Why Politics Make Me Crazy

Take the debt ceiling argument.  Both sides need to get real.  I had to agree with the President when he admonished Congress for being away on recess too much of the time.  Of course he's out and about campaigning much of the time too.

Then there is the Republicans refusing to raise the debt ceiling without concessions from the Democrats, like no tax increases.  They say it's what the people want.  Well, I'm a people and it isn't what I want.

They're listening too much to the Tea Party activists rather than the principles of the Tea Party movement.  And they're listening to their inner need to remain in Congress because they've never had it so good.

The Dems are putting out too much inaccurate information.  The world is not going to end as we know it on August 21 as the Secretary of the Treasury would have us believe.  And people making over $250,000 a year are not necessarily the corporate jet set.

If I were the one in charge, I'd throw it back on the Congress.  One, they hold the purse strings and they passed everything they are now belly aching about being too costly.  Okay guys and gals.  They're your programs.  Agree among yourselves which ones to cut! Bet you can't agree on even one, but try.  How about starting with farm subsidies.  No more paying farmers not to grow certain crops!  No more to grow corn for ethanol which is the ruination of many an engine!  How about eliminating entitlements, formerly known as pork.  No more bike paths in Nancy Pelosi's district.  No more bridges to no where.

Remember too, no matter what this Congress does, the next one will not be held to it.  With that in mind, anything and everything is ripe for reversal.

My guess?  The debt ceiling will be raised.  Somewhere along the line taxes will be increased.  It's how government is funded.  Cuts in spending will be token.  And the Congress will go right on creating and funding programs we can well do without.  It's the nature of the beast.

I had high hopes when the Republicans won the House.  Hope that they would bring some balance to the debate. I forgot 'hope' was an Obamaism.  I forgot there is no debate.  There is no balance and never will be as long as the people we elect become slaves to special interests to keep their jobs. This is an indictment of both parties.  They share in it equally.

Did Lincoln abolish slavery?  Only one kind, my friends. Only one kind.

The Political Views Of Grandma

Remember the commercial decrying the proposed budget cuts put forth by the Republicans? The one where Grandma is pushed off a cliff, wheelchair and all?

Of course that's not what's going to happen, but considering what the Democrats are really doing to Grandma, I may have just stumbled across a campaign issue.  It seems like Democrats must hate grandmothers.

Consider this. 95 years old.  105 pounds.  Wheelchair bound.  Wearing an adult diaper.

This elderly woman, no, old woman, was submitted to a 45 minute search including having to remove the diaper because an alarm was supposedly triggered.  And it was soiled and was impeding their search.

After filing a complaint, a spokesman for the TSA explained the procedures are the same for everyone because it is known from intelligence that terrorists would take advantage of the vulnerable.  Right.  A 95 year old woman with her daughter is going to have explosives in a body cavity.

Every time there is an incident like this, be it children or the elderly, or anyone else for that matter, the response is always the same.  The "highly trained professionals" were properly following procedure.

I have two thoughts.  Too bad the "intelligence" they have about terrorists doesn't equate with the intelligence of those in the TSA that make the rules.

And two.  The election issue.  Get rid of the TSA or reform it.  Ask the question.  You know as well as I do if Michelle Obama's mother, who lives with them at the White House, had to go through such a procedure there would be hell to pay.

I think I've been looking at this from the wrong end.  I've blamed the "highly trained professionals" who are stuck doing the searches rather than the "highly trained professionals" who come up with this stuff.

It's time to change it.  If this administration won't, be sure the next one does.  Between Obamacare and this type of treatment of the elderly, it's obvious that they're thought of as inconsequential.

Death with dignity is often talked about in conversations about assisted suicide.  Well, how about life with dignity?  There should be no limit on that.  Those who insist there is no other way "to keep us safe" aren't looking very hard.

These Guys Are Scary!

Where have I been?  Our favorite companions for wine tasting had a few free days so we got together in Chelan to try the juice of the fruit.  More on that later.

From there we headed for Seattle then on to Canada to meet our friend the gallery owner to pick up a piece of art.  We had agreed to meet in Delta which is a small burg south of Vancouver.

Crossing the border is not our favorite activity, especially coming home.  I guess they resent the fact that we might have spent money in Canada rather than here or some such.  Who knows.

