Conflicted

I've been conflicted of late and some of my readers have let me know they think I've strayed from the reservation. I take exception with that because, if anything, I'm a middle of the road type unbeholden to either party.

The Washington Times printed excerpts of an interview CNN's John King had with Colin Powell that sums up a lot of what I've been thinking. "... you can't have so many things on the table that you can't absorb it all."

That hits the nail on the head as I listen to Joe Biden try to explain to George Stephanopolis how the administration underestimated how bad the economy was and that's why the stimulus isn't working and unemployment continues to climb.

I'm a small government person and ours is anything but and growing. I knew that was likely when I supported Obama but not to this extent. Bills, hundreds if not thousands of pages long, are being passed faster than it takes to say "aye". They are not being read. Pork in them is plentiful. Business as usual. No change in sight.

The national debt so far this fiscal year is $11.5 trillion and the deficit is expected to rise to $2 trillion. Those numbers are beyond comprehension to workers who don't even make $100,000. They are the vast majority. Add to that the fact that most of this money is borrowed from countries who are more adversarial than friendly puts our entire nation at risk, yet there is increasing talk of another stimulus package.

Bail out the auto industry and reward those who were the largest part of the problem, the Unions. It was their demand for higher and higher wages and richer and richer benefits that started the downward spiral.

We're not even out of the housing crisis and you have Barney Frank asking for a loosening of lending standards. He was part of the problem in the first place for the exact same action!

Then comes health care where resistance reigns in all quarters. There is the gays in the military issue that has gone silent. There's the issue of no increase in taxes for 95% of working Americans. Ha! We have a war escalating in Afghanistan and one can only guess what will happen with the remainder of the Middle East, including Israel. Let's not forget the turmoil in South America either.

The one good part of the stimulus is the amount earmarked for refurbishing our crumbling infrastructure yet the monies aren't slated to be released until next year, just before the Congressional campaigns begin.

Too much to absorb? You bet. Both mentally and fiscally! If Congress doesn't take the time to absorb it, how can we be expected to? Having a vision is one thing. Shoving it down our throats at all cost is something else.

Isn't it time to take a deep breath, slow the pace a bit and think things through before rushing them into place? Colin Powell is a voice of reason. Voices of reason, over and above political ideology, are what the country needs right now. Unfortunately, they are few and far between.

Sarah: Red, White And Blue!

Ah, 'tis July 4th. The day we celebrate our Independence from England and most forms of common sense when it comes to fire works and sun exposure!

I got to thinking about the patriotic side of things as Hub hoisted our brand new flag on our brand new non-tangle pole. Who more represents the red, white and blue this particular holiday than Sarah Palin? Red with anger over how she's been treated by the media, white with angst at supposed slights against her family, especially her children. And blue for the way her political career seems to be imploding. Don't be too sure.

I'm going to stick my neck out and offer my thoughts on this woman, mostly because I don't feel like doing the research for a more serious post. It is, after all, a holiday.

I heard one pundit describe her as a narcissistic personality who is about to get very rich. I have no argument with that assessment. With that in mind let's fast forward a year or so. We'll have seen more of her than most of us probably care to because she will be the media darling off setting Obama.

She'll have had her book published and will have been on the speaking circuit preaching her family values agenda, maybe even having a show on FOX a la Huckabee, and trying to become a serious player in the Republican party. The question to me is will she succeed and that depends on how much Americans remember.

Do I think she'll make a bid for the 2012 Republican nomination? If she's successful in her public private life I would guess yes. It will be an ego driven quest to be the first female President.

Do I think she will succeed? No.

Even though the Republican base is said to love her I'm not sure it's really love or infatuation that will quickly run it's course with more exposure. Secondly, the Republican base isn't large enough to carry her nor do I expect it to expand.

She is shaky on the family values issue anyway. She preaches one thing but the fact that her daughter is an unwed mother and that she was rumored to have an affair of her own will come back to haunt her.

When the pundits finish trying to analyze why she resigned from office and whether or not it was political suicide, a few facts will remain.

She quit before her term was up. She didn't want to milk her state as a lame duck since she decided not to seek re-election. If you buy that...

The fact will remain that she quit. A job unfinished to which she had been elected to do. What would she do as President should she win? Would she abdicate to her Vice President so as not to milk Americans as her term in office was about to end? I would ask that question.

There are already plenty of questions about her intellect from her stint is Vice Presidential candidate. I'm not sure she even realizes she needs a cram course in world history and politics. It's that ego thing again.

The last trait I'm going to touch on today is temperament. She has the role of victim down pat. As inappropriate as political cartoons and late night show hosts can be, whining about it is most unbecoming. She has shown me nothing to indicate she has the capability to handle the pressures that come with the Presidency. One cannot whine one's way through life and expect to have respect. Obama is not a whiner and look at the problems he's having gaining the respect of world leaders.

I think she would be an entertaining addition to the FOX line up of Conservative talk show hosts. She can whine all she wants and be handsomely paid for it. I do not, under any circumstance, see her as Presidential material.

I wonder how I'll feel a year from now!

Say It Isn't So!

The government is taking all the fun out of travel! It's bad enough you have to stay seated for the first half hour of a flight; now there is talk that some air lines are planning to charge for use of the facilities! This can be tough on we more mature types. So, more and more often, we drive.

