Mitt, Why?

With the election nearly upon us, I'm astounded by the continuing evidence of bad judgement.  I surmise it's the single most reason the polls show it to be nearly even.  It shouldn't be.  Well, that's not true.  Both parties have morphed into something beyond recognition from what they were not so many years past. When it was about country, not individual.  Both parties have stretched truth to the breaking point.  The last thing anyone needs is a flash point.

So what happens?  A flash point.  This time from the Romney camp and his ad about Jeeps and China.  Technically the ad does not lie.  Fiat did buy Chrysler including the Jeep division.  And yes, they are going to put a Jeep production line into China.  That is a far cry from moving Jeep to China costing American jobs.  Unless you expect Fiat, an Italian company, to build Jeeps for the Chinese market in the U.S.  From a business perspective, it makes no sense.  Manufacturing costs here are higher, thank the unions.  Plus the cost of shipping the Jeeps overseas. Plus it's not even an American company, per se, any more!

It's like me and my KIA.  It's a Korean automobile but it's made in the States for our market and employs untold numbers of Americans.  Cost effective?  Well, we could afford one.

Is the misleading ad working for Romney?  Who knows, but was it necessary to mislead?  Who knows.  You could say fair is fair considering all the trash put out by both campaigns but at this point I think the voters are numb to it.  At least I am.

I'd like to think in these last few days the closing arguments would be about whose vision of    how the country should be managed would be of utmost importance, but no.  It seems we'll go down to the wire seeing who is the most effective manipulator of facts. With four days left, will the Democrats have one last flash point to offer up?  With Biden it's possible.  Will the Republicans?  I wouldn't be at all surprised.  No one seems to know when to hold 'em or fold  'em.

I expect a post election mess with voting irregularities already in evidence.  It may well be Thanksgiving before we know who won.

At least we'll then have something to be thankful for.  It will finally be over.  Until the next time.

I Am So Ashamed Of My Generation!

It's one thing when a political ad utilizes a group of children singing about the America we can expect if Mitt Romney wins.  The lyrics are vile and the parents who allowed their children to be used in this manner need some serious scrutiny.

It's another thing when a hot young comic likens voting for the first time to having sex the first time.  The President is supposedly "cool" and this ad was targeted at the young hoping to perpetuate the myth.  It wasn't very Presidential but "Presidential" behavior has gone by the way side long ago.

The one that really irritates me is Michael Moore's latest for the Move On organization.  A Message from the Greatest Generation.  That would be me and mine.  Filmed in a nursing home, it shows reason why many of we elderly will fight, literally to the death, to stay out of one.  It is wrought with vulgarity aimed at the Republicans in general and Mitt Romney in particular.

Now I understand not agreeing with either.  But to stoop to this to deliver a message?  They obviously think they are being clever and cute.  I thing they are being rude and vulgar and I'm embarrassed for them, myself and the generation they claim to represent.

They don't represent me.  Unlike the kids, they knew exactly what they were doing. The question is why?  What did Michael Moore promise them?  Was there anything more than the chance to be on television?  Is that in of itself a good enough reason?

As I age I find myself fighting patronization.  It happens more and more the more my appearance belies my age.  But I don't have to like it and I don't have to invite it.  Do we no longer expect to be respected by those younger than ourselves?  Or our peers for that matter?

That Michael Moore has no respect for you is also obvious.  He who supposedly stands for the little guy yet hasn't the discipline to push away from the table which he must sit at quite a bit is making a mockery of you.  And with you all the rest of us.

It's the time of year the news is filled with scams being perpetuated on seniors.  Are we as a generation no longer able to recognize them?  Or are we just greedy.  The chance for something easy.  Money.  Fifteen minutes of fame in a television commercial which will have run it's course by next Tuesday.  No wonder we're patronized so often.

You should be ashamed. You make us look like doddering old fools.  But maybe this is how you've always been.  Mean spirited and foul mouthed.  When it's bemoaned so many seniors have no visitors once in a home, it isn't hard to see why.  Often it's said they're mean and no one wants to spend time with them.  It's said if they are a mean old person they were probably a mean young person.  Amen to that but it's still inexcusable.

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.