The Dog-Owner's Plight - Canine Flatulence

Those of us who own dogs - especially larger ones - know the perils of canine flatulence. Usually of the SBD type, they are an unsuspected affront to a person's tender olfactories, often coming at the most inopportune times. In the middle of a meal, say, or perhaps at the start of an amorous encounter. Their timing? Impeccable. Their ability to clear a room? Indisputed.

In other words, we should know better. Yet we still persist in allowing them to live with us, side-by-side, on our couches, in our beds. Tales, myths and legends on this topic abound. This is one such story.

One recent early morn, in that quiet hour when silence lays over the land like a heavy cloak, I was abed deep in slumber. Claire, our boxer, nestled in her bean-like shape between us in the vast expanse of our king-sized bed. Somehow at the same time curled into the tightest little dog-ball possible yet taking up nearly the entire surface of the mattress.

During the night, she had managed to shift around so her hindquarters were mere inches from my face. Literally so close that her fine, short hairs should have been tickling my broad pate. Unaware of such danger, I dreamed on, head filled with visions of myself scoring game-winning soccer goals, nubile yet nebulous female forms and deep dish pizza. That blissful slumber was soon to be interrupted however, by a sound nearly as quiet of that of a small mouse scurrying across a kitchen carpet.

***psssssssssst***

From the deepest reaches of REM sleep to the equivalent of being slapped awake by a rotten herring, my head snapped back so hard I heard vertebrae pop. So quick and violent was my reaction that the back of my head struck the headboard with a BANG! The stench. Oh my god. Oh. My. God.

It was awful and at the same time awe inspiring. It was as if someone had put my face in front of the tailpipe of a spavined 1971 Buick with a 442, having poured rancid beef gravy directly into the four-barrel carb and gunned the engine. My nose hairs, trimmed and manscaped as they are, curled into tight circles like fiddlehead ferns just before turning to fine ash.

Spasming with effort to extract myself from the blankets to get as far away - as far, far away - as I possibly could from the viscous black cloud spreading from the general area of the dog's rump, I was entangled, hips to feet. I tumbled from the bed to the floor, still wrapped in linens. I immediately began dragging myself to the bathroom door, the entire time gagging, holding back the previous night's dinner with a loud "yurk-yurk-yurk", unable to yell for my wife to flee. To hold her nose and run as far away as possible. To keep running until she reached the back yard and the safety of outdoor air. I crawled with every intention of pulling myself to the vanity and spraying at least three spritzes of cologne up each nostril, anything to eliminate the oily horror crawling up my sinuses.

As the air below bed level contained less than 1,000 PPM of dog expulsion, my head began to clear and I was able to finally extract myself from the covers. I shakily lifted myself off the floor and looked to the bed, where Claire the boxer lay, now in my spot, head on my pillow looking at me with the dog equivalent of "What?"

Awake, full of adrenaline and embarrassment, I gave up on sleep for the night and went downstairs to make coffee. At least knowing that, down there, the only effluvient I needed to concern myself with was of my own creation.

The moral of this story? Don't put too much peanut butter in your dog's Kong toy to distract them before leaving them crated prior to an evening out. They will punish you for it in oh so many ways. Fairly thee be warned.

Missive From 35,000 Feet

Hi all. It's been a while.

Life's been a bit busy lately. Too much work, too much travel. It kind of hit me yesterday early morning on a three-hour flight to Houston for a demo...on a Saturday...at 7 AM. I was sandwiched between the bulkhead on my left and your standard American gastropod on my right.

My seatmate's girth required his beefy arm to extend well into the precious 22.3 square feet that my company had paid $400 for the purpose of getting me to the Lonestar State. In fact, it was permanently lodged into my side, with nowhere to go. Jiggling with every jostle of turbulence. At one point I seriously considered taking a zombie-like bite of it. It was so like a ham-hock that in my exhaustion - I awoke at 3:45 to get ready - it bore an incredible resemblance to meat I had used to cook the green beans with last Sunday.  I'm not kidding when I say it was like sharing a seat with Rob Ford sans crack. Chris Christie minus the Hershey's Syrup.

In that moment, I decided I really didn't like this whole travel for work thing anymore.

This last trip really cemented it for me. Squeezed between a freezing bulkhead on one side and a lifetime of poor dietary choices on the other in an unforgiving CRJ seat for three hours is no way to go through life, son. Its a bizarre choice indeed. Here we are in what is basically a giant paper towel tube made of aluminum with 90 strangers buzzing along at 35,500 feet (that's 6ish miles - a distance it takes me an hour to run). Who thought this was a good idea?

Across the aisle is a man who apparently has TB - I'm almost sure I saw bits of lung tissue as he folded away the increasingly tattered Starbucks napkin he had employed as a hankie. He's been coughing non-stop for the last two hours. The person behind me has apparently decided my seat is a part of the Total Gym system they have at home and Chuck Norris has directed them to hammer it back and forth to build core strength. The person in front of me is apparently trying to set the Guiness Record for the World's Most Flatulent Individual. The Flight Attendant, as surly and jaded as I, sloshes beverages around with the resentment of a person who has spent many grueling years putting up with this same shit and, truth be told, people like me. I won't mention the screaming toddler - its not really his fault his parents didn't give him Benadryl before the flight.

I'm jaded, cynical. The worst kind of traveler now. I have little or no patience for fools and/or infrequent travelers who don't know the rules - written and unwritten - of moving effectively through the nightmare that air travel has become. I know I'm insufferable. I can feel the veins in my forehead throb at each person who holds up security because they put a five gallon bucket of pickles in their suitcase; my teeth grind every time someone is last on the plane with a bag that could carry a moose and complains that there's nowhere to store it. I cry just a little on the inside when I board the plane and see that my hopes for Hillbilly First Class have been dashed by a last minute standby that smells like a NYC cab driver after a 10-hour shift in August. It goes on and on.

Its a sad, sad song and dance.

First world problems, right? Yep. Sure is. But in the immediacy of those horrible moments, its the problem right in front of you. When you do this for a living it does leech whatever faded color there might remain from the pleasure that was air travel.

