I Should Have Voted For McCain

Governor Joe Manchin of West Virginia expressed my sentiments exactly when he said, having appointed the man who will be the youngest in the Senate replacing the oldest, "We passed this torch to another generation." That's how I felt about Obama. He was young, well educated and energetic. Traits McCain lacked. He was sharp where McCain was often fuzzy around the edges.

There were two things I put on the back burner for which I am now sorry. Policy and experience. I neglected to research beyond the broad brush strokes of hope and change into the substance. Had I done so, or been able to since little was actually put forth, I'd not have voted for Obama. As for experience, well, that speaks for itself. One area where he has shown no progress is in curing his tin ear. His current vacationing in Maine while exhorting the rest of us to vacation on the Gulf coast is but one example.

Is it enough that I'd have actually voted for McCain? He was the alternative choice so I'd say yes. Knowing the Democrats were likely to hold the House and Senate, as they have, he'd at least have been a counter balance with the power of the veto. While there is little the far right proposes that I agree with, there is even less from the far left. I'd have looked for some issues to lean toward the middle, something we don't have now.

As for Sarah Palin as Vice President? She'd have not been my choice and it surely made me wonder what McCain was thinking when he chose her. One of his fuzzy areas. Had she been in office, howeve, seeing what she has become, she would surely be out there rallying the constituency. Anything in governmentese that needed translated so everyman and everywoman could understand it, Sarah would have been the one to explain it. She has an uncanny ability to state the obvious and have it become a rallying point.

Youth and inexperience are not synonymous any more than age and tired ideas are. Our next President, be it Obama or someone new, will be a younger man than McCain. The torch has been passed, that's for sure. I'm going to have to get used to ideas and thinking that often leave me befuddled. On the same hand, however, I don't have to buy into personality over substance.

I Wonder How Hillary Would Handle It - Or Sarah

I hate war! That's not new information. What makes them even worse than we see on the news is what goes on behind the scenes. I'm referring to the coziness between Hamid Karzai and the Taliban. Supposedly to get lower level members to switch sides and join the fight against al Qaeda. I figure it's little more than a pact with the devil.

There's an evil, sordid side to it. When one chooses to deal with the devil they know versus the one they don't, it's sometimes forgotten both are devils. Such is the case, according to The Wall Street Journal, with the Taliban when it comes to women. While they are no longer throwing acid in the faces of schoolgirls, women are still facing peril. In what are being called "night letters" because they are delivered at night, women who have jobs are being told to stop working or die. Those who have resisted the bullying have indeed been killed.

Activists are trying to get explicit guarantees for women's rights into the negotiations but even if successful it's doubtful anyone will abide by them. Such is the nature of the culture. We can no more do anything for the rights of women than we can make Islamic extremists like us. Yet we continue to try as our young men die.

I find it interesting that even technically savvy and civilized Japan is but beginning to level the playing field when it comes to women. Just recently they have appointed the first branch manager of a bank and announced the first female pilot! They have been hovering with Malaysia and Cambodia when it comes to gender equality. Two you'd expect to be near the bottom of the barrel. But Japan? With truths like this how are we going to help Afghan women? Realistically.

One the bright side, those with the highest ranking are Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Cold. Tough climate. If a woman were up to the task as President I'd have to give the nod to Hillary. Cold. Tough. Warm and fuzzies won't cut it.

Seriously though, I don't think a woman, no matter how able in our culture, could sway the likes of these people who feel just as strongly about their stand as we do ours. It's perhaps better left to the men. They seem to like tilting at windmills. Where, however, are we going to find one who is cold? And tough. And will actually fight for the issue.

What A Future!

Recently the Nethercutt Foundation sent students from six colleges to Washington D.C. to visit everyone from lobbyists to think tanks to members of Congress to get a grasp of how it works and why the tone is such as it is.

