• ‘illin

    It may be news to you, but even I get tired of whining. Therefore, I’m not going to get into the reasons for the delay in posting a piece of blogging gold that was dropped in my lap this week.

    Illness is not normally a cause for celebration, but this week Cheryl lost her voice. Literally over night our house was transformed. Imagine the difference between daytime talk shows and Masterpiece Theater… and you’re a long way towards appreciating my week. Until yesterday I didn’t even have to feel bad for Cheryl.

    “Cheryl, are you sure you feel o.k.?”

    “I feel fine, I just can’t talk.”

    “Oh you poor, poor dear.” (YES!!)

    To understand my callous comments, you must understand the house in which we live. Hard floors are great when it comes to spills, and a headache when it comes to shrieks. Sound reverberates through the house like a concert hall, and Cheryl always has plenty of feedback.

    Alas, the good times are gone. It was bound to happen. What was once a cute case of laryngitis has spread to a full-blown bout with respiratory crud. I suppose this means I shouldn’t be picking on her anymore, eh? It goes with out saying that I’m showing questionable judgment posting this entry. Chances are I’m going to be the one that’s sick next week and I’m going to need every ounce of good will when I put on my little pity-me, sick-boy show. I may be many things, but I’m no martyr when I’m sick. I fully intend morph into a full-time couch-dweller; per my long standing, sick time modus operandi.

    With luck she won’t feel like reading until she’s better… and by then I’ll be sick and she won’t have time to read.

    Friends, I’m playing with fire.

    I recommend it. It’s lots of fun. Just make sure you’ve got something handy to put it out, in case it gets out of hand.

  • We now rejoin the game, already in progress

    The GOP has been running from its history for thirty years, since Civil Rights for ethnic minorities became res judicata (so to speak). It hasn’t been running all that fast lately… they haven’t really needed to, what with their recent string of electoral success and all. One might have expected that they might run a little faster since their foray to the right left them a few seats short in both houses of the legislature a week ago. That’s why it’s so interesting that the GOP is bringing back their pseudo/nouveau southern segregationalist: Trent Lott. Last we heard from Trent he was waxing poetic about Strom Thurmond and the good ‘ole days. Now he’s back, primarily because he can simultaneously schmooze and ‘wrassle with the best of them… in other words, he can keep those damn dissenting conservatives in the GOP in line.

    Not to be outdone, the Democrats are wasting no time forgetting the last twelve years ever happened… skipping the traditional two years of good behavior and jumping right into an ethical quagmire. Momentarily forgetting that they were placed in power as a reaction to recent GOP ethics problems; Nancy Pelosi (the incoming Speaker of the House) has made a dubious choice for second-in-command, despite the individual’s history of ethics problems.

    Election? What Election?

  • An open letter to the Junior Senator from Massachusetts

    Dear John,
    As a registered Democrat and a person that voted for you (in the general election anyway)… I beg you… please stop running for President. Oh, don’t be coy. We all know what you’re up to.

    I’m sure you’re a swell guy and you mean well, but I’ve got to tell you… when you put together the folks that ran for the Democratic nomination in 2000 and 2004, you’re about number four on my list. When you throw in another name (a likely opponent in ’08 with a familiar last name) you drop to fifth.

    Let’s face it, you lost to a Republican party that ran on one of the most socially conservative platforms since the civil rights movement. When you consider that the country as a whole has gotten more socially liberal since then (no fault divorces, reproductive rights, “Title Nine,” employee-workplace protections, and stricter environmental protections all becoming law and gaining acceptance as the norm since then)… you’re really saying something. The middle ground was there for the taking. All you had to do was show them and your own party that you could lead them. It’s time to face up to the fact that you didn’t. It’s not really your fault… any more than it’s your fault your last name is Kerry and you were born in Massachusetts. No one can teach charisma and you can’t learn it (I don’t think). If it makes you feel any better, most of the rest of us don’t have it either… not me anyway.

    So don’t let the Peter Principle get you down… you did alright in your previous incarnation as a U.S. Senator. It’s not such a bad fall back position is it?