Christmas = Family

As you all probably know, I have no trouble coming up with subjects for my blog postings.  I try to keep my postings positive, upbeat and happy.  But sometimes this is hard to do because of the constant state of crises or near crises that we all live in these days.

The past several days I have been very upset over what I see as he impending cave in by Obama to the Republican demands to extend the Bush tax cuts for the very rich.  I wanted to write a blog about my profound disappointment in Obama in the weakness that he has constantly shown in his dealings with the Republicans.  But I hesitated because do I really want to add on all that angst here in this wonderful holiday season?  Others are doing it already.

Then there is the subject of the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy of excluding gays from the military.  I wanted to write about the Angry Old Man of the right whose hatred of Obama is so intense that he is totally out of touch with reality that he is threatening to filibuster any vote to repeal this ridiculous, unfair and discriminatory 17 year old law.  Of course I am speaking about John McCain.  This man literally makes me gag when I see his face appear on television and when he speaks.  Do I really want to vent my disgust (war hero or not) against this Angry Old "Get Off My Lawn!" Man?  Others are doing it already.

Then there is the subject of Wikileaks, where Julian Assange has released hundreds of thousands of State Department documents thus embarrassing the United States government.  Now we're all hearing how this is threatening the lives of our service members and state department employees and others in foreign lands who cooperate with our State Department.  Mike Huckabee, the former governor or Arkansas and future presidential candidate is calling for the death penalty for Julian Assange.  Funny, I don't remember the likes of Huckabee calling for the death penalty for former Vice President Cheney or Karl Rove when they outed Wilson's wife as a CIA agent.  Where was the outrage then?   Do I really want to pile on my outrage against this obvious double standard?  Others are doing it already.

No, what I'll do in this blog posting is express my appreciation for the fine people I work with at the hotel where I work part-time.  Pictured on this blog is my boss (the young man lying on the floor and yes, he is young enough to be my grandson) and his family - his wife and daughter and his parents.  This to me is what Christmas is all about, families.

Merry Christmas Mike and family!

Why McCain Lost

Simply put, the American voter this time voted for hope, not fear. The current version of the Republicans who were in control of the government has basically put the message out “Vote for us or die.” This was the message of George Bush, senior and junior. It was to win at all cost by whatever means. McCain accepted this methodology. He conducted a slash and burn campaign against Barack Obama, painting him as “dangerous and untested.” Perhaps the death knell of McCain’s campaign for the presidency was his selection of Sarah Palin, the governor of Alaska as his running mate. Up until his selection of Palin, McCain’s strongest case against Obama was that he (McCain) had more experience than Obama. McCain threw that argument out the door when he selected Palin. Then McCain tried, unsuccessfully, to adopt the mantle as a “change candidate.” McCain underestimated the intelligence of the American voter not to figure out that McCain was trying to hoodwink them. His fate was sealed when Sarah Palin hit the campaign trail and pushed the lie that Obama “palled around” with a terrorist. Day after day, we were subjected to this vile invective spewing from Ms. Palin’s lipstick tattooed lipstick lips. Day after day we were subjected to McCain as the Angry Old Man pounding the podium with his forefingers, his face twisted in anger, as an occasionally a smug smile crept across his face, when he read (what he considered) a particularly good dig at Obama. The test was to turn off the sound on the TV and watch the visual of the two different candidates. Obama looked cool and calm. McCain looked like an angry penguin pounding the lectern. Sarah Palin looked like what she is, an uninformed, self-satisfied, smug, Far Right, patronizing (she “tolerates” gays) religious extremist who doesn’t know how ignorant she is and doesn’t care. Her face showed true pleasure every time she let loose another steam of invective insults against Barack Obama. What she didn’t realize, that was every time she exercised her slashed and burn campaign tactics against Obama, she was losing more of the Undecided Vote. John McCain reminded us again and again that he was a POW and “had the scars to prove it”, assuming that that was a qualification to be president of the United States. He claimed to be the “change” candidate. This is a claim from a man who doesn’t know how to use e-mail, the basic form of communication in the United States in the year 2008. He professed to help the veterans but he consistently voted against increased funding for the Veterans Administration. John McCain claimed to be aware of how the middle class is suffering in this economy but he didn’t even know how many homes he owned. Just this morning it was reported on the news that Sarah Palin thought Africa was a country. The truth is Sarah Palin has a talent for reading a script (probably due to her earlier stint as a TV weather girl) but is unable to complete a sentence on her own; noun, verb and direct object. Both candidates were unqualified. McCain lacked the temperament (erratic.) Palin lacked the intelligence. They ran a totally negative and divisive campaign. Their efforts to try and suggest that Obama was some kind of a member of a terrorist sleeper cell failed miserably. The fear campaign didn’t work this time. It is time for Karl Rove and his acolytes to disappear in the dustbin of history. This time, hope overcame fear.