Now, according to the Wall Street Journal States are beginning to close down rest areas on the Interstate Highway System! Why can't some of the $48.1 billion in infrastructure stimulus be used to keep these facilities open?

It's tough enough when there is over a hundred miles between them, like Gold Creek to Bozeman over in Montana. It takes some prudent planning.

Heck, it takes prudent planning to get from here to Missoula, a mere 142 miles with two rest stops. We usually leave early in the morning if we're going to shop. That being the case we have to determine how much coffee we should drink before we leave and how much to take with us. There's the cold factor. How much time do we have to consume it before it gets cold and it's passage through us in relation to the rest stops.

Bacchus presents another dimension. Before he started his ten thousand medications he'd be good for the day if we dewatered him before we left. Now he has more need than we do because of the diuretics he's on. Never-the-less we've pretty much got it figured out.

I feel for others however. Exits are sometimes as far apart as rest stops if not farther. If you're traveling through southern Utah, you have to find a town to find a rest stop because that's where the water source is. As for exiting to find a gas station, that too can be iffy. The town can be miles from the actual exit. Restaurants and cafes are no sure bet either. Many say "restrooms for customers only" which means you have to buy something which usually would be a cup of coffee. So the process begins all over again. Plus a lot of them aren't too crazy about it if your dog needs relief too!

So far the majority of the states closing the doors on an essential service are in the east and south. Hopefully if won't creep westward any time soon!

I suppose part of the reason the states are doing this is because it doesn't create jobs. Phooey! How many of the projects given the green light for funding are offering anything other than temporary work at best? Rest areas need care takers, landscape and maintenance workers on a year round basis.

Those in charge need a reality check. They want us to get out and spend our money. They want us to eat, drink and make merry. They want us to drive so we'll buy all those wonderful new fuel efficient cars they hope we'll fall in love with. That means we can travel farther on a tank of gas.

They need to realize that we're not going to fill our car's tank and go if we can't empty our tank along the way!

What Happened to The "Marlboro Man"?

Those of you my age remember him. The incredibly handsome, rugged cowboy with the cigarette dangling from his lips. The ads that conjured up images of the romance of the west. Back when cigarettes were advertised with impunity.

I smoked in those days. And I was thinner. To use that as a correlation about good health is of course nonsense and also why you don't see those ads any more!

But look what's happened to us since! We've ballooned! In the last year, according to myway the obesity rate this past year has gone up in 23 states and down in 0! Who's to blame? Well, I'm not one to point fingers, but the obesity rate for the oldest boomers, the 55 to 64 year olds, is higher than we who are over 65! Maybe it's all that physical therapy many of us do to just to keep mobile! It has become a concern in the health care field because as we live longer, it's getting more expensive Naturally keeping the obese healthy is more difficult and even more costly.

It's partially a regional problem but not entirely. The fattest states seem to trend southern with Mississippi getting top honors. Alabama is a close second followed by West Virginia and Tennessee.

What really surprised me however, is how many of the states where one would expect to find Mr. Rugged were not included in the least obese category. The only ones that were, actually, are Montana, Utah, and Colorado as the most lean. Others cross the country including four New England states. They probably shiver it off during their winters!

But, oh my. Even the cowboys are getting fat, or at least not slimming down! The Dakotas came in at 22 and 20. Wyoming was good at 38, but to be beat by Washington D.C. and New Jersey? They should be ashamed!

And Texas! Fourteen! Maybe it's due to the popularity of Tex-Mex cuisine. Not exactly low calorie fare.

Ah, well. I haven't smoked for over 40 year. My weight is higher than I'd like but then I'm a woman. If I weighed 98 pounds soaking wet I'd probably still be dissatisfied. I live in Idaho. We ranked 33. Pretty near the middle of the pack.

Maybe as those boomers retire, they'll move west like we did. Maybe they'll buy some acreage and maintain it themselves like we do. That'll slim them down! After all, we westerners can't let all those big east coast city folks steal the march on us. Listen up now. New York is 37!

Beyond The Pale, Literally!

Please! Enough! It's bad enough to see people being carried out of the Jackson tribute at the Apollo Theater for being overcome with emotion and to learn that members of his fan club have been committing suicide because they have nothing more to live for!

When I saw a number of sources, including USA Today , reporting Congress rose today for a moment of silence after a debate on the climate change bill, I was stunned.

Okay. I'll cede you the point he revolutionized American pop music. I think he was merely a part of it, but I'll still give you the point. Other than that he was a disturbed and dysfunctional man/child. Look at him. He was financially irresponsible. He also, by his own admission, plied young children with wine and took them to his bed.

This is not a man I choose to honor. That the Congress of the United States did is unfathomable. Representative Diane Watson, D-CA, said, "We pay tribute to the culture that he has left behind, his legacy."

Should Jackson the man be separated from Jackson the entertainment icon? Should his brilliance in the art of performance be separated from his actions as a private citizen? Is it even possible?

Congress may have paid tribute to the culture he left behind - that of a lost soul who mesmerized millions of other lost souls to the point of an unhealthy frenzy. Have these people no life of their own to be so obsessed? His legacy? What might that be? That celebrity, no matter how bazaar, immoral or illegal, is entitled to idolization through blinders?

What a sorry statement for those who in death would truly deserve a moment of silence from Congress.

Even if it were something as insignificant as having lived an exemplary life!