Sandy Ben Gazi - Fact Or Fiction?

The phones are ringing everywhere.  The Situation Room.   CIA, National Security and State. The Oval Office.  A massive storm is hitting the entire east coast of the United States!

What kind of storm?

A hurricane some 900 miles wide!

Are you sure it's a hurricane?  Not a tropical depression or a mere thunder storm?

It's a hurricane!  The hurricane hunters have flown through it and verified it!  The National Weather Service has maps showing it.

We'll have to study their data to make sure it's correct.

We need an executive order to evacuate!

No.  We have no actionable data.  Let's not be too hasty lest we have something to answer for down the road.  We wouldn't want to offend anyone.

But the people who are there say so!  Turn on your TV!  It's right there in real time.

Well, it does appear to be raining but I don't see any evidence of debris in the area.  We can't send people in to be sure in case you're right.  We'd be putting them in danger.

Isn't that why they're there?  Isn't it their job?

Only when we have actionable data and wouldn't offend anyone.

What the H*** is that if not what you see and are being told??

A Day Later at a News Briefing

Why wasn't an evacuation order given?

We had no verification of how severe the storm might ultimately be.

But you had real time reports from everyone from the hurricane hunters aloft to the people at ground zero!

We needed time to study their input but rest assured we'll find out who's responsible and deal with them appropriately?

It was an act of God; Mother Nature.  What's appropriate?

Talk it to death and hope it goes away.

Another Day Later

The phones are ringing everywhere.  The Situation Room.  CIA, National Security, State.  The Oval Office.  There are reports of massive flooding from the recent storm.  Property damage is in the billions.  People are stranded without power, transportation or food.

What kind of flooding?  We'll have to study it to see if it's severe enough to warrant our attention.  We can't send our people into life threatening situations.

Isn't that why they're there?  Isn't it their job?

Only when the data is actionable and we have to study it to be sure.  We don't want to offend anyone.

Where's the President on this?

Ummm.  I think he went to Las Vegas.  He had actionable information there was money to be collected.

For the storm and flood victims?

No.  That's not the kind of redistribution he's advocating at this point.  We'll have to study the storm and flood victims to determine if they've really suffered losses severe enough to warrant distribution of funds somewhere other than where we'd prefer.

The People Speak 

Why did you let my son die?  Why did you let my town disappear?  Why didn't you send help?  Why didn't you tell us the truth?  Why did you cover it up?

I'm shocked and offended that anyone would suggest we've been less than honest with you.  It's arm chair quarterbacking on your part.  You should be ashamed. You weren't there.  You don't have all the facts.  It isn't easy ignoring the obvious.

Isn't there an election coming up?

Obviously.

Well, we won't ignore the obvious.  Voting is actionable.  Good luck with that!

Rested And Ready

We really wanted to get away but had no particular plan other than taking our feather bed to Three Dog Down in Polson, MT to have it refluffed and to take care of some business in Deer Lodge.

Hub then decided he'd like a really nice dinner so he pointed the Old Bat's Mobile south and off we went - to Vegas.  It was an interesting drive.  I'm not sure which was more scary - the political sign pollution or the Halloween decorations along the way.  I wish we had taken the time to snap pictures of some of the creative displays we saw.  It's amazing what ranchers in the middle of nowhere can come up with.

The one thing that really struck us was how empty every place was.  Motels weren't full nor were the restaurants.  There wasn't much traffic. It wasn't the weather.  For the most part it was quite pleasant.  It wasn't the time of year.  Mid-October is a popular time to travel. Do you suppose it could have been the economy?

It was almost eerie.  Usually when we stop for dinner we overhear parts of conversations.  If people were seated near us, meaning we weren't the only customers, no one was talking politics.  Perhaps like me they are just plain tired of it.  I couldn't bring myself to listen to any part of the last debate so we ate in a sports bar and watched football.  We didn't even tune in the news when we got back to our room because I didn't want to hear any of the spin.  I slept sooo well!

The really big surprise, though, was Las Vegas.  It was empty by Vegas standards.  The casinos were quiet, the stores empty, the streets quiet.  There were more outright beggars on the overpasses bridging the Strip than usual.  Do you suppose it could have been the economy?

Being in early enough to poke around a bit I suggested we stop in the MGM Grand and see the lions.  We couldn't find them!  I finally found a security guard and asked what was up.  He told me management, in it's infinite wisdom, got rid of the lions in January to make room for a new eatery - that will sit empty along with all the others.  We both scratched our heads over that one!  Especially considering the economy.

We meandered our way back north through central Nevada and Ketchem and Sun Valley and finally back to Polson to pick up the feather bed then home. Traffic was a breeze, merchants and eateries were glad to see us but otherwise no one bothered us. There was no one to bother us. Do you suppose it could have been the economy?

A week to go now until the election.  I'm rested and ready to see it through to the end.  If it is the economy, I guess we'll then know.

A Change Of Pace

The Christmas holidays are rapidly approaching.  My anticipation of them has usually played out by Halloween because merchandise arrives in the  stores earlier every year.  It kind of eliminates the spontaneous joy of it.

That being said, it can be a time of nostalgia.  The catalogs are already a couple of inches high on my reading table and I find them more enjoyable than my usual diet of politics.  One of my favorites is The Vermont Country Store , the best source I know for all things past like bubble lites for the tree.