I Voted!

It's done. I voted. I was expecting a long line at the Brittingham Elementary School where I am registered to vote in Milton, Delaware. Upon driving in the parking lot of the school, I saw the line. The line snaked out into the parking lot of the school. Luckily, a big SUV just pulled out of a parking slot and I was able to pull in and park my red Subaru Forester. I placed my white sneakered feet at the end of the line. It wasn't too long before I was engaged in a conversation with some of my fellow voters standing in line. The older couple I was talking to were from New Jersey. They had relocated to Delaware as I did to escape the high school property taxes. Frequently, during our conversation, we noticed that some voters went right into the school. Who were they? VIPs? It wasn't too long until I found out that I was standing the wrong line. I was standing in the A-L line. Since my name is Tipton, that would mean I was to go to the M-Z line. Aha! That's where the other voters were going. So, I take my white sneakered feet out of the A-L line and go into the gymnasium of the elementary school and get in the much shorter line for voters whose names begging with the alphabetic characters M-Z. Inside, I could see how efficient the poll workers were moving the voters through the process. I know it's corny to say this, but I began to get a "rush" participating in the ultimate form of democracy. Again, it wasn't too long until I began talking to a fellow voter in my line. She was a very nice lady about my age. She and her husband were originally from Arizona and have retired to Delaware. She told me that she was the fourth oldest child of a family of fourteen children. She also told me that many of her family had moved to Delaware and now she was with family that also moved to Delaware in their retirement years. She asked me how I felt about the election. I told her that this was a historical day and I was glad I was part of it. She said "Well, I guess I know how you're voting." She told me that she was voting for the "other candidate" (we're being very nice to one another, both of us obviously avoiding getting into a heated political argument while standing in line to vote). Her concern was with my candidate's stand on the Right to Life. I told her that while I don't understand why any woman would want to abort a child I do believe in a woman's right to chose. This nice lady said "While your candidate is eloquent and can give a good speech" (she's obviously been buying into the Republican talking points), "eloquence sometimes masks bad policies." Then she equated Obama with Hitler (although not by name.) She said she had friends in Germany during the Holocaust and the German citizens also had an "eloquent speaking leader." Uh huh. Here we go. I could feel my blood boiling. However, I was determined not to get into a heated discussion in a voting line at the polling place. DETERMINED. I told her that perhaps I would have voted for McCain if he had picked George Romney as his running mate but since he picked Sarah Palin, I could not vote for him. I told her that Sarah Palin, when asked about gay rights, said she had a good friend who was a lesbian. Sarah said "while I would not have CHOSEN that lifestyle, she is still my friend." Sarah later went on to say that she "tolerates" gays. Um. Where do I start? First, I didn't chose to be gay. Second, I don't need to be tolerated. That said, my new found friend in the voting line said it is good to discuss these things. She said friends of hers have always said that one shouldn't discuss politics and religion. She said she disagreed. She said we should discuss politics and religion. I agree with her. What we have to remember is to respect one another and their views while we discuss our differences. That is the only way we learn. Then it was my turn to go into the voting booth. I voted straight (no pun intended) Democratic with one exception. I voted for Michael Castle for reelection as Delaware's lone member of the United States House of Representatives. I like Mike even if he is a Republican. Also, I have the impression that he more than "tolerates" gays and lesbians. After voting, I exited the voting booth. The lady that I was discussing politics with, told me she was pleased that we had a talk and wished me a good day. She seemed very sincere, as I'm sure she was. I also told her that I liked talking to her and wished her well. I was glad I had a conversation with her. I understand her concern. She said she was afraid for this country. I wish I could guarantee her that she need not be afraid. She shouldn't be. Change isn't easy. But I feel in my heart that the change this country is about to experience will bring us into a new age. No longer will we be a red and blue country. Patriotic parts of the country versus unpatriotic parts of the country. We are all one. That is what makes America great. The only thing that worried me today was that I didn't see one young voter. Not one. That worries me.