One thing we never expected, however, was to be stopped on our side of the border by our security people on our way to Canada!  As we approached the Peace Arch we saw the road was barricaded and a half dozen men with automatic rifles and flak jackets were stopping each car.  The two in front of us were waved through.  We were not.  We were driving our van.  What the...?

As one grilled Hub the others were busy checking out the vehicle including "patting down" the sides.  The security officer, from Customs and Border Security according to their caps, was especially interested in how much cash we had with us.  It seemed odd in this day of credit cards.  Hmmm.  He had trouble with the intent of our trip.  To meet the owner of a gallery from Port McNeill and pick up a totem pole.  Would it fit in the van?  Yes.  It is a small one - 5 feet or so.  Did we commission it?  No.  We just saw it and liked it and bought it.    We had been looking for one for quite awhile.  Did we have a place for it on our property?  It's going in our great room.  And so it went.

We got a similar grilling on the way home.  Curious.  Who could possibly have manufactured a tale about picking up a totem pole?

We asked our friend if he had any idea what it was all about.  It seems that one thing it could be is that since the Canadian dollar is now stronger than ours, they're coming to the states to shop.  While at the big malls smugglers hide drugs in or on their vehicles.  When they leave the smugglers follow them.  If they get caught, the smugglers get off scott free while some unsuspecting shopper is subjected to the drill or worse.  If they aren't caught the smugglers follow them to their destination, retrieve the drugs and go on their way.

Pretty neat, eh?  The only problem with that theory and what we went through is that they seek out cars with B.C. plates.  Ours, obviously, are not and who knows where our destination might have been!

'Tis a puzzlement.  What were the CBP agents looking for?  A couple of elderly gray hairs on an outing?  If we fit some type of profile, I'd sure like to know what the heck it is!

Maybe ALL Religions Need Scrutiny

When I saw the headline  'Jewish court sentences dog to death by stoning', I did a double take. I know Orthodox Jews live in a world of which I have no knowledge.  I didn't realize they also live in a different century and have beliefs that could certainly use some reinterpretation.

One wouldn't think a dog wandering into a court room, even a large one, would frighten adults.  But apparently one did.  Not that he was threatening or anything, but because he was a dog!

It seems that by Jewish tradition a dog is impure.  Not being able to get the dog to budge, one of the judges recalled a curse they had bestowed on a secular judge two decades prior because he insulted them.  They remanded his spirit into the body of a dog.  This one?

His spirit must pass from dog to dog because few live to be twenty years old and if they do they aren't likely to wreck havoc I wouldn't think.  Or whatever else the judges thought he might do.

Of course by now they were all worked up so one of the judges sentenced the poor dog to death.  By stoning.  By children.

Fortunately while all this was going on the dog went on his way.  Smart dog.

It just goes to show it isn't only Islam that harbors those with radical interpretations of their religion!  But having children stone a dog to death?  That they were even capable of thinking of that gives me the chills!

Is ANYONE Running The Country?

Who in their right mind would allow nearly  two thousand military grade weapons to be illegally bought and shipped to Mexico knowing they were going to the drug cartels?

Our Department of Justice in an operation called "Fast and Furious".

The theory was to link the weapons, by tracing serial numbers, to various crime scenes in order to scope out various drug cartels and eventually lead to high-level arrests.

When ATF agents objected they were threatened with punishment and retaliation.

I've got to say that's a heck of a lot of guns to keep track of considering our ability to track where our foreign aid goes, mostly to corrupt officials.  Even worse, these guns were let go knowing they would be used in crimes where people would be killed.  They were, including  Border Patrol guard Brian Terry. 1730 guns.  38,000 deaths since 2007.  Supervisors who retorted when  asked about possible loss of life in this operation, "If you are going to make an omelet, you need to scramble some eggs," and "If you don't think this is fun, you are in the wrong line of work, period."

Other than the 38,000 deaths over time, what was accomplished?   A few arrests of small-time crooks while the rest of the weapons were in the hands of criminals leading to a huge spike in the ongoing violence.

It's hard to believe the President would have given the go ahead to such an ill conceived plan.  What?  He didn't? According to Press Secretary Jay Carney, "He did not know about or authorize this operation."

Just who is in charge when it comes to an operation of this magnitude?  It's not Who.  He's on first. It obviously isn't Obama either.  He was probably on vacation or the golf course.