Yet, we continue to do it. I typically fly at least three weeks a month. Sometimes every week. Its still the best way to get from point A to points, etc. I think that's why its so awful. The airlines know they have us by our collective and proverbial short hairs. They know they can herd us like cattle, charge us exorbitant prices, gouge us for baggage and change fees...because we really don't have any other options. Until we develop teleportation, flying it is. And if we let the Airlines control the Transporters, I'm sure they'll find a way to make those suck too...and to charge us an additional $200 for correct reassembly in Mumbai.

Now that I've vented my spleen, I can gear up for the three hour flight back to the CLE. I can take some solace that I will be in an even smaller plane on the way home - a CRJ with the 2-1 seat config. The only tubby guy in the seat will be me. That won't stop every once-a-year-or-godforbid-first-time-evar passenger getting on the plane from slamming my head with their bags, shoving their asses in my face or grabbing my seatback every time they push by my seat. I don't really notice that kind of minor nuisance stuff anyways. Really. I don't.

That's all for now. See you in the security line. I'll be the guy they're putting in zip strips because he finally snapped and told the TSA agents where they could shove their x-ray wand. But that's a blog for another day.

The Passage

Granny holding me, right, and my brother in her lap, 1971.

The body that has carried the soul of my grandmother around this earth for nine decades lays dying in a hospice bed in Columbia, South Carolina. There. I said it aloud. It doesn't make it any easier to accept or process.

We all call her Granny. Its a West Virginia thing. Her slow decline from the clever and sharp witted woman who featured so prominently in my upbringing began roughly a decade ago. The insidious plaque of Alzheimer's paving her neurons, robbing her of memory and cognition. The sparkle in her eyes that I will always remember slowly dimming, the furrows in her brow as she tried so damned hard to grasp that recollection that eluded her. When she first began to look at us and call us by every one of her children's or grandchild's names before she arrived at ours it was hilarious, "Butch, Marsha, Josh, Matthew, Ramie, Benjy!" But then, not so much.

My father and his blessed stoicism and my lovely Aunt Marsha have shepherded my Granny through this long transition. My cousin Ramie has been there doggedly throughout. My mother and Uncle Mike the veritable rocks where the spouses needed them. None of their tireless efforts or the sheer will and determination could stop the inevitable decline. From the home my Granny built with my PaPaw, to the small apartment near Mike and Marsha's, to the small retirement bungalow near Mom and Dad, to the retirement home back in Columbia...and finally to the Alzheimer's unit, they were all there. And still are. Watching. Waiting.

You see, Granny has been through this herself a few times. She helped my grandfather with the long and deliberate transition of his own mother. I have vague memories of my great-grandmother laying crabbed and crippled in a nursing home bed, whispering quiet prayers for Jesus to come take her away. We weren't as enlightened about end of life issues back then. I'm sure Granny's decision to have a living will was formed over the regular visits to that bedside.

Granny and PaPaw at Matt's H.S. graduation

Cruel fate brought my grandfather's massive stroke soon after, leaving him in Granny's care. Stubborn, hard-scrabbled, to the very end she refused to put him in an assisted living facility. She nearly killed herself caring for him, allowing the visiting nurses only the most basic duties. She took care of nearly everything else. Our grandfather was left with only a couple of words after his stroke, one of which was 'shit'. I remember one time when Granny was bustling about the kitchen, surely making me one of my beloved BLT's, and I was shaving my grandfather with an electric razor as he sat at the table. He looked up at me, knowing full well what he really wanted to say and not being able to, shook his head, smiled and muttered, "Oh shit." My Granny's stroke took her past even this slight ability to interact with her world.

It hit her over almost two weeks ago. A massive brainquake that has taken nearly everything that remained of her. The physical vehicle of her essential self is now so damaged that it can no longer sustain itself. This has left my father and Aunt the responsibility to carry out the dictates of that living will on behalf of the family. I am thankful for their strength, that they are going through this directly for all of us. Yesterday morning they moved her to the hospice unit. The workers gently and with great care removed the last artificial means of sustenance and support, made sure she is comfortable...and now we wait.

Granny has lost the ability to meaningfully interact with those around her. I've been told she rarely opens her eyes, and when she does the person she was is no longer evident. Her body, that fragile vessel, has finally failed her, shutting her window to the world. As its critical functions slow towards the inevitable stop, I cannot help but wonder what is happening to that essential self within. I want to imagine that, laying in the fog of palliative ease, she is sifting through the memories that remain. Traveling backwards in time, lightly touching upon each treasured moment. Does she start with our family reunion last year? The point in time where all her beloved children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren but one were together at last? The last time my grandfather said something that made her laugh out loud while he came in through the screen door from working in their garden? The nights that she let my brother and I stay up late to watch Chiller and eat popcorn off TV trays? The time while camping that they had an animal talk and my brother freaked out yelling, "Thnake! Granny, Granny its a Thnake!" I know that's one. She's told that story a hundred times.

She must be going back before that. The pride of seeing my father and Aunt graduate college and become wonderful people giving back to the world. The last brick being laid of the home she built with my grandfather. Being one of the trend of women that lead the way into the professional workforce in running the shipping department of the Nickel Plant. Getting a postcard from my grandfather while he was away flying torpedo bombers in WWII on the day my father was born. Falling in love with my grandfather and his rugged good looks in his football uniform. Seeing her mother set the Sunday table in Salt Rock, WV where her father ran the country store, her many beloved siblings by her side.

I  imagine her, sitting her her own mental theater, these moments scrolling across the screen. And her smiling one more time.

Love you, Granny. Thanks for everything. All of it. I wouldn't change a thing.

Goodbye.

Let's Stop Kidding Ourselves

What happened this week is a terrible tragedy. Let's just get that out there. Many, many lives have either ended or will never be the same. Even those not physically injured will be emotionally scarred for life. Yes, for life. Its awful. Terrible. A shame.

Now that's over with, let's get down to brass tacks.

We will have our usual paroxysm of grief. We will collectively wail and gnash our teeth. We will lob 'hope and prayers' memes and messages on our Facebook pages and our Twitter accounts. We will hotly debate gun control issues with one another. Talking heads will extend their 15 minutes of fame mentally masturbating over the how-why-what's of the issue.

And ultimately we will do nothing.

We will return to our daily routines, watch our insipid television shows, worry about paying the bills...go about our lives.

