Getting ready.....

Well, the suspense is over.

We know who the candidates for Mayor and Alderpersons are...

It is with great MIXED EMOTIONS that I report that I am unopposed for re-election. I'm relieved because I am not at risk to lose my position but I am saddened that there will not be a debate about the issues facing our community or a choice of which candidate has the best ideas about how to address those issues.

Worst part?

NONE of the five aldermanic positions are opposed!

That doesn't make me very happy.

There are three candidates for Mayor and the incumbent isn't one of them.

Good.

There was a mad scramble by the faction that supports the current Mayor to find an acceptable alternative to the other two running for Mayor and they found one....whom I know and have little, if any, respect for. It's going to get interesting...the big money is lining up behind the hand-picked successor ...the Tavern league is behind another and the business community is behind the third....

Let the games begin!

In the meantime...I'm researching and studying for a PSC (Public Service Commission ) hearing....ought to be a DUZZY folks!

Ask and ye shall receive!

Alwayshope graciously responed to my request and sent the entire text of his poem...

You know, it's appropriate to put those memories up here now because of what happened in Iowa last night.

It's the beginning of the end of our long national nightmare...

Yeah, I voted…..so what?"

I feel empowered when I leave that booth,
My civic duty done with pride.
I’ve made my mark, spoken my truth,
And it will count, or so it’s implied.

Now Gore, now Bush, now too close to call.
And Florida holds the keys.
Buccanan gets votes and hanging chads fall,
Protesters show up in Rvs.

Now count them, no don’t, and judges decide.
Yes you can, or not, if you like..
Palm Beach tries, Dade says, “nah, let it ride.”

And Al’s finger slips out of the dike.
Now Bush has the lead. WE WON !
They demand.Stop the count! Katherine Harris complies.
And call up the highest court in the land.
In case they see through all our lies.

The supremes agree they haven’t a clue.
They kick it back to the Sunshine State.
And a judge named Saunders knows what to do.
He bangs his gavel and cleans the slate.

Now the Supremes see their way clear
To prevent harm to the elder Bush son.
The recount must stop now or, they fearIt will reveal who actually won!

It’s over now! They exclaim from the ranch where he hides.
And most admit that it’s true.
But it feels all wrong deep down inside,“We the people” were not me and you.

They were judges and lawyers and spinners.
And the news folk of course had a hand
.We could only watch as they picked the winners.

With sadness I watch Al’s last stand.
Al fought on with honor and lost with grace,
He was a better man in the end.

Dubya got a big boil on the side of his face,
And called all his Daddy’s men.
Well, at least it’s over, though we had no say.
Judge Rehnquist always knows best.
Those who own this country will now have their way

.And a new chance to feather their nest.
Now twice has Florida caused this fiasco.
I suggest we cut it off, set it free!
Maybe it’ll float on down to Castro

And little Elian can go back to Disney."

Thanks for sharing that .....

Great Comment from Alwayshope!

Our friend Alwayshope left a great comment to my post about the punditry picking our candidates.

alwayshope wrote:

"It's our decision dammit.."Yes!I wrote a poem in Jan. 2001, It's rather lengthy but here's a couple of relevent verses:

"It’s over now! They exclaim from the ranch where he hides.

And most admit that it’s true.

But it feels all wrong deep down inside,

“We the people” were not me and you.

They were judges and lawyers and spinners.

And the news folk of course had a hand.

We could only watch as they picked the winners.

With sadness I watch Al’s last stand."

Wow!

I want to see the rest of that poem.....I can still feel the tightness in my gut when the Supreme Court Decision was read breathlessly by Dan Abrams on the steps in the darkness....

Damn....

Look what those foolish old men (and one woman) wrought on America

America, hell...

Look what they brought on the world!

Thanks Alwayshope!

Let's hear it for NONE OF THE ABOVE!

I thought this blog entry from The Washington Monthly was somehow terribly appropriate.First read these snippets (or whole post if you'd like)

"About mid-way through the ad, during a litany of accusations against Mitt Romney, Huckabee criticizes his rival with this data point: "No executions."

Apparently, Huckabee -- you know, the evangelical, pro-life Republican -- is going after Romney for not having executed any Americans during his gubernatorial tenure.

I realize Republican politics are far more crass than norms should allow, but it's disconcerting to think "You didn't kill anyone" has suddenly become a criticism in conservative circles."

Ummmm...do you think that Huck really doesn't know that Massachusetts doesn't have a death penalty?

Guest editorialist Steve Benen (blog,bio) is just as amazed as I am that it has become so blatant for Republicans to criticize one another for not killing enough people....but if you think that just Huckabee reached the lowest a Republican candidate could go...well, think again.....Steve points out on his blog that Romney, in a desperate race to justify the millions spent on his own campaign, reaches back to that old, Republican standby, the Lewinsky Scandal, to mine for more votes of the Republican Faithful.

snip

Romney:“We’ll try and represent ourselves and our nation well also to our kids because I think, I think kids watch the White House and there have been failures in the past in the White House — if you go back to the Clinton years and recognize that — that I think had an enormous impact on the culture of our country,” Romney said. “And we’ll do our very best, our whole family will to — well, if we can’t be perfect, we’ll do our best to uphold and to be a good example for the kinds of values I think people expect from our leaders.”

Steve:Wow, that sure is dumb.

The Lewinsky scandal had an “enormous impact” undermining American culture? Seriously?

The silliness goes on and on and on..........in Iowa

I happen to like to pick on Republicans but there has been an equal amount of silliness on the Democratic side....with each candidate trying desperately to play "gotcha!" on the others...especially between the three perceived front-runners: Clinton, Obama and Edwards.

But the most fascinating thing to me is the "undecideds" and the people who have changed their mind in just the last few days. CNN interviewed some of these people who were changing their vote after being polled over the weekend. Apparently the polls say that a WHOPPING 35% of the polled voters said thay could be convinced to vote for another candidate before the final caucus on Thursday night.

Doesn't that tell us something?

Of course it does. It tells us that nobody is happy with our choices this year and that there isn't a knight in shining armor who is riding in to rescue us from our fate at the hands of the Neocons....and I think that pertains to BOTH PARTIES.

Why the "Pogo" graphic? Because Pogo was right when he said, " We have met the enemy, and he is US."

So....Happy New Year eh?

Hope everyone enjoyed their New Year Eve celebration in what ever way they chose to celebrate it....and we hope you were safe also...

I remember the "golden days" of the Johnny Carson Show when Ed McMahon would do his heavy drinker schtick...he referred to New Year's Eve as "amateur night". That of course referred to the fact that people who do not normally imbibe or over-imbibe in alcohol find it somehow necessary to go out on New Year's Eve, get drunk, make total idiots of themselves, and possibly spoil the evening (early..oftentimes well before Midnight) for themselves, their dates and anybody who happens to be unfortunate enough to be close to them. People who can't handle alcohol......shouldn't even try.

For that reason, I much prefer to stay home on New Year's Eve....watch a movie, enjoy a good, special home-cooked meal, put the old year in some kind of perspective and prepare myself mentally for the challenges that I will face in the year to come.

This year will be a bit different....it's another Presidential Election year and we have another chance to rid ourselves of the Neocon regime in Washington....unless we "blow-it" again....
I'm none too happy about the field of potential Democratic nominees....neither am I thrilled that the national media and the pundocracy that other bloggers have nick-named "the villagers", (that is , those pundits who are inside-the-beltway, establishment who believe they and they alone know what's "best for middle-America) are once again trying to tell us who our nominee should be.

It's our decision, dammit...

The path ahead

When I was a kid, the "deal" my parents struck with me about extracirricular activities was that I could participate as much as I wanted ...

BUT....

I had to find my own way home if the activities meant missing the bus.

I walked most of the time....to proud to ask friends for a ride....

I remember that one of the roads I took to get home was straight as an arrow and flat, Florida sand barrens.....it comprised three of the five miles I'd have to walk. I remember coming around the corner and stopping and staring down that road....thinking about the distance I had to go...giving a big sigh...and then, just getting on with it....

I just bought my new pocket calendar for 2008 and put the "set" dates into it. I'm looking down that long, long road...

sigh..............

time to "get on with it."

note: I posted about the Bhutto assassination yesterday on this site....give it a read....

A different Christmas Perspective

I found this interesing and touching from our friend, Hunter, over at DailyKos

It's Christmas Day and, I think, an appropriate time to reflect.....and Hunter does a good job for us....in a MOST unusual way....

snippets follow:

My dog does not know it is Christmas.

snip

The lights strung around a few windows and doorways likewise proved uninteresting. If they made noise, she probably would have noticed, but as simple strings of illumination she found them no more noteworthy than the stars in the sky outside; a simple quirk of wintertime weather, nothing more, to find stars inside the house in strings and rows, and hiding between the branches of a tree.

snip

She does not understand heaven. She knows redemption only by living it; as an abstract concept, it is empty. But she does understand the difference between warm and cold. Outside the frost dusts the fields each night, lasting longer and longer into the morning as winter goes on. But the house is warm, or at least, warm enough for a dog, and that is more than sufficient. The rest of it she does not understand, and as she sleeps on her bed, pretending for the moment to ignore the activity around her, it is clear she does not care.

I invite you to read the whole piece. It says much more about us than it does about Dogs, but being a "dog person" I understand it from this perspective very clearly.

Happy Holidays everybody...