No Wonder Congress Is In The Tank!

Wow. We haven't even gotten through this election and the run has begun for 2010!

Joe, whose real name is Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher, the Plumber, who is not even a licensed plumber, wants to buy a company he claimed would earn over $250,000 a year. According to Ohio records it's estimated taxable revenue is under $100,000. He earns around $40,000 and has a lien against him for non-payment of taxes even though he may not know that little tidbit. He wants to run for Congress!

Yep. So says a brief article on The Hill's Blog Briefing Room. Laura Ingraham was quoted as saying, "There is a movement afloat to draft you to run for Congress. Joe, let me tell you something: you decide to run for Congress and I'll help you with your PR, I'll help you do your ads, I mean I'll volunteer to help you."

You know what? She probably would. Talk about not vetting a candidate!

Okay, the generational divide in me has surfaced. Here is a man who asked a good question of a candidate and the candidate's answer was less than it should have been. I'll give the story that, but that's as far as it should go. But who is this guy and why on earth would you want him in Congress? To follow in Ted Stevens' or William Jefferson's footsteps?

I've often thought that throwing the whole sorry bunch out and starting over again was a good idea. Not if this is what we're going to get!

The media gets blamed for a lot. Slanted reporting. Absolutely. MSNBC has turned into FOX left. I used to like MSNBC but they are just as slanted now as FOX only in the opposite direction. Talk radio is even worse. That is where the majority of the hate mongering is happening. Rush Limbaugh. Laura Ingraham.

What's it all about? Ratings? That this man be glorified even after learning about his credibility? The same as Sarah Palin was placed on a pedestal before we even had a look at her?

A week to go. This go round will be over. When it is, whoever wins will have my support. He will be our President. We owe that to the office. It's serious business to me. A leader will be chosen for those of us on Main Street as well as those on Wall Street. As important, if not more so, a leader for the world.

But we've been forewarned. The fun and games will continue. Personality outweighs substance. The gravity as I see it is apparently not shared. You'd think 9/11 and the current economic meltdown would have taught us that politics is not a game and the penalty assessed for not playing it well can be catastrophic.

Yet ugliness and thoughtlessness rules. Don't worry though. Just go shopping. One VP nominee did and seems none the worse for it.

To Grandmother's House He Goes. Why Was It Even Questioned?

Barack Obama's Grandmother. She's 85 years old. She has osteoporosis. She recently took a fall that caused hospitalization and has since taken a turn for the worse. Who among us, if this was the lady that had raised us, would not be rushing to be with her?

Instead there was speculation about how much damage would be done by his leaving his campaign at this critical time. If the McCainites have any class at all, before each rally they'd be wishing Madelyn Dunham well.

In an interview with Harry Smith, Obama explained that change in his Mother's condition happened so fast he was unable to reach her side before she passed away. He was determined to not to let that happen again.

I know exactly how he feels. My own Mother had not been feeling well for several days and her Doctors were brushing her off. When her wonderfully persistent caregivers finally managed to get some tests ordered and completed the prognosis was dire. I was not able to get to her side before she passed away. I have never forgiven myself. You see, long before this happened, in one of our conversations about the inevitable, she told me she did not want to die alone. She did not. Her caregivers were with her. But it wasn't the same as having her daughter or son there. Neither of us were. I don't think I will ever get over the feeling that I let her down. That for all the times over so many, many years that she was always there for me, I wasn't there for her at that most important time of her life. Her death.

McCain has been saying Obama will say anything to get elected. Maybe, maybe not. For the moment the measure of this man is that his actions speak louder than any words possibly could.

Pretty Palin

"Pretty woman walkin' down the street
Pretty woman, the kind I like to meet
Pretty woman, I don't believe you
You're not the truth
No one could look as good as you
Mercy"

In all fairness, what's "hot"in Alaska may not pass muster in the D.C. social scene. The hair definitely needs some work; the gown - eh. Can't see enough of it. But $49,425.74 at Saks and $75,062.63 at Nieman's? WOWSER!

I'm sure glad to know political contributions are put to good use. After all we wouldn't want our potential Vice President looking like a pig in lipstick! Hmmm. Speaking of that, I wonder just how much of the $4,716.49 of the hair and make up expenditures actually went to lipstick!

Julia Roberts she ain't but with a fashion consultant and a budget, well, anything is possible!

Now I do know a little bit about these stores. A lot of my dressier clothes have come from Nieman's. Otherwise it's LL Bean or Murdochs. I know Saks and Nieman's are upscale but in my wildest dreams I'd have trouble spending bucks like that - even if I were in my prime and lived somewhere where the clothing might actually be appropriate.

