobilized by the pain from working on the car…I didn’t think it was possible to strain every muscle above the waist but it seems like I did and every time I move I discover a new one that hurts….and I feel crooked like I really wrenched my shoulder but we’ll see as the day goes on…slept okay last night but no dreams to speak of but I guess that is okay….I do need the ibuprofen right now and that is what I’m going to do….not much to do today..it looks like there will be storms to watch this morning and I better get moving if I’m going to go out and get the papers on the bike….it’s already almost 60 so at least it will be warm enough…more later….
Maybe the tide is turning….
Well…it has been a while since I really had something to say about politics and you might say I’ve never had anything to say about it but I have to disagree….there was an interesting article last week in the WAPO by Thomas Mann and Norman Ornstein that elaborated on what I have been saying for a couple of years now…that there is not any equivalence between the radicalism on the right and left…..even though the media, in some misguided paen to fairness, has been treating them as the same; that the dems are as responsible for the poisonous politics that now rule in Washington when it is just not true….in instance after instance, it has been the right who has held the country hostage to their radical, crazy worldview…I think one of my favorite passages in the article goes like this “the republicans are unmoved by the conventional understanding of facts, evidence, and science…” sounds like willful ignorance to me, where faith trumps facts and political gain is placed above all else…even the good of the country. So, we may be seeing the first cracks in the wall of lies that the right has used to dupe the middle class into voting for them…my fear is that they have done such a good job demonizing “facts” that we may already be lost….geez….
May 1st
Well…it was a day of accomplishments yesterday…okay, one accomplishment…got the brakes fixed on the car and I am kicking myself that I didn’t do it sooner…the car actually stops with just a toe on the pedal and no vibrations at all…can’t wait to come down the ramp at Kalamazoo at 80 and wait for the last moment to hit the brakes…the last time it shook so hard I could barely see….but I am sore from breaking the bolts loose and that is going to hurt for a while….other than that…I did go out and have a couple with G…but I was good when I got home so I feel okay today…I have been struggling with topics lately but with a new month starting I will try to do better with no fillers….on that note…I think coffee is in order and along with a bagel with cream cheese…more later…oh, there was a dream last night that was all about high winds and tall buildings and I have no clue where that came from….
Just gonna cheat…
Well…I know…it is cheating to just write another one of these to just get to my goal without having anything to say…but, it is not as easy as it looks to come up with two of these every day. And, I still feel like crap for some reason so that is also an excuse…there was some nonsense out of the repubs today about the one year anniversary of OBL being killed and Obama using it in a speech…okay…this is not what I wanted to do so I’m going to stop here…and Man U is behind but still playing so I think I’ll go do that instead…
These may just be filler….
Well…as you know, I’m running behind for the month and I’m not sure why….so, you know what that is going to mean, that I’m going to have to write a couple that are basically just filler or random thoughts…one thing that I find really interesting out on the trail is how strong the shoots of willow trees are…there are places along the trail where shoots have pushed up through three inches of asphalt like it’s not even there….it was a pretty nice ride but now my back is starting to hurt just adding to the pains that I have from fixing the brakes this morning…91 bucks just in parts but it was necessary to make the car safe again….I did bruise and cut my hand trying to get the rotor off and pulled something in my shoulder trying to get the bolts out of the caliper bracket…so, I’m going to hurt the rest of the day…and I will be back for one more to get to 60….
April 30th
Well…it was a long day yesterday and I feel a little under the weather today….and I lost at pool so that doesn’t help….I do need to do three of these today to get caught up but I have no idea what the topics will be….even for this one…I do know that Man U is playing this aft and I do need to get the brakes fixed on the car since I decided to replace the rotors, too, and spent 90 bucks for parts…but it is raining so that will have to wait…other than that, not much to do today…need to recover…so, that’s what I’m going to do right now…more ice water and couch….
April 29th
Well…it was another day yesterday and after it was done, there was not much to say for it….so I won’t…okay, just a little…I did get some cleaning done and my bathroom thanks me so that was something….it was kind of a bore, though, but today is shaping up to be better…if I can get back on the bike, that is….it has been a couple of days of no riding and I can feel it already…but, my legs do feel better so I guess that is okay….and it is pool day out with Tom this aft so that will be a welcome diversion….I do have to work on the car tomorrow…need another set of front brakes but that’s no big deal…I think it’s probably the 10th set since I’ve had it and I can change them out in less than an hour for 20 bucks or so….okay…I’m done for now…need to read the online papers and have another cup of coffee….
Just a couple of things…
Well…I did have a couple of comments to make and wanted to make them before I forget so here goes…there was an interesting article in the WAPO today that makes the clear and evident point that the dysfunction in Washington today is the repubs fault and the false equivalence that the right tries to make that the left is just as responsible is laid to rest by a clear argument…one that I have made here more than a year ago…but it is nice when your ideas get confirmed by other writers….you should go there and read it…I think they even do a better job that I have…the next thing I wanted to say is about the dustup that Paul Ryan had with the Catholic bishops and others in the Catholic church when he claimed that his proposed draconian cuts to the social safety net fit with Catholic teachings…at least the way he sees it….but the bishops landed on him with two feet and in no uncertain terms told him he was dead wrong…that giving tax cuts to the rich and corporations and paying for them by cutting every program that doesn’t benefit the rich is not what the Bible teaches…but, as the overly self assure repubs do, ole Paul kept up his attacks saying that he was a better judge of the teachings of the church on social justice than the bishops are….what a huge load of hubris from this idiot….geez….