Schadenfreude

The day is finally here. Tomorrow we elect a new president. On TV now the Republican Wingnuts like Joe Scarborough and Pat Buchanan are explaining the "thread the needle" theory of how John McCain can still win this election. They admit that McCain could lose the popular vote by as much as ten million votes and still win the Electoral College vote. Scarborough and Buchanan are just two examples of the Republican Right Wing who see history overtaking their kind of extreme exclusionist governing. Scarborough dominates his morning show "Morning Joe" mocking Barack Obama and the Democrats while at the same time whining that the media is unfair to McCain and the Republicans. This is the same Joe Scarborough who spent a good deal of his career trying to impeach former president Clinton because Clinton lied about his sexual activity. This is the same Joe Scarborough who approves of torture of our captured prisoners of war. One of my great delights that I am anticipating like a 7 year old kid on Christmas Eve will be watching Scarborough whine and moan after Barack Obama is elected president tomorrow. This feeling is called "schadenfreude." Of course he will blame Obama's election on the media's favoritism of Obama. He will blame McCain's loss on the media. Scarborough now has his own morning show that he inherited from Don Imus, after Imus self-immolated by his racist's remarks. Scarborough loves to hear the sound of his own voice. He bullies and talks over anyone on his show who dares to disagree with him. Just this morning Paul Krugman came out with a very thoughtful column about the present state of the Republican Party. Scarborough's reaction was to paint Krugman as a "cartoon." Never mind the fact that Krugman recently won the Nobel Peace Prize (for economics), Scarborough's immediate reaction to anyone who disagrees with his narrow view of the world is to minimize and mock them. Scarborough represents the part of the modern Republican Party that I rejected last year when I changed my registration from Republican to Democrat. While I still have a natural affinity for the values of the old Republican Party, I don't recognize the current version of the Republican Party. Perhaps my disenchantment with the Republican Party ended with Buchanan's hateful speech to the 1992 Republican National convention in Houston Texas. He said:

Buchanan later threw his support behind Bush, and delivered a keynote address at the 1992 Republican National Convention, which became known as the culture war speech, in which he described "a religious war going on in our country for the soul of America." In the speech, he said of Bill and Hillary Clinton:
The agenda Clinton & Clinton would impose on America--abortion on demand, a litmus test for the Supreme Court, homosexual rights, discrimination against religious schools, women in combat units--that's change, all right. But it is not the kind of change America needs. It is not the kind of change America wants. And it is not the kind of change we can abide in a nation we still call God's country.[16]
The enthusiastic applause he received prompted his detractors to claim that the speech alienated moderates from the Bush/Quayle ticket.[17]

The reality check for me was watching the white, well scrubbed Republican conventioneers smilingly applaud Buchanan's divisive speech. Buchanan drove the point home that his version of the Republican Party was not for the likes of someone like me, a gay man, when he said:

Referring to AIDS in 1983, Buchanan wrote in his syndicated column gays have "declared war upon nature, and now nature is extracting an awful retribution."[65] In later years he urged New York City Mayor Ed Koch and New York State Gov. Mario Cuomo to cancel the Gay Pride Parade or else "be held personally responsible for the spread of the AIDS plague." In a 1990 interview, he stated he was, "the first national columnist to demand why the government wasn’t dealing with this national epidemic," and stood by his view that AIDS is a consequence of immoral sex.[66] In 1993, Buchanan called homosexuality unhealthy and said most people will describe sex between two men as, "not only immoral, but filthy." Further, Buchanan said public acceptance of homosexuality inevitably leads to societal decay and the collapse of the family.[67] In his autobiography, he wrote,
"Someones values are going to prevail. Why not ours? Whose country is it, anyway? Whose moral code says we may interfere with a man's right to be a practicing bigot, but must respect and protect his right to be a practicing sodomite?"
However, Buchanan does not reject gays as political supporters.

Any questions left as to why I no longer can support the current version of the Republican candidates? The new candidates are not much different. The Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin proudly states that one of her best friend is a lesbian and while she "would not have chosen that lifestyle (like we have a choice)", she "tolerates" her friend. Well, thanks but NO THANKS. I don't have to be tolerated.

Tomorrow, barring a major tragedy, Barack Obama will be elected president of the United States of America. A politician who is not afraid to actually say out loud in his stump speech "gays and straights." Tomorrow history will be made. Perhaps, just perhaps, the past eight years of divisive politics in which so many in America were marginalized and denigrated while the likes of Scarborough and Bush and Rove have declared that America is only for a certain select group of Americans. We are a very diverse country and for the first time since Robert F. Kennedy ran for president in 1968, I have hope for this country. To paraphrase Barack Obama, my faith in this country will be vindicated. Yes, I will enjoy watching the Joe Scarboroughs of this country whine and moan and wonder why they lost power. Then this country will start on the long road back to regaining respect for our country with the world wide community. A new day is dawning and that day is tomorrow when we go to the polls to elect Barack Obama as president of the United State of America. History will be made tomorrow. I am so thankful that in my retirement, a man will be elected president who will have my interests at heart. One of Obama's campaign promises was that senior citizens who make under $50,000 a year will not have to pay ANY TAXES. Now that's a campaign promise that affects me. I won't be around long enough to benefit from any supposed benefits from trickle down economics by giving tax breaks only to the very rich. I await tomorrow's election results.

A Letter To A Friend

Below is a letter (e-mail) I sent to a long time friend this morning in reference to our disagreement on which presidential candidate to vote for this year. Most of all my friends and all of my family disagree with my choice to vote for Barack Obama for president. Most of them have one thing in common: they are from my previous life (before I retired to Delaware.) Most of my friends in Delaware have the same political view that I have - liberal. Much of my view has to do with me being a gay man. Since my former political party has made me unwelcome in their party by word and action, I had to join the Democratic party by default. This action on my part has put me into disagreement with all of my family and most of my friends from Pennsylvania and my workplaces. This morning I received an e-mail from a good friend (and former boss) which states simply: "We'll have to agree to disagree who we vote for president." However, that doesn't mean that we can't remain friends. I guess I fall into the old Tip O'Neill/Ronald Reagan mode. They disagreed almost always on politics but remained good friends. That's the way it will be with me and my friends.

Hi Ron,

Re the upcoming election, we'll have to agree to disagree on our voting for president.