What they came away with should give them pause for the task of "fixing" it will be in their hands. We're all aware that the approval rating of both the President and Congress is less than desirable. So what happens. The blame game. The blame game perpetuates partisanship. No one will budge.

What must are these young people think when a Democrat actually admits to them that the current stand off with the Republicans is no more than payback for when the Republicans held the power?

They had the opportunity to visit sources that are but dreams to the rest of us with an interest. They found how lacking they were in American history as well as current events. They found the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are not going to have a quick fix. They found how serious the threats are to security within our borders. They got a good idea of how ill prepared we are to respond. All one needs to do is look at how the oil spill is being handled and the Arizona immigration flap. The government will not be able to sue it's way out of a terrorist attack.

The times are interesting and the stakes are high. Should the Democrats hold both houses of Congress after the mid-terms they will own everything that comes to pass good, bad or indifferent. There will come the day the people will no longer accept that Bush is to blame for everything gone wrong.

Probably most sobering to these young people is the idea that not so far down the road the governance of the country will be in their hands. One would hope they've something positive to take away from their experience. I certainly hope it won't be the constant of "getting even"!

What Manner Of Men

It was late in the afternoon as we passed the Medical Lake entrance to I-90. A group of middle aged bikers merged into traffic. They seemed in no hurry, just fell in with the rest of us. I wondered out loud if they might be some of the honor riders who had been in town for the burial of a young Marine.

He was a good looking young man. All of 23. He was killed by an IED while on patrol. This young man who was liked by everyone who knew him and wanted some adventure in his life. Had he but chosen a different route. He joined the Marines and was promoted to corporal in record time. He dove into everything he was assigned with enthusiasm and commitment. As a reward his family was given the Purple Heart he was awarded for his service.

I wonder how much comfort that was to the young wife he left behind. The pregnant young wife. She and her yet to be born child represent a whole class of citizens left to fend for themselves while ill equipped to do so. They are basically a welfare class unto themselves. Because a soldier died too young.

Every small town newspaper in the country prints stories such as these. The loss of all these young men who have barely had time to live. To be husbands. To be fathers. Little else than soldiers. And they die.

His arrival home affected a whole plane load of people as they were asked to remain seated while his escort deplaned. They watched in reverent silence as the coffin was unloaded and placed in the hearse. I'm sure each had private thoughts about loved ones of their own.

The young Marine is one manner of man in my fantasies. Another is a young man, looking to be of a similar age, bragging about how he was going to use illegal fireworks over the Fourth. "It's America," he said, "We like to blow things up." I wonder if he ever served in the military. Then we have the Marine General who is going to take General Petraeus's place as head of the U.S. Central Command. Odd, since he has been reprimanded for loose language just as was General McChrystal! With typical Marine bravado, he once told a crowd in San Diego, "Actually it's a lot of fun to fight. You know, it's a hell of a hoot - It's fun to shoot some people. I'll be right up front with you. I like brawling." Bully for him.

I wonder, had the young man at the fireworks stand or the General been at the young Marine's funeral if they would have felt the same as taps sounded and rifles fired in salute and friends and family wept. Especially a young wife and her unborn child.

Beware The Tub!

This is one of those news items I had to catch twice. That's why I embedded the video from KREM 2 News. So you too can relish the full impact.

You readers who know me know how I love to find obscure studies that one wonders how they ever got funded. This one is an Australian study that found men over 40 who use erectile dysfunction medication are more likely to get sexually transmitted diseases, especially Aids, then those who don't, including younger men.

The rationale they found was that older men were less likely to use condoms than younger men. Okay. I'll buy that. But could it also be because if the older men weren't taking the likes of Cialis and Viagra they wouldn't be having sex in the first place? Safe or otherwise?

Now, if they really want to do a study to clear up one of the great mysteries of life, what's the deal with Cialis and bath tubs? Unless there is a way to engage in sexual activity I'm unaware of, and that is certainly possible, I see no way those men could possibly get an STD with or without a condom!

Just saying...