We can't deny it. This same reaction happened a year ago when a sitting U.S. Congresswoman and many other innocents were gunned down by yet another idiot with a grudge and a gun. It faded. Here we are. We all as a nation wrung our hands together after the Chardon High School shootings, wondering how it could happen. Yet, here we are. Thirteen years ago a nation mourned when Columbine found so many of their young people laying about, their futures gone. Yet here we are.

Just so you know, since that day thirteen years ago, over 150,000 people in the U.S. were killed by gunfire. Over half a million were shot and survived.

Think about that.

Yet when those deaths come in ones and twos, dribs and drabs of lost humanity, it doesn't really register, does it? When its one gang-banger killing another, do you care? Even when the innocent bystander is caught in the crossfire?

No. Not really. We shake our heads, think its a shame, thank whatever deity we believe in it wasn't our kid, our wife or husband, our lives shattered.

So let's be honest with ourselves. We will, as a nation, mourn the lost and help the broken heal but we won't do anything about the root problem. This tragedy, like all the others, will fade from our collective awareness - that is, until CNN runs its special on the anniversary of the event.

As a nation, and this isn't talking about folks that actually advocate for change like the folks at the Brady Campaign, but as a nation we are unwilling to face the hard facts of the matter. You either have the Second Amendment and all of the good and bad that goes with it, or you don't. You either only have hunting weaponry - like the U.K. where gun violence is nearly unheard of compared to the U.S. - or you don't. People are generally decent and relatively sane, but it only takes one freak with a semi-automatic weapon or four to kill a whole lot of people.

I know, I know. "Guns don't kill people, people kill people". Yet, riddle me this, gun advocate? When is the last time you read about a knife-wielding manic killing over a dozen people before police brought him down?

If we're going to be honest with ourselves, and we should be, let's all just admit that we're just too damned lazy as a nation to take on this issue. Our attention span isn't long enough. Our intestinal fortitude is lacking.

Then we can stop wasting all of this energy pretending to be so grief stricken and go back to watching Big Brother and wondering about our favorite sports team's chances this year.

"Compassionate Conservatives" = Hypocrites

Pastor Rick Warren this past week opened up a can of good ole' Southern Whoop Ass on himself by Tweeting a very inaccurate, and incredibly insensitive, tweet regarding taxes, who pays them and who he thinks should pay more. His tweet goes like this, "Half of America pays NO taxes. Zero. So they're happy for taxes to be raised on the other half that DOES pay taxes."

He said this in the overall context of the budget debate and as his contribution to the misconception that 'the poor' don't pay income taxes. As you can imagine, he paid a political price for this comment, and retracted it later - it no longer appears on his Twitter account. II will say one thing about him in particular and then move on to the broader debate, Rick Warren joins his philosophical counterpart Rick Perry in being one of the more heinous type of hypocrite. Both benefit by being supported by the very people they vilify in their comments. Many of "Pastor" Warrens flock are people of little means. Similarly, the base of Rick Perry's Texas support is made up of folks like conservative West Texas hardscrabble farmers. Perry is the worse of the two as he touts his minimum-wage job creation record while saying those same folks stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart at 8 dollars an hour with no benefits should turn out their empty pockets and give more to the government till. AGAIN a note of hypocrisy here, Perry wants people to pay more in taxes to a government he wants to succeed from, to a government whose 13th Amendment (enabling the Federal Income Tax) he wants to abolish and to fund a government that he says is too large and wasteful and needs less money.

Phew!

Quickly, let's correct the record on the whole 'poor people don't pay any taxes' statement. The working poor, many of whom have to work more than one job to make ends meet, pay taxes on a larger portion of their income than any other sector of our society - why? Because they do pay portions of their income into government programs that amount to taxes while paying the direct, regressive taxes based on spending we all pay. So their paychecks have all of the standard deductions we have, the only 'rebate' many of them get is the Tax Refund at the end of the year.

I know some of you will say, "Well, they get child credits and education credits and home-heating credits, etc. etc." Let's save that for another argument. What really hurts the working poor relative to the Middle- and Upper-classes is that the remaining tax structure, the 'regressive' taxes, hurts them more. Sales taxes, sin taxes (and don't go saying that, "If they're so poor they can do without beer and smokes.") gas taxes, property taxes (if they even own a home - if they don't, they pay it by proxy to the landlords they rent from), use taxes and pass-through taxes (like on your phone and cable bills). These dollars add up. Without the working poor contributing to these things then the costs for everyone else would skyrocket. So, they DO pay taxes, and more of their income by percentage than most Americans.

On to the general point of the so-called "Compassionate Conservative" moniker being so very inaccurate these days. Its not just "Pastor" Warren, Gov. Perry, and Rush Limbaugh (click link below for a scathing Lawrence O'Donnell rant on this very topic) saying these things, its the cause celeb of the entire GOP at the moment. News story after Faux News blog calls for the working poor to give more back, unapologetically. They are currently fighting an extension of the Payroll Tax holiday, which expires at the end of this month. This is hypocrisy of Epic proportions. Why? Because the payroll tax primarily hits the working poor and middle class the most. Again, why? Because most of their income is derived directly from salary or hourly wages. They don't benefit from investment income the way the upper-classes do. If you don't extend the payroll tax holiday, which is only a short-term option for stimulus and alleviating some of the pain of the recession, then you are essentially raising the taxes of the working poor and middle-class by approximately $1,000 for someone earning $50,000 per year.

Stay with me now. We're almost there. This is a significant tax increase for someone in that tax bracket. The GOP folks are saying that they Payroll Tax holiday should be allowed to expire because it was just a temporary thing and was never meant to be long-term. The made the EXACT OPPOSITE argument for the Bush Tax cuts to be extended just a few months ago. Why hypocrisy? Because they will wantonly argue one position when it benefits them and their 'sponsors' when it comes to the Bush Tax cuts while, with a straight face, arguing the exact opposite just a few months later. They even had the gall to say that they couldn't in good conscious support the extension of the payroll tax holiday because it would add approximately 112 billion dollars to the deficit. The extension of the Bush Tax cuts is estimated to add trillions. Yes, that's right...trillions with a "T". Yet GOP member after GOP member actually have said they can't support the payroll tax holiday extension because it will add to the deficit. One said that, when asked to compare the two positions, it was a reasonable argument because tax breaks to 'job creators' (their latest euphemism for the wealthy) made sense because it stimulated job growth.