Bill,

Yes, we disagree. Obama represents change that this country needs. McCain is the past. He is too old. He has run a very negative campaign which turned off a lot of independent voters. However, he did solidify The Conservative Base of the Republican Party by picking Sarah Palin. By choosing Sarah Palin he forfeited his experience argument against Obama. He also displayed a shocking display of cynicism by choosing Palin, assuming all the former Hillary voters would now vote for Palin just because she is a woman. McCain doesn't have the temperament to be president. It seems to me he is always on the verge of exploding in a temper tantrum. Obama is the inclusive candidate. McCain is the divisive candidate. I will vote for the candidate who considers all of America "American." I will not vote for candidates who view only some parts of the country as "pro-American." The one good thing that will come out of this election is that the Republican Party in it's present form will disappear. Hopefully, a new Republican Party, the one I used to belong to, will be reborn. Remember, back in 1968, I wrote my college thesis on "The Emerging Republican Majority." At the time I wrote that thesis I never believed in my lifetime that I would see a Republican majority in Congress. I was wrong. In the year 2000 a Republican was elected president and Republicans were elected to the majority of both houses of Congress. Unfortunately, they squandered their opportunity to lead this country in a new direction. To paraphrase one of my all time heroes, Ronald Reagan, "The Republican Party left me, I didn't leave them." I am confident that the election of Barack Obama will set this country on a new course that is beneficial to us all. To all my Republican friends I say, have no fear. In my heart I knew this country was going on the wrong track with the elections of 2000. I was proven right. In my heart I know that the election of Barack Obama is right for this country as we go forward. If we are fortunate enough to still be around eight years from now, you will see that I am right again. I am puzzled as to how many of the well paid political pundits and personalities in the media today get it wrong. I'm just a struggling 66 year old former bank trust operations manager who now works part time as a hotel front desk clerk to make ends met. I "get it." Most of my friends from my former life (before I moved to Delaware) and some of my new friends here in Delaware are voting for McCain/Palin. It will always be a puzzlement to me why you don't see what I see but I still love and respect all of you. We may disagree but we are closer than you think. We're all in this together. Peace be with you and don't forget to vote next Tuesday!
Ron

Only 17 Days To Go

Only 17 days to go to the presidential election. Obama is in the lead. However, he cautions his followers not to get complacent. Get out and vote. It is well known that the young and minorities vote in lesser percentages than older voters. Even though the Democratic registrations are way up, that doesn't necessarily mean they they will actually go to the polls and vote. The McCain/Palin campaign are pulling out all the stops now. The robocalls have begun which, non to subtly, accuse Obama of being a terrorist. McCain and Palin are continuing the Big Lie that if Obama if election, the middle class will have their taxes increased. McCain has trotted out Joe The Plumber (who in reality turns out to be Sam the Contractor - he doesn't actually have a plumbing license, his name is "Samuel J.", and he has a tax lien on his house - obviously Joe the Plumber doesn't like to pay taxes, something he has in common with the McCain Republicans.) How anybody could vote for four more years of Bush like economics is beyond me. One important factor is the Right to Life issue. Many will vote for McCain solely for this reason and that is understandable. However, if anyone seriously thinks that Sarah Palin, the shrill, moose hunting Alaskan governor, is suited to be vice president is surely drinking the Repug Kool-Aid. But then, they probably realize she is just a blank slate like George W. Bush. The powers behind the throne then could push their own agendas which is more tax cuts for the rich and the decimation of the middle class. Every evening I'm glued to the TV set watching MSNBC and their coverage of the presidential race. I have been fascinated by politics ever since the Fifties when I watched my first political convention on that old Philco TV set we had in our living room on Washington Avenue in Downingtown, Pennsylvania. For many years I was a die hard Republican. However, that all changed when I was watching the Republican Convention in 1992 which was held in Houston, Texas. Patrick J. Buchanan gave a hate filled speech in which he stated that the Republican Party had no place for people of a different sexual orientation. What really gave me a chill down my spine was the reaction shots of the well dressed, white cheering Republican convention delegates. They reminded me of the "Good Germans" who saluted "Heil Hitler!" to Adolph Hitler as he paraded through the streets of German cities during the Thirties. At that time I realized that no matter what my conservative views, the modern Republican Party drummed me and my gay brethren out of the Republican party as non persons. Then, a few years later, when I had to apply at the Veterans Administration for health benefits, my opinion of the Republican Party was permanently changed. The Bush administration began a series of moves to discourage veterans like me from applying for benefits. Fortunately for me, there was such a political outcry that my benefits were not affected. I was grandfathered in the system. However, other veterans like me, who delayed their application for VA benefits were denied. The coldness and brutality demonstrated by the Republican party left me with no other choice but to join the Democratic party. To me, the Republicans believe "you're on your own." The Democratic party believes "we're all in this together." Many of my family and friends are Republicans and continue to be True Believers. I respect their views but disagree with them. I am convinced that when Barack Obama is elected president they will see that this is the best thing that could happen to this country. By the way, in the picture of the soldiers I am the second from the left on the bottom row. Basic training, Fort Dix, New Jersey, February 1960. A long, long time ago. I wonder what ever happened to my friend Mike Tine, the young soldier from Massachusetts to my left. Like ships passing in the night. So many lost friendships. So long ago.

