Leadership?

Once again the media is letting us down. They've been too busy castigating Tea Party candidates, Blue Dogs and the rest of us who are too dumb to get it. I think it's time for them to turn their attention to the leadership of both parties in both houses. Neither is worth the space they take up.

Watching Nancy prance and Harry try to keep awake does not inspire confidence in their leadership abilities. Oh, they're savvy politicians all right. They've certainly have had enough years feeding at the public trough to have perfected their skills. Shoving legislation through in spite of the people's objections, however, is not leadership.

The Republicans have nothing to be smug about either. It's looking more and more like they may not get the tidal wave they say they expect. I look at Boehner and McConnell and find nothing inspirational there either. Of course, not being a fire brand on the podium isn't all bad. We fell for that with Obama and look what we've gotten.

It's disconcerting to see good people lose their seats merely for the sake of change. In many cases that's exactly what the voters are doing. Christine O'Donnell versus Mike Castle is a prime example. Not all Tea Party candidates are duds but it remains to be seen how many will be also rans when all is said and done.

Then back to the leadership. Pelosi and Reid are playing politics right to the bitter end. And the Republicans? I'm waiting for some concrete ideas over and above continuing the current tax levels and shrinking government. Where are the 'hows'?

As for the media pressing the issues? That would mean they'd have to work rather than posture. The politicians are far better at sidestepping questions than the media is at asking them.

Do you ever wonder why the blogosphere gets it and the others don't? Maybe it's because we actually read ~ and (gasp) listen.

Where Have I Been?

Monday night at dinner time the phone rang. It was my cousin in Grangeville telling me she would be coming up Wednesday and leaving Friday. I was about to tell her I had appointments next Wednesday when she told me it would be this Wednesday. Just past. What?

Understand, we rarely have overnight company and the guest room serves as a catch all not to mention my collection of stuffed animals that covers the bed. Oh, well. Not to worry. We had nothing on the calendar and the room needed a good cleaning anyway. I had everything spic and span by Tuesday's end.

It took us little time to sort through some family memorabilia, which was really the purpose of the trip. So what to do with our play time. Not wanting to do things all the tourists do we decided on lunch at Jimmy's Down the Street before it hits the airwaves on the Food Channel's Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. I considered that a half. It will be the place, at least for awhile, after the segment airs.

What next. Mudgy and Millie, to me, is a must whether tourists seek them out or not. I just think the story of the moose hunting for his buddy, the mouse, who hides in plain site, is the most wonderful, whimsical, ageless example of public art and childhood adventure I've seen. So off we went for the introduction and winding up at Figpickles to buy the book to be read to her grandkids, hopefully often.

What can I offer that is a local treasure yet truly different. The Stickman. We bloggers love him as one of our own. We found him in his usual spot, polishing his walking sticks in his carport at the base of Tubb's Hill where the locals go for great urban hiking. Candles were burning in honor of the troops, emitting a wonderful scent, the walls were lined with finished walking sticks waiting for anyone who asks for one. I introduced my cousin. She began her search while he and I caught up on the current who's and what's of the local blogging community. He chastised me for having disappeared from Huckleberries Online so I promised I would resume commenting on occasion.

We continued our day browsing the shops and galleries then called it a day. I think she enjoyed herself. I know the highlight was meeting the Stickman and getting a personally autographed walking stick of her choosing. It was the highlight of my day too. He's a living treasure right under our collective nose.

I'm proud to know him and happy to have him to take people to meet when they want something really special from their visit.

Why I Get tired Of Pundits

It's verging on lunacy. There is no reason in the world why Christine O'Donnell should be becoming a media darling.

She may be cute, a la Sarah Palin, but her credentials to qualify her for the U.S. Senate are pretty slim. Making such a fuss over her having dabbled in witchcraft during her highschool years is ridiculous. So what if she did? I dabbled in a few things in highschool and young adulthood I'd rather not have be common knowledge too. The focus should be her opinions on policy. If she has any. The people of Delaware will decide.

I just don't like the tearing down of candidates for any reason other than policy issues. I also don't like losers who won't go away. I've had about enough of that here in Coeur d'Alene with a city council election that was close and the loser has taken months to try and prove the election fradulent.

That, however, is beside the point. Of what benefit is it to take a comment someone made and blow it out of proportion? Joe Biden was all over the news yesterday for having commented he was second in line for the Presidency. So many were snickering and commenting on how dumb he was. Everyone knows he's first in line. If he were second in line Nancy Pelosi would precede him.

Now really. Who didn't know what he meant? Remember the malaproprisms from George Bush? He made so many there are collections of them. Apparently there are of Joe Biden's misstatments too. To chuckle over them is one thing, but to denigrate the person who said them seems to me petty and mean spirited.