As my teen aged daughter says so eloquently, "Whatever."

So the next time you meet a GOP candidate that will espouse their Christian values and their Evangelical, by-the-Bible, mores, ask them, "Who Would Jesus Tax?" Then be prepared to laugh, laugh, laugh.

______________

Take a moment and click on this link. It leads to a Lawrence O'Donnell commentary on Rush Limbaugh pontificating on the "Libs" exploiting Jesus for their own Socialist agenda. Rush is a douche bag of the highest order, but rarely does he sink as low as he does here. Its worth the time it takes to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nv-xMIwm01s

Rick Perry - Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Hello all, over the next little bit I'm going to spend some time deconstructing Rick Perry. Why? Because, well, basically he is an awful person in my humble opinion whose crackpot ideas would have us living in a more Oligarchic state than we do now that would be led by Christian fundamentalists according to their strict lifestyle guidelines. Is that reason enough? If not, there are more. We'll dig them up along the way.

However, for today's blog we will focus on his "Texas Miracle" jobs record. He's touting himself as a major job creator and Texas as the paragon of economic growth over his decade-long tenure. Let's take a look at what kind of jobs he has created and how his state's working class folk are living these days. I think you will be pleasantly horrified at the spin his team is putting things.

Here is a point-by-point analysis of his jobs record:

• Texas tied with Mississippi in 2010 for the highest percentage of Minimum Wage jobs in the nation. (San Fransisco Chronicle, 8/22/11)
  
• Texas has the highest number of uninsured people in the nation at 25% - much of this is accounted for by the working poor - employed in the types of jobs he created in his 'Texas Miracle'. (Washington Post, 11/23/2010)
• Despite Perry publicly decrying Federal Stimulus Dollars he had no trouble accepting billions that helped to create 300,000 jobs in the public sector that he is counting in his tally. (Boston Globe, 8/20/11)
• From December 2007 to June of this year, Texas shed .6% of their private sector jobs while adding 6.4% of public sector jobs - even though Perry continues to say that government doesn't create jobs. (Portland Press Herald, 8/21/11)
• One of the reasons that they have added (or kept) jobs in the petrochemical industry is that his administration has nearly completely dismantled environmental regulations in Texas - which causes them to lead the nation in toxic waste emissions and chemical spills. (Washington Post Politics, 8/18/11)
• Partially as a result of the quality of jobs created in Texas, they have the fourth highest poverty rating of all states (Washington Post, 8/19/11)

I could go on, but I think I will hold off some of the points for future blogs. There are lots of juicy bits left to go over.

For those of you who might be entranced by his Texas swagger and plain-spoken delivery keep in mind he's just another politician. He's taking credit for a great deal of activity in terms of job creation and growth that he had no direct connection to during his tenure. He does deserve some credit, but not all, and certainly his claims deserve deeper scrutiny. Like all politicos, take him with a grain of salt, or in Perry's case, an entire block. Peace.

Doubting Benjamin

Ok, its been a while, but with all the crazy sh*t going on in the world its time to vent. I'll start posting more often with some insight and scathing commentary on the nuthouse the US has become of late.

Let's start with the book that is the Number One Best Seller on the NYT NON-FICTION list - "Heaven is Real". This is a "True Story" by the ghost writer of Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue" about a young boy who has a 'near-death' experience and supposedly goes to Heaven for a quick cup of coffee. While there, he meets the sister he "...never knew existed" (his mom miscarried prior to the boy being born, his grandfather as a young man (but the boy never met his grandfather, you say?) and gets to sit on Jesus' lap, kind of like Santa Claus.

Well, ok. That might be a nice, feel-good story for my Christian friends to provide some uplifting thoughts and hope in these troubled times. BUT this book is a Best Seller on the NON-FICTION list! Have I said that in all-caps enough? I really don't think I can possibly say it in all caps enough times to be quite honest.

Let's be real, people. Look at the facts of the matter. This kid's dad is an Evangelical preacher. This isn't like seeing the image of the Virgin Mary on a piece of toast, this kid supposedly know things - cue eerie music here - he shouldn't possibly know. As one blogger reviewed the book, "Every one of Colton’s experiences, or very nearly every one, follows a pattern. He tells his father some little detail. His father experiences a gasp or feels his heart skip a beat. “I could hardly breathe. My mind was reeling. My head was spinning.” A Scripture verse comes to dad’s mind that validates the experience. Colton gets bored and runs off. Repeat."

Wow. Riveting stuff.

If this helps you get through the rough times and gives you some solace after the passing of a loved one, more power to you. But to sit back and think that this is anything but a book that should be in the Fantasy and Science Fiction section of Barnes & Noble is sheer...well, fantasy.

I'll just take one sentence from the book as an example, where the boy describes Jesus' eyes as "...were just sort of a sea-blue and seemed to sparkle." Yeah, right. Last time I checked it would be neigh impossible for a Semetic person in that part of the world during that period of time to have anything but darker eyes. Period. But we've always known that the pictures of the white, blue-eyed and long brown-haired Jesus were just plain silly all along.

Again, I'm not debunking or being the cynic just to be mean. It just seems that in times of general turmoil and uncertainty we as a people tend to lean on the ephemeral a little more than others. Its just human nature. Perhaps, however, we should consider something a little more substantive than this little missive. Maybe like a collection of Peanuts cartoons.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Respect. I have to say how interesting I find it that Faux News and their minions have slammed Obama every time he has correctly and politely shown deference to his diplomatic equals during State events. He bows slightly to the PM of Japan and they cry out that Obama has forfeited the future of America and shamed our people. Obama fails to wear a tie in the Oval office and he’s suddenly disrespecting the building and everyone who held the office before him.

Yet, in this weekend’s interview of President Obama performed by O’Reilly was the most disrespectful and heinously juvenile excuse for journalism I’ve seen since that jackass was on Inside Edition. Has anyone on Faux News said a word about O’Reilly interrupting the President Forty-Three…FORTY-THREE times in less than fifteen minutes? Not bloody likely. Not a word.

For all of their crowing about tradition, conservatism and maintaining the dignity of the office, Faux News allowed one of their ‘journalists’ to create one of the most unprofessional displays of self-aggrandizement I’ve ever seen. They reveled in it. In fact, they lovingly played the remainder of the interview, along with another 30+ interruptions, during O’Reilly’s show the following night.