The Bates Motel

Remember the old Alfred Hitchcock movie "Psycho?" The dark and brooding image of the Bates Motel silhouetted on a hill in the nighttime sky was one of the stars of that movie. I was reminded of the spookiness of the Bates Motel while doing my rounds last night at my place of toil for pay in Lewes, Delaware. Ah yes, I was working again last night. I thought I finished my six week run of temporary full time employment with my Sunday nighttime duties. Alas, it was not to be. The gentleman who took my hours on Monday night called in about an hour before work to inform the assistant manager that he threw his back out (always a convenient excuse) and would be unable to come into work. The assistant manager thus made a call to me asking me if I would mind coming in. It is not in my nature to refuse to help (probably my downfall too.) So, in for one more go round. It wasn't busy last night, the hotel only having one guest. It was a quiet night. Much too quiet. The hours dragged by. To break up the monotony I did my "rounds" of checking the grounds outside the building. That's when I came upon this image of the Inn at night. It reminded me of a book I just finished, "Anthony Perkins, A Split Image." Anthony Perkins, as most of you know was a movie star back in the Sixties. His greatest role was as Norman Bates in "Psycho." That role defined him and he was never able to cast off that character of the twitchy faced Norman. What I remember most about the movie was it was the first time I ever saw the star murdered in the first few minutes of the movie. I remember how puzzled I was when Janet Leigh was taking the slashing in the shower. All I could think of was "she's going to be a mess the rest of the movie with all those stab wounds!" It's funny but I remember exactly when I saw the movie and where I saw it. I was stationed at Ft. Devens in Ayre, Massachusetts. It was April of 1960. I even remember the movie house I saw it. It was the main movie theater near the Service Club. It was a long walk from my barracks in A Company at the other side of the base. What is interesting that I would remember exactly where I was because there are few other times I remember where I was when I witnessed a momentous event in the history of this country in the world. One of the other times was when I heard the news that John F. Kennedy was shot (I was at work at Lipsett Steel Products in Coatesville, PA and it was a Friday afternoon.) Another time was when Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald. It was a rainy Sunday morning and I was in my apartment at 388 Madison Street in Coatesville, PA ironing my shirts for the upcoming work week. I couldn't believe what I saw when Jack Ruby pulled out his gun and shot Lee Harvey Oswald as Oswald was being transported from the hospital to the police station.. I think that is the common thread in all these Moments in History. I couldn't believe what I heard or saw. Another time was when the stock market took a dramatic drop like it did in October of 1987. I was working at Fidelity Bank in Philadelphia, PA. My unit was next to the investment management department of the trust department. Normally the men and women working in the investment management department were a noisy lot. Not that day. They were all huddled around a ticker tape type machine, mumbling in soft undertones. Ah yes, Moments in History. The stock market took another tumble yesterday. Today isn't looking any better. The presidential campaign was sunk to the gutter since McCain and Palin have starting slinging the mud at Obama. Hopefully, in the future I will look back on this time as one of positive change. The time when the likes of John McCain and Sarah Palin and the discredited Republican Party are repudiated and this country can again move forward. However, I have my doubts after seeing that haunting image of the Bates Motel last night.

Financial Armageddon?

The Dow Jones Average dropped 777.68 today. The largest point drop in U S history. The NASDAQ dropped 199.61. Is this our financial Armageddon? Probably. Shortly after the great Dot Com bust of 2001 I put away some cash just for this financial meltdown. Over the years since then I've thought a few times that perhaps I should have put that money in a CD. At least I would have earned some interest. After what happened today with the stock market, I'm glad I set aside some cash. We're in a terrible place in this country now. The hubris and greed of Wall Street unregulated got us here. This is the result of the deregulation of the financial institutions and markets that were put in place over the last seven years of Republican rule. The chickens are coming home to roost. Now John McCain is blaming Barack Obama for the whole mess. The ignorance and arrogance of John McCain defies belief. God help us if this man is elected president.

Like a Lead Balloon

Well folks, in spite of what presidential candidate John McSame said yesterday ("The economy is fundamentally strong), the stock market sank like a lead balloon yesterday on the news that Lehman Brothers declared bankruptcy. Of course the one stock holding I have left also dropped drastically in value yesterday. Thus the great Ripoff continues under this Republican administration. And yet we hear "Extend the Bush tax cuts! The economy is fundamentally strong! I'm the change agent! Barack Obama is a Muslin! Sarah Palin is our saviour!" Do you get the feeling that the world is closing in around you? Shortly after George Bush took office I took money out of my bank account (cash) and placed it in a safe place just in case the whole banking system collapsed. At the time some friends of mine thought I was taking extreme measures for something that was unlikely to happen. My "extreme measures" are seeming less and less extreme every day. Fact: I sold all the stock in my IRA account a couple of years ago when the housing market started to collapse. I put those funds in various certificates of deposit. The last CD I had was with a large well known banking institution called Lehman Brothers. The same Lehman Brothers that declared bankruptcy yesterday. Thus, I missed my one cycle of having all my life savings in a failed institution. That was too close of a call for me. I don't want to panic but I keep getting this sickening feeling that the bottom is going to drop out of life as we know it. I hate to be a Debbie Downer, but look around you. We're in a never ending war. The stock market is collapsing. Forty seven million people in this country have no health insurance; and those that do have trouble finding a doctor who will accept new patients. Global warming is fact in spite of what George Bush and his Kool-Aid drinking followers claim to the contrary. And yet the discourse we get from the little man who the Republicans nominated for president is lies, lies and more lies about the Democratic nominee. And the sad fact is, that too many people who vote in this country will buy into those lies. The Republicans know how to use the fear card ("Bar the door Katie! The gays are getting married!") I don't know where this country is going but it doesn't look good now. At least I have a few dollars stashed away for when McBush and McSame totally destroy this country with their selfish and short sighted policies. This blog was not intended to be political but sometimes it's hard to stay away from this subject when one sees that this country is headed towards disaster if John McCain and his moose field dressing vice presidential candidate is elected to serve out another four years of the Bush/Cheney regime. God help us.

The Republican National Convention

Here I am, sitting up late listening to Rudi Guilani knock Barack Obama. I'll have to admit, he's getting in some good shots. I should be in bed now so I can be all fresh and ready when I get up at 4:45 AM tomorrow to get ready to go to work. I'm interested in Sarah Palin's speech. Listening to Guilani I'm reminded of Anne Richards and her speech at a Democratic Convention knocking the first George Bush. That speech backfired on her because George Bush was elected president and she lost her job as governor of Texas. Interesting how Guilani feels the need to belittle Obama and build up Palin. While I'm sure she's a very nice lady, but a vice presidential candidate? One beat away from the presidency? I don't think so. Of course all those who are drinking the Right Wing Republican Kool-Aid will find that she is the MOST qualified candidate for vice president. This is going to be an interesting election. It will be close. There are those who will never vote for a black man, no matter how qualified. However, what really concerns me is how could anybody vote for McCain. This man is a hothead. Do we want someone like him with his finger on the nuclear button? This is what scares me to death. Not electing a woman like Sarah Palin as vice president but electing a man like John McCain as president.