I really feel sorry for Hub. He likes to buy me nice clothes but a fortune could have been saved had he had the foresight to declare me a charity. Then maybe those high tone threads could have come my way free - or well discounted. After all, they'd have been worn!

Here's a link to an actual catalog . Go ahead. Browse through it. Pick out your $75,000 worth of duds. See if the Republican donors are getting their money's worth.

Now in consideration of the Fairness Doctrine I want the DNC to fess up. How much did you guys put forth for Michelle Obama? Come on now. We want our potential First Lady to look every bit as good as our potential VP.

What about the men? Ah, a tux is a tux. Basic black is always in style. Can you tell if it's a Tux Shop rental or a Brooks Brothers hand tailored? I'll bet those Country Club Republicans and Limousine Liberals can!

What the heck. It's good for the economy.

A Few Final Thoughts From Out And About

In thinking about all those dinner conversations we overheard on our trip, it has occurred to me that something monumental had been happening. Those folks were discussing an issue, not a personality.

We stopped in Ames, resplendent with McCain/Palin signs, to visit with an old classmate of mine and her husband who had long been on staff at Iowa State. They were both for Obama and passionate about it. It goes to the point that imagery isn't necessarily the end all. All those signs.

Living in Ames, they are of course on hand for the Iowa caucuses and the famous straw poll. Having family coming in from out of town, they were asked to get tickets to hear Obama. Three hundred or so were expected; the demand rose to three thousand. We all know how Obama fared.

In watching the news tonight, the first time in a week, I was heartened to hear people who's opinion actually matters, beginning to admit that Ms. Palin is not yet qualified for the Vice Presidency. My sense of sanity is beginning to return.

This next fourteen days will see lots of nail biting as the polls are watched. I'm not at all comfortable that enough voters feel as strongly as I do about Obama's strengths versus his weaknesses. I am encouraged, however, that Ms. Palin is no longer being viewed as a novelty but as a genuine issue unto herself. And she is.

I love her on Saturday night live. I love her as cheer-leader-in-chief. I love the energy she has instilled into a stodgy old Republican campaign. But that's where it stops. Beyond that it is no longer a lark, a joke. It's dead serious.

Ms. Palin and Joe the Plumber have provided comic relief. They're the USO. Now, however, it's time to return to the reality of what we're doing. Electing a world leader.

No joke.

A Few Observations From Middle America

We've been to the banks of the Mississippi and back this past week and the trip was an eye opener.

First though, about the photo from my last post. Tropigal gets the gold star. The half body of the drinking fountain, the legs, standing in front of the Body Shop. Maybe you had to be there! The thing is I hadn't noticed the irony until I had the picture developed.

Okay. Middle America. Observation number one. This probably has to do with the time of year one travels but I had no idea how many sunflowers are grown in the Dakotas. Field after field of drooping heads all along the Interstate. It must have been spectacular a month ago.

More middle America.

If one is to go by the campaign signs McCain is going to win in a landslide. We did not see one single Obama sign from Idaho to Iowa. Even in the university towns of Ames and Iowa City the signs posted were all McCain/Palin. University towns, other than in Idaho, are usually bastions of liberalism.

There cannot possibly be one skunk left living between Idaho and Iowa; the highways at times seemed to be paved with them.

Ranchers and farmers do not like Obama's "spreading the wealth" idea one bit. It's easy to understand why. For them it's feast or famine depending on their harvest. If they are heavily taxed in a good year they'll have nothing to carry them through a bad one.

Our first night out we were having dinner in Miles City, MT. The debate was on the TV in the bar. While fully visible from our table we tried to ignore it and enjoy our meal but the cowboy at the next table was exercised. Finally he had to get it out of his system and spent the remainder of our time there extolling everything wrong with Obama's thinking. It was an interesting lesson in the economics of ranching.

That first evening turned out to be the norm. No matter where we were or where we ate, the dinner table conversations surrounding us were all about Obama and his economic plan. None of those conversations were applauding it.

I found out just how many people drive gray or silver cars when I watched who passed us in fog so thick we couldn't see the fog line.

Once again I was reminded again of how beautiful western Montana is this time of year. It is the peak season for the Tamarack warriors resplendent in their gold armor advancing up the mountain sides.

We're home safe and sound. Bacchus was a real trooper. The laundry is in progress.

Oh, yes, one last thought and apologies to Al Franken. Rush Limbaugh is still a big fat idiot. He should be hung and quartered for the hatchet job he did on Colin Powell yesterday.