Pathetic.

You can't have it both ways, Faux News. You can't in one breath talk about how Obama is embarrassing the nation because he's not worthy of being President while you attempt to trap and shame him in an interview. If Chris Matthews had done that same session with GWB2 you would have freaked out in a million different ways and filled up hours of cable DAT tape. Hypocrites.

Aside from stating the obvious yet again, Faux News is not news and have no professional 'journalists' that I know of or have seen. Sorry Roger Ailes, no Pulitzer for you. Ever.

If They Only Had a Brain...

Obamacare. Love it, hate it, be indifferent to it - we've heard plenty about it. Yet most of what you've heard is just plain wrong. Either misrepresented or misunderstood (or both), the majority of the "American People" don't have, as Paul Harvey used to call it, 'the rest of the story.'

For all of the blustering on the Right and the defensiveness on the Left, what we know is that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is a compilation of healthcare reforms centered around concepts of accessibility and affordability. That it has had a relatively small impact to date, aside from providing fodder for debate, is interesting in its own right. Most aspects of the legislation will not take effect for some time. For those of you who have children with pre-existing conditions and have changed jobs or have a particularly draconian private policy, you already have benefits and protections. Few can honestly argue that this is a bad thing. Furthermore, if you have a child enrolled in college or post-graduate studies, you can now carry them on your policy up to age 26, again a good thing. Some of the more odious provisions such as the 1099 mandate and prohibiting the purchase of Over-the-Counter medications with an FSA without a doctor's prescription may fall in the near future. Yet the core of the law remains, and what everyone can agree upon, but won't, is that the law itself is everything Republicans have wanted in healthcare for years but they are afraid to admit it. The Democrats sold their soul to get what they did, and should hide their faces for having done so. That's why, and I'll take odds on this, when its all said and done Obamacare will be the law in the land this year and in years to come.

What most of us don't realize is that this 'Franken-legislation' is actually a mish-mash of positions proffered year after year by both the Right and the Left. Most importantly, the foundation of the law is that it uses private insurance to accomplish public policy, just like GWB2 did in by instituting the Medicare prescription drug benefit in his second term. Many seniors saw this to be a blessing, and it was. But the way it was done blew a trillion dollar hole in the Federal deficit. Why? Because the program prohibits the Federal government from negotiating with pharma companies on price. Medicare, by far the largest 'purchaser' of pharmaceuticals in the nation, cannot by law negotiate the prices they pay for medications. Insane. A huge give away to Big Pharma and one of the biggest lobbying wins in Washington in the last 25 years.

Why is this bad policy? Because every time we have placed any program into the hands of the private sector, we increase costs without necessarily adding quality. To that point I bring you privatization of Medicaid on the state level - a fundamental and costly disaster in Ohio and other states - and the incredible tally we pay every year for the aforementioned Prescription Drug benefit.

How does this relate to Obamacare? By adding 35+ million people to the books of private insurers we have created an enormous boon to those companies. When the Dems dropped 'public option' to get what they wanted, they forfeited the high ground - without a 'public option', private insurers have no incentive to offer a superior product with true consumer protections. Before you go all "free market" on me, please note that insurance companies do not create plans to necessarily be competitive with one another and have been repeatedly found to have been in collusion with one another. I know this is getting complicated but be patient with me here - there is a point to be made. Let's add up what we have so far. We are adding 35+ million to the roles of private insurers. We are requiring that people obtain this coverage. We are not allowing the government to participate in the competitive side of this equation, offering an affordable alternative. We are going to rely on a for-profit entity like Aetna or Cigna to determine what coverage we get, when they will pay for what, how our doctors can treat us and what we will pay. People, this is the Republican dream come true vis-a-vis one of their largest contributors, the insurance industry.

Are you getting this? Obamacare is exactly what the GOP has pushed for in separate arguments over the years. The lawsuits trying to strike down the law based on the Constitutionality of the "Individual Mandate" are all Strawman Arguments intended to misdirect attention from the fact that there is a tremendous amount of money to be made here, but the GOP and Tea Party lot need to look like they are for free markets and less government while they are pocketing tens of millions in campaign contributions. The Dems? They are just as complicit in that they ditched the 'Public Option' knowing what the ramifications were in terms of cost. For you see, they too get money from the insurance lobby, just not nearly as much. The White House has their share of blame because they spent so much political capital on healthcare too early and too loudly so they had to sell out on the real fixes in order to pass the law and not get embarrassed a'la Bill Clinton.

Who else does that leave? Why, us, of course. The American People. We will end up with a lesser option provided by for-profit insurance companies with few checks and balances that will cost us all more as we collectively absorb the increased cost of the new millions on the books - many of them who have chronic illnesses left untreated for years, ironically because they couldn't afford treatment. Lovely.

A caveat, before we close. I work in healthcare and have for years now. Nearly universally, doctors and hospitals will agree that Medicare has evolved into the easiest payer to deal with. They pay their bills on time, rarely argue with the physician about care, and do not arbitrarily deny care. Meanwhile, every day countless hours and millions are wasted by physicians and hospitals trying to get private insurance companies to pay their bills, honor their contractual commitments and allow for our doctors to care for their patients as they see fit without interference. Our spineless politicians of all stripes, by not allowing the public option, are now going to force us all into the deep end of the pool with the private insurers as lifeguards. I hope we all know how to swim.

Where There's Smoke...

Ok, it comes as no surprise that once they wrested power from the palsied hands of the Democrats, the Republicans would attack one of their favorite targets, the EPA. But in such predictable fashion? Really? How sad.

This week we've seen House Republicans introduce legislation that would, amongst other things, prohibit the EPA from regulating 'greenhouse gases'. At all. Like, nada. Well, since the Clean Air Act and other mechanisms that work to allow us to see the far horizon or actually, you know, breathe I can understand why they are anathema to any right-minded Republican. I would imagine that the dollars poured into their campaigns by the likes of Exxon/Mobile and the Koch bothers have nothing at all to do with the introduction of this particular bill.