Of course this is for club members only.  We of advancing years.  Remember Black Jack chewing gum?  And Beemans and Clove?  How about Necco wafers?  Ribbon Candy?

Have you seen a bar of Lifebuoy soap anywhere in the past twenty years?  Remember when the Fuller Brush man went door to door?  If I weed through some drawers of "stuff" I may actually find some of their brushes purchased way back when and stashed away at some point for a newer design, if there is such a thing when it comes to brushes!

And scents.  I remember wearing White Shoulders when I was a young working girl.  So did just about everyone else in our office.  And English Leather for the guys?

With all this dancing in my head like material sugar plums, we're off for the week.  The fish pond is winterized, the trees pruned, the grass has had its final mowing and the irrigation system has been blown out.

We'd even be going in a vintage '70 Olds 98 Regency except, as with us, it's parts are beginning to fail.  The sensor system that beeps when anything needs attention is malfunctioning.  It won't shut off.  We have yet to find a mechanic who knows how to fix it and Hub hasn't yet had the time.  Thus I've got my new car, The Old Bat's Mobile, and that is what we'll be driving.

The Olds has joined the boat in the shop, both now Hub's tinker toys for the winter.  Speaking of Tinker Toys, you can get them through the catalog too!  Ah,  the good old days.  It may be selective remembering, but it's good for the heart - and the soul.

Whoopsie, Whoopie

This post ties in with yesterday's when I wrote about Presidential dignity.  It goes even further than how the candidates present themselves, but also how the media refers to them and their families. The question is, I guess, if a candidate behaves with the dignity the office deserves, will the media react with the respect also deserved?  So far respect is sorely lacking.

Case in point was Lawrence O'Donnell bragging about calling Mitt Romney a liar and challenging Tagg Romney to fisticuffs following a remark made in jest after the last debate about wanting to punch Obama for calling his Dad a liar.

Ohhh, big man O'Donnell.  You chastising Tagg for his trust fund and the privileged life he has lead.   What do you make sir?  I'd wager at least a couple of million or more. Wouldn't all the 'middle class' workers you shill for like to make as much? I'm getting tired of all these TV commentaters complaining about the wealthy while most of them are right up there themselves.  How hypocritical can you get?

Then there was Whoopie grilling Ann Romney of The View over Mitt not serving in Viet Nam.  He was serving his mission.  And the fact none of her sons served in the military.  And wasn't it against their religion.  It isn't.  And wouldn't it be hard to face the parents of fallen service men because there is no blood of war on the hands of her men.

Never mind that while governor of Massachusetts Mitt attended the funeral of every fallen service man that came home.  How many has Obama attended?  How many times has he gone to the airbase when they've arrived?

I don't see where such confrontational dialog serves any purpose.  If it's to make who you're referring to feel uncomfortable, I'm sure you've succeeded.  If it's to make you look witty and clever, it hasn't.  It makes you look small minded and nasty.  It is anything but enlightening unless it's about yourself.  It's demeaning, yes, to yourself.  Was that your intent?  If so then you did succeed.

By the way, Bill Clinton didn't serve in the military. How many funerals did he attend?

When Obama went to Andrews to meet the plane bringing back our men from Benghazi, Pat Smith, mother of dead Seal Sean, said this about her encounter with the President.

...She also said she cried on Barack Obama's shoulder. He hugged her and "looked away".

I wouldn't be too hasty to give Obama an A in compassion.  Oh, by the way.  He didn't serve in the military either.

Presidential Dignity

The President is to appear tonight with Jon Stewart.  Mitt Romney refused to appear on the View.  One is being criticized, the other not.

This is another of my generational observations.  There was a time when our Presidents were men of dignity and class.  They weren't people we'd have a beer with or would necessarily feel our pain.  They were men of accomplishment and vision and patriotism who cared about our country as a whole and it's place in the world.  They were people we admired.  They weren't like us.  They were far more able.  At least that is the image they projected. And the one we wanted to see.

It has changed.  Now we seem them out campaigning in shirt sleeves and blue jeans.  We see them trying to look comfortable doing unseemly things.  They have surrogates who are more interested in destroying the competition's reputations than promoting their own policies.  Both parties are guilty of this though perhaps at differing times.

I personally don't want to see any candidate being questioned by the intellectual heavy weights on the View nor the snarky, foul mouthed likes of Jon Stewart.  To me it demeans what they are trying to accomplish - being elected to the Presidency of the United States.  I certainly don't go to those sources to gain in depth perspective.

When did all this start?  Perhaps with the hero worship of Kennedy.  He was young, good looking and charming.  Especially next to Nixon. Television was just gaining a foothold and became more and more the instrument of change when it came to personality over substance.

The next big change was when the magnetic Bill Clinton snatched victory from a tired, boring George H.W. Bush.  It really slid downhill from there.  The boxers versus briefs episode put the bullet through the heart of dignity.

It continued to disintegrate with 24/7 coverage when every word and nuance was dissected by a media no longer neutral.  The result is what we have today.  Where a mind can't be changed without being disparaged.  Where accomplishments are derided rather than cheered - because they aren't like "us".

I don't know who will win this election, but you need look no farther than the campaigns to see why the world has such a diminished view of us as a world leader. We have become self-centered and mean spirited.  It's not a pretty picture.

How long has it been since you've heard the lyrics to America the Beautiful?  Take a look, refresh your memory.  Do you recognize it?  Or is what we have today the new normal?  If so, what a pity.