The Government Way

Coeur d'Alene city council elections are coming up. All the incumbents have filed for re-election. Some I would like to see re-elected, to others I'm indifferent. Since I don't live in the city, I can't vote anyway but I still follow the proceedings because what happens in Coeur d'Alene affects all the surrounding areas in one way or another.

The Press is now running bios of the candidates. The one today, on a man I've met but once, captured my interest. Would that all politicians be as forth right as this man when it comes to political speak. He made a comment that is as plain as the nose on your face. "You have no idea what government is like until you're there." Truism number one.

He went on to say, and this is an important point, "It has it's own language, it has it's own money system which sometimes doesn't seem like it reflects everyday life." Boy. Speaking about truisms! Think about how the feds figure the cost of living index while excluding two minor items - food and gas!

"I learned that government can still be strange but I've learned how to move around in it and get people's ideas and go back and rework and re-evaluate those ideas and try to make things happen for the long term good." Isn't this how it's supposed to work? That a politician not forget the people he represents?

"It's about getting good ideas out there and compromise." Are you listening Washington? Every Representative and Senator should have this interview as required reading!

"You meet other people and hear their ideas and think," 'Hey, I never thought of that. Let's give that a try' ". When have you ever heard a Congressman admit there's an idea he had never thought of?

This man has it down pat. An understanding that things inside the system work differently than those outside and, more importantly, that the constituents' best interests come first. Too bad he's not interested in higher office. He'd be a refreshing change.

On the other hand Coeur d'Alene is fortunate to have him. Although he's one of those much maligned Californians who maintains his surfer boy image, he's been in these parts long enough for that to have been forgiven. He, along with his brother, run a popular local eatery where he easily accessible. Imagine that! You can actually talk to the man!

Maybe it's his lack of political ambition that makes him so attractive a candidate to me. He just likes what he's doing for the community in which he lives. He's one of us and he hasn't forgotten it.

It makes me wonder, though, about the would be challengers who do little but nip pick about the process during the off years. Should one of them get elected they may find themselves compromised when they're on the inside looking out. I wonder how they would handle that!

Is This The Hope We've Been Waiting For?

It was announced today that President Obama is going to address a joint session of Congress on what he wants to have included and excluded in health reform legislation. After those plans had been announced Senate Majority Leader Reid and House Speaker Pelosi sent the President a formal invitation to do just that.

Is it just me or does that seem like putting the cart before the horse in both instances? If Obama had made his plans clear to Congress in the first place rather than turning it over to them at the get go, a lot of anger and anxiety could have been avoided. As for the formal invitation, well, everything has to be well orchestrated.

Is the President finally going to become engaged in governing? One can only hope! Is he going to set Congress, especially the House straight on what is and is not acceptable in health care reform? One can only hope! Is it going to be a plan that makes sense for all Americans rather than merely satisfying a political base and agenda? One can only hope though I won't hold my breath on that one.

Whatever the outcome, it would appear the people have indeed been heard and at such a volume, it's being realized they mean business when threatening congressional representatives from both houses with their seats if they don't listen.

That is certainly change. The people being heard and listened to. Will it last through the next piece of legislation we question? One can only hope! Wow. Talk of hope and change all in one short post.

I should feel elated, but quite frankly, I'm skeptical. I fear it will be just another well staged illusion.

Just What ARE We Doing?

Now that the hoopla over Michael Jackson and Teddy Kennedy is dying down maybe the media can get back to reporting the news. Like explaining the mess in Afghanistan. The corrupt Karzi is likely to bully himself back into the Presidency. One wonders what will happen when the war lords he bought, with our money no doubt, decide they want more of a payback for making their people vote for him!

Now we learn the American commander thinks the U.S. and NATO need a new strategy to defeat the Taliban. Whoa. Wait a minute. It hasn't even been a month since a new strategy was heralded. Persuading the farmers to switch from planting poppies to far less profitable, even if more healthy, crops like wheat. The Americans and British were scheduled to pour millions into this new tactic!

Meanwhile, back at the war ! It's winnable so says the General. Eight years we've been slogging through that wretched excuse of a country. What do we have to show for it? More pipe dreams?

The war in Iraq was always winnable too. Afghanistan needs more troops. Iraq still needs more troops though we're leaving them to fend miserably for themselves.

The Taliban's "tactical prowess" is improving. Sound familiar?

Nine in ten casualties are caused by IED's. Sound familiar?

Meanwhile the body count continues to rise. I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty tired of hearing how we have little appetite for expanding the war while we continue to do so.

I'm not even sure who the enemy is any more. Are we fighting a drug war on the opium producers? Are we fighting a religious war against the Taliban?

What ever happened to al Qaeda? And bin Laden? Do we have a direction at all? Are they one and the same?

I don't see that we have a clear direction at all. Then when I read that Obama has not even read an assessment of the Afghan situation, I could do no more than shake my head in dismay. Not because I'm worried the war is going to reach our shores but because the President doesn't seem to have a handle on anything.

Who does? Anyone?

Memories of Bacchus - Our Walk

In lieu of posting today I'll leave you with some video. I've been playing around with iMovie to make some memories for us and would like to share them with you. Little snippets like before. To remind you who my companion was when I began this blog.

He may be gone but he'll never be forgotten.

Cry Wolf!

Wolves, one of the most beautiful and despised species of wild life in the west. What a shame. Barely off the endangered species list, they are now to be hunted and killed.

Tags went on sale this past week. The harvest, state wide is aimed at 220 out of a population of 1000. One thousand tags were sold the first day. Fish and Game officials estimate as many 70,000 hunters will get wolf tags. Wow. What a controversy this has stirred up and with good reason. Animal rights groups think it's unnecessary slaughter and wildlife management groups feel it's necessary. I think each side has valid points.

I remember sitting in the bar of the Wort Hotel in Jackson, Wyoming with Hub on a Saturday night. Next to us was a duded up cowboy in town for some fun. A a table near by sat another. They were range riders, men who live in and roam the far reaches of ranches to watch over the herds. They started talking about a wolf problem that was plaguing local ranches. Their descriptions were disturbingly vivid, for our benefit, I'm sure. Yet I understand. Ranchers have thousands of dollars tied up in cattle or sheep and their losses go far beyond a kill; it's the market value of that kill.

Another issue, more difficult to judge is what they do to the elk and deer populations in the wild. If they are decimating those herds it is of concern. If it means trophy hunters have less to choose from, I could care less.

The Loop by Nicholas Evans, a one time New York Times best seller, sums up the issue from both points of view in a great novel. If you have interest in the subject, it's worth a read.

A few years ago when I was doing a "Flat Jessie" project for my great niece, I took her paper self visit Wolf People , an organization dedicated to educating people about these beautiful animals. While we visited their retail outlet where they rotate wolves from their pack for the public to get a glimpse, they also have a compound with a pack for study purposes. It's worth the visit for educating oneself.

What worries me is the number. Seventy thousand potential hunters looking for 220 wolves. You don't eat wolf. It strikes me as being blood lust. Can it be controlled out in the wild or are far more wolves going to be taken. Yes, they are not the easiest of prey to locate, but with 70,000 hunters off roading through the wilderness, they will be found.

On the other hand, people's livelihoods can be decimated by roving packs. There is no easy answer. How would those suffering losses be adequately compensated and by whom?

I only wish there were a way to control them other than killing them.