All joking aside, to put this kind of blanket deregulation forward so soon after the catastrophic impact of the Gulf Oil spill takes some real brass ones. How are they related, you ask? Its simple. The premise being put forward by the Republicans is that industry (no matter which type) is capable of self-monitoring and all can be trusted to be good stewards of our environment. As the hamstrung yet still illuminating inquiries into the Gulf Oil spill have proven, none of the entities involved in that fiasco did the right thing despite all of the regulations we currently have in place, let alone in this proposed future state of "scout's honor". Time and again, polluting industries have failed to maintain even the minimal standards that were present under, for example, the vacuous and ineffective EPA under the Bush administration. Now that we are actually seeing the EPA do good work, the proposal is to clear-cut them to the nub. Nice.

I can see where this might clash with the far-Right's commonly-held belief in the "word of god" aspect of the bible that kind of tells us to take care of this planet of ours, but that's another post entirely.

Its one thing to be a puppet for Big Oil and the coal lobby. But to go to the baseline of no regulation and to prohibit the EPA from regulating any greenhouse gas emission, air quality provision or clean water effort is the precursor for our country to become a bleak industrial wasteland. I would ask if these men and women have children for whom they might be concerned about in terms of the legacy they leave behind - this world we are the custodians for relative to all humankind. That would be quite naive of me however, since I can tell by legislation such as this that they obviously don't give a damn about any of it.

Once again, if you aren't sitting on the board of Citgo, own 10,000 shares of a mining company or your family founded American Electric Power you can't rightfully think that this is a good idea. If you are a Republican because you like their views on tax policy, the deficit or even school prayer, you don't have to go lockstep with them on this. Its short-sighted and sells our future for a few campaign dollars. I have two kids that I would like to grow up in a world that doesn't look like the photo above. How about you?

Wake up America!

American Idiots

I'm going to spend the next couple of months trying to find my own version of Ohlberman's "Worst Person in the World" and post the related article on Facebook. It shouldn't be hard to find material, as the folks in politics on the right and left are providing quite a bit of it. We have Nazis, witches and gay-bashing on the right. We have rediculous assertions of 'foreign money' and other red herrings from the left. Don't even get me started on the tea-baggers, most of them are just plain crazy. Those of us in the middle just sit back and watch the madness.

Take this one for example:



She really is a nutjob, yet she has 38% support in the polls? Who is saying they will vote for her? Same question, different daffy, how in blue hell does Sharron Angle have 42% - I mean really? I would rather sit down with Beck for lunch than vote for Reid so I do get the None of the Above alternative to a certain extent, but even that only goes so far. Angle? Seriously?

So, watch for my Facebook postings. I'll try and post one daily and I guarantee the affiliated story will be an interesting, and possibly infuriating, one. Feel free to cross-post your own on my wall. It should be fun.

Peace.

The Hoodwinking of America

Ok, its been a while. Yet I can't help but to blog about this one. Last night, I sat next to a nice, older woman at bar of the Tavern of Stow while I had a quick bite to eat. She had the smock and uniform on of the large grocery store chain across the street and had clearly just finished her shift working as a cashier. I joined the conversation she was having with two other folks at the bar regarding, what else, politics of the day. I was surprised to hear that she was a Glenn Beck fan, an Faux News watcher and a big proponent of the Republican agenda. She talked at length about how "that damned Obama" was spending all her money and didn't care about the "regular folk" of America.

Since when did Democrats lose the mantle of the party of the people? Since when did the Republicans, with their yammering on about the Bush tax cuts and their pandering to big business become the champion of the little guy? I mean, seriously.

When I told her that she was putting her cart behind a true horses ass in Beck, letting her know a bit about him, she was shocked. He's just a high-school graduate? But he seems like a professor with his chalk and blackboard! He's never held any position of note other than a media hack? Wow, I thought he must have been one of those guys that tells politicians what to do. Amazing.

Here's an idea, Dems. Tell it like it is. Pull no punches. Hit the nail on the head. All of the applicable hackneyed phrases. The Republicans and their mouthpieces are and they are winning the hearts and minds of the "American People". Stop being afraid of alienating the Right - they aren't coming to the table. There is no opportunity for dialogue with people like Boehner, McConnel and Kantor. Fight back, dammit!

The longer the Dems wait to raise their fists and strike out on their own, the longer more Americans will fall for the claptrap that's being put out there by the Republican B.S. machine and all of their shadowy fake special interest groups. Over60.org? Say the special interest lobby for health plans. Americans for Progress? Say the petroleum lobby. Clean Coal.org? Well, guess that one. All Republican-leaning interests. Here's an idea America, stop getting your political information from one source or listening to 30-second spots that clearly want to spin you in their direction.

Wake up America!

America the Beautiful

I took my son John to the Patriotic Fireworks Music Spectacular at the Cleveland Indian's game last night - which was awesome. There was a large group of Australian youth baseball players and their parents and coaches in attendance who were in town for a tournament. One parent noted, "You Yanks are a special breed. No one loves your country or flag like you do. I think its great!" I said in return, "Yes sir, we do. Yet this is what its all about." And I gestured to the 25,000 parents and children in attendance, all cheering what really is mediocre baseball, eating waterlogged hot dogs, sharing a simple and happy moment in time and in doing so, showing what America is all about.













I think we over-complicate things at times when discussing the American People. Last night was a perfect example of how simple we really are as a nationality. The pervasive stream of negative media content would make it seem like we area nation of perverts, miscreants, criminals and fools - and to a certain extent I suppose we are - but not in balance. Not as a whole. What we saw last night was the slightly goofy, well-intentioned and laughable core of our people stripped clean. It takes that blend of high and low, "book smart" and street raised, wonderous and cynical - that's the "American People".

I just had the pleasure of spending an evening with 25,000 of them, and I hope to do the same again soon.

Happy 4th everyone!

Beware the Ides of Marsh

BP (and Halliburton and TransOcean) in their reluctance to take any responsibility for the horrific accident and subsequent spill in the Gulf have mutually agreed on one thing - that no bad deed will go punished. Its despicable to watch them hem and haw in the Congressional hearings, passing the same tattered buck back and forth between them. The bottom line is, it was BP's lease, TransOceans' rig and Halliburton's usual incompetence. All of them are to blame. None of them really seem to care outside of the oily blemish on their already faded credibility.

While we can't directly boycott Halliburton or TransOcean, we CAN and SHOULD boycott BP. I know that this isn't fair to their individual franchisees - they didn't choose to have this happen to their individually-owned stations, their Subway restaurants and Wild Bean cafes. However, the only way to send a message to BP as a consumer is not to patronize them. I urge all of my readers to fill-up at any other station - according to a great article in the NYT last Sunday on offshore drilling safety BP has the worst overall record so any of them are better. Ironically, Exxon-Mobile is now at the top of the safety list, primarily because of the lessons they learned from the Valdez disaster.

In addition, reach out to your Congressmen and Senators regarding holding BP's feet to the fire over this disaster and asking for more responsible regulation of the nation's oil and gas industry in the future. Demand that they address the ongoing gap in oil exploration subsidies and royalty reduction that was created when oil was bottomed-out under the Bush administration. Demand that they address the ongoing outright theft that takes place when mineral, oil and gas rights on Federal lands are given away to corporations under antiquated and unfair regulations.

For once, let's not allow yet another mega-corporation a 'free pass'. The Gulf and its residents, wildlife, wetlands and offshore ecosystem are going to be suffering for the gross incompetence of BP and their partners for many years to come. They should pay the price for all of it.

Tea Parties and Crack-Smoking Madness

I made the mistake of attempting to engage one of the Faux News adherents in a debate on whether Obama is the Anti-Christ and anti-Christian. The saddening and utterly disgusting dialogue follows:

Sadie Bolt Fraley So very sad and disturbing!
Obama Denies Flyover of 'GOD & Country Rally'—1stTime In42Yrs Why?BecauseOf Its 'Christian Nature'
Source: www.youtube.com
http://AmericasNewsToday.Com/ Obama's "New" Pentagon Denies Flyover of 'GOD and Country Rally' for First Time in 42 Years Because of Its "Christian Nature"
Yesterday at 7:01pm · Comment · Like / Unlike · View Feedback (11)Hide Feedback (11) · Share


Peter Ben Reynolds
You kind of need to consider the source here, Sadie. The speaker in the 'video' being given credibility on Fox News is a known 'misrepresenter' of fact and to not be someone who is given any credence by any other media resource. Take a moment to read over the comments made regarding the video you posted to get a flavor for how far from the mainstream the folks that really support this yahoo really are...


Peter Ben Reynolds
To put this in a little more perspective, Sadie, consider the comments on this website supporting the 'outrage' over the Pentagon's decision. Note the lines calling for a 'coup' and saying that Obama is the Anitchrist. You might not agree with his policies (and the decision not to do the flyover of a very small rally in Idaho is something I really doubt was on his 'to-do' list) but I don't think you really want to go this far...

http://www.weaselzippers.net/blog/2009/07/pentagon-denies-flyover-of-god-and-country-rally-for-first-time-in-42-years-because-of-its-christian.html
Yesterday at 10:46pm


Sadie Bolt Fraley
Peter, I simply posted the report and there is a great deal I don't like about Obama and it is not just his policies. So, I stick by my decision to post this.


Peter Ben Reynolds
I totally support your right to post it, was just encouraging you to check the facts behind the post to ensure that the deeper information was brought to light. Whether you like Obama or not, surely you can't agree that he is the "Anti-Christ" or, as a Christian, support his coup or bodily injury as encouraged by other posters of this video...


Michael Sprague
If Obama is or isn't the Anti Christ shouldn't concern you as much as why is he so Anti-Christian, first he canceled the annual prayer event, then he refused a fly over because the event had a Christian Nature. He has done everything possible to denounce Christianity while doing everything to support the Muslim religion and it's holidays. To deny... Read More this is a sign of ignorance and total cool aide drinking mentallity. Obama is supported by ACORN, definately anti-Christian, he is supported by the ACLU, again Anti Christian and he has stated this isn't a Christian Country. . . what else do you need Peter. . Wake up. . . Obama hates morals, values and ethos that don't petain to Gay right, Affirmative action and special intrest. . .


Peter Ben Reynolds
Fascinating response, Michael, especially considering I'm being accused of 'drinking cool aide' (which is actually Kool-Aid) and ignorance. Let's see. I have spent the last 25 years of my life learning ALL sides of an argument (including this one) before establishing my position on an issue. I have an BA in Humanities, which is Classics, Philosophy and Religious Studies and an MA in American History. I have been the Director of an Aesthetic Education program modeled after Lincoln Center in NYC. I wonder how that makes my position an 'ignorant' one? Have you bothered to read and/or research any of the 'facts' that you are spewing? ACORN has no religious affiliation or anti-Christian agenda. Period. The ACLU has no anti-Christian agenda, but for better or worse, supports the letter and law of the constitution (which is what most folks who espouse your position are so upset in thinking is coming under fire from Mr. Obama.) Once again, he had nothing to do with the flyover decision.


Peter Ben Reynolds
to continue, President Obama is not anti-Christian. He is a devout Christian and lives what he believes - thus the compassion of his policies, i.e. healthcare for all. He said ours is not JUST a Christian nation, as we have many other people in this country with other paths to God or their conception of God. Keep in mind that Jews and Muslims both hold the Old Testament holy and part of their faith, as an example. His point was to recognize the Constitutional right to freedom of religion and that we are a country of many faiths. To say that he hates morals, values, etc. is simply wrong and, in fact, ignorant and just plain silly. Don't let your anger at having a non-far-right person in the White House cloud your judgment. You sound strident, ill-informed and just plain angry.


Peter Ben Reynolds
Finally, I find it most interesting of all to hear so many people who proclaim themselves as Christians to be so angry at President Obama's policies such as universal healthcare. Seriously, as yourself the WWJD question - don't you think that Jesus would support such a concept? In fact, if you were to take the teachings of Christ in the New Testament as a whole you would likely label them as "socialist" as they are predicated on the good of the many and that the meek shall inherit the Earth. Can you see Christ being so very angry over all of these things? I think not.

Michael Sprague
Obama is not a devout Christian and if you truly believe he is, your opinion isn't worth the time it takes to read it. Actions speak louder than words. . . actions are what Christ spoke of. . what action is it that you base your opinion on. . the Gay support, the socialism the support of cop killers, race baters. . . the points you make are BS and... Read More weak at best, you are a coolaide drinker and have been fooled to the point of having no credibility. . none. . . Christ never said Homosexuality was to be accepted, he would never go against his fathers word. . . NEVER. . you need a reality check.