We all criticize our politicians. It's seems a way of life for those of us who enjoy watching the show. I lose interest when it becomes nothing more than mudslinging over meaningless things. After all, Mr. Biden is Vice President and has had a long and distiguished career. Ms. O'Donnell is the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate in Delaware. No small feat. Both deserve more respect than they are getting.

The Ultimate Enablers

It's a rainy, cool Sunday afternoon and I'm taking a break from the political madness unfolding daily. I'm going to address the on going social madness instead.

Yes, the role models for bad behavior are back in the news today. Lindsey Lohan and Paris Hilton. It's unusual for them to appear at the same time but then I'm sure they don't follow each other's social faux pas on Twitter. Twitter. You've got to love it. And the drug addled brainiacs who use it. Like Hilton and Lohan. You'd think they'd get that lying to the police won't work when they've twittered their minions about indiscretions just moments before being caught!

What now? Hilton for having cocaine drop from her purse in front of police while pulling out a lip balm then denying the purse was hers after twittering a few days before how much she loved it, with a picture yet! She's on probation. Again.

Lohan for failing her latest drug test. Again.

You know, in a way I feel sorry for these young ladies. Lohan, 24 and Hilton, 29. They've been indulged all their lives in some of the most egregious examples of "parenting" you can find. For a long time I've blamed the parents for being the enablers. Those who turn a blind eye to their children's self-destructive behavior. Mostly because they are more than likely indulging in it themselves.

Even though the young ladies are of legal age and certainly old enough to assume some responsibility for themselves, they are conducting themselves in the only way they've ever known. Indulged by parents through youth to become self-indulgent adults.

It goes deeper, however. The real enablers, the ones most at fault, are the lawyers and judges who time after time give these young women a pass. They have yet to serve an entire sentence. Overcrowding is always the excuse. Court mandated rehab is often cut short or ignored.

These ladies are going to end up like Anna Nicole Smith if they're not careful. They don't need jail time. They need serious rehab behind locked doors so they can't walk away. No ifs, ands or buts. It will never happen.

Lohan thinks she's a good actress. I don't think the critics agree but at the rate she's going she'll never prove them wrong. I have no idea if Ms. Hilton is capable of anything other than posing before a camera. That cannot sustain her forever. What neither seems to understand is that their addictions are robbing them. Of their money, their reputations, their talent such as it is, and most of all their youth and beauty, such as that may be.

It's really no longer newsworthy. It's probably not even worth this post. It is sad.

Independents, We Have A Problem!

I've been trying to digest the results of the final round of primaries in good spirit, but I cannot do so. I'm going to step out on a limb and suggest there will be a small turnout for the fall elections even as important as they are. After all, the entire direction of the country depends on who has the power.

Why a small turn out? I don't think the moderates/independents will bother because there is no one for whom to vote. Certainly not in Delaware or Nevada. I was going to hit the theme once again about a party and a movement without leadership, but that pales when it comes to threat before those of us who look to reason and intelligent compromise.

I listened to Tea Partiers in Delaware tell how they care little that Ms. O'Donnell, their choice for Senate, is 41 years old and has absolutely no experience on which to run. None. Zip. Zero. "She's just like us", one woman actually said. It's the Sarah Palin effect. Have a bubbling, pleasing personality and nothing else matters as long as she says what you want to hear. Whew.

Should the most outlandish of the Tea Party candidates actually get elected, I see a couple of real problems. The Republican establishment will not know how to handle them. Will they caucus by themselves? Yes. They already have. Michelle Bachmann (R-MN) provided the list already in the House. How many will be booted because they are incumbants is yet to be known but I have a feeling the Tea Partiers will defend them. The next question is, if their ranks increase, what will happen to the Republican caucus? Will it be inretrieveably broken?

Some where in the not too distant future the Republicans will find a leader to move into the presidential race. The Tea Partiers will not unless they are one and the same. If that's the case I forecast a loss. The independents will not support a far right conservative any more than they support the far left agenda of the current President.

Where is The Modern whig Party when we need it? Not yet ready for prime time but rather methodically laying out their ground work and recruiting.

On the other hand we have the wild and wooly Tea Partiers running rampant with no collective leadership except for the voice of Sarah Palin. The Republicans have yet to rise to the challenge. The Democrats are gloating.

What will Congress be like under this scenario? The left continuing to fight with the far left? The establishment Republicans fighting with the conservative right?

Who knows. Maybe all the in fighting will provide a do nothing Congress long enough for us to get our leadership issues figured out.

I'm one Independent who would vote for that!