Michael Sprague
PS. . Kool Aide, COOL AIDES. . .it doesn't matter how you spell it, you've been drinking it at for some time now. .
We need a little OLD testament Christianity right now. . . a return to the 10 commandments, just like we need a return to the founding fathers constitution. . . not socialism. . . not CZARS, not government ran anything. . . FREEDOM... Read More> > > You are a washed in the wool liberal with an AGENDA, you use talking points that have no substance in fact or any value to the American people. . . Just worthless rhetoric, there is no mainstream thought process behind you liberals, you have the media, and if it were not for that you would be just dancing with CZARS, the point is people have had it with the people you believe in and it's starting to show.

Peter Ben Reynolds
Wow. Just wow. Keep printing off your Faux News talking points and thinking you are a true American. I'm saddened to think that I share the label Christian with you, sir. I give up, you can't have a logical and reasoned discussion with someone who is so obviously insane. Best wishes.

Ben

Peter Ben Reynolds
Ok - its on. I can't sit back and not reply to such bitterness, such fundamental ignorance. Michael, do you even know what a Czar is? Who they were? The history behind them? Do you know any tenet of the Constitution that you were so happy to sacrifice on the altar of Dick Cheney's madness and now love so very much? Do you have any clue what the definition of socialism really is? Christ never said ANYTHING about homosexuality by the way, and the Bible itself says very little about it. So, are you a literal interpreter of the OLD testament? Do you stone your disrespectful children? Do you demand an eye for an eye? You, sir, are the ignorant one. Stop letting Glenn Beck pull the string in your back so you spew his hate and ignorance on the rest of us. Christian indeed. Christ would be embarrassed that you claim to follow him.

Peter Ben Reynolds
But he would still forgive and love you - did you forget that too?==

She Sees Dead People...

Palin's ignorant rants, tweets and FB postings continue to garner the attention of the 'mainstream' media, Faux News as a credible opinion, everyone else as the intellectual equivalent of a Seth Rogan film. If it weren't so tragic, it would be comedic.

The author in the article below makes an excellent point, while I certainly don't agree with anything Newt Gingrich has ever done/said, he is relatively intelligent and well spoken. The fact that he, amongst his other opportunistic cronies, even gives this the slightest attention further tips the weak Republican hand. Their strategy continues to be let the loony-bin far right Birthers/Death Panel-ers spew their ignorant tripe (i.e. Palin, Beck, Limbaugh) while more 'centrist' spokespeople like Gingrich and Bohner sound relatively sane...relatively. This has the effect of whipping up the ignorant masses, as seen in the town hall meetings, while trying to have some skin in the game. Unfortunately for them, they are holding offsuit 3-5 while the Obama administration has bullets...



http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/opinion/16dowd.html?_r=1&hpw

Dear Mama, I can hear you a cryin'...

...You're so scared and all alone
Hangman is comin' down from the galllows
And I don't have very long...Sytx

Yes, 'mama', I'm going before a 'Death Panel' to see if I can get that surgery that I need and I know that the the hangman is going to turn me thumbs-down. No life-saving surgery for me.

WTF!?!?!

My blog has been on hiatus for a while but needed to be revived for this. What kind of asinine Jackassery is being spouted by the Republicans and their crony mouthpieces? Death Panels? Really? We just buried my beloved Uncle after a very long illness. At the end, he was asking about end-of-life decisions and heading for hospice care - this had nothing to do with his insurance or availability of care - only that he was very ill and tired and ready to go. What the hell does this have to do with at 'Death Panel'? Do Americans understand that they live in a rationed society for healthcare now if they have private insurance? Medicare and Medicaid are the only insurance providers that DON'T ration. Private insurers make your healthcare coverage decisions all the time now. At least decisions could/would be made based on a fair panel of physicians rather than a for profit ghoul who could care less about your well being. Sigh. Ignorance is a poison to intelligent dialogue.

If you really want to know more, read this primer. Better yet, read the bill itself. Nothing in there is about rationing, 'death panels' or any of the other bugbears being trotted out by the Far Right.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/health/policy/10facts.html?_r=1&em

Let's face facts. We have the most expensive healthcare system in the world. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the best in the world - we rank about 14th. Our problem is that there are so many uninsured and under-insured that chronic health problems go unmanaged until they present as a crisis. THIS costs a fortune. I just came home from Huntington, WV which has been declared the most unhealthy city in the nation - their uninsured population is enormous. You do the math. We cannot afford to keep our current system - we need much more aggressive preventative care. We can't afford to give everyone everything forever - its untenable. Decisions must eventually be made - let them be made sensibly and in a not-for-profit manner rather than a catch-as-catch can and for-profit one.

Let's take the debate away from histrionics and put it back into a real foundation so we can have an honest debate on the issues. Please.

Obama Pokes Gas Limbag with a Sharp Stick

I love that he took such a strong jab at Rush and his lunacy - it is something that's long overdue. Some would say that acknolwedging Rush makes him more relevant - I disagree. If anything I feel it demonstrates how marginal Fox News and Rush have become. Another priceless gem in the article is Boehner, who I am so ashamed to say is Ohio's problem, asking the question, ""You know, I'm concerned about the size of the package. And I'm concerned about some of the spending that's in there, [about] ... how you can spend hundreds of millions on contraceptives...How does that stimulate the economy?" The fact that he said 'size of the package' and 'stimulate' in one statement is priceless! Seriously, though, how in the hell can anyone begin to focus on contraceptives as part of the entirety of the spending plan? I know he's playing to the base, but that's just f-ing silly.

Here's the article if'n you want to read the whole thing.

Could the GOP be any more irrelevant at this point in time? More obstructionist? More ridiculous? I think not. One look at any news feed illustrates the desperate thrashing of the dying corpus of the "Grand Old Party". I expected them to fall farther to the right - to their remaining base - after the election but if you skim this Blog you can see why they need to start defending the First Amendment more strongly...such ignorant blather should be illegal. I just hope Obama keeps infuriating them, because if they are angry enough to post drivel like this it means #44 is doing a great job! Wake up Ummerikka!

GOP Silliness Found Here

The Bush "Legacy"

Ok - This might be one of the most rediculous 'news' items I have ever come across. Fred Barnes, professional idiot and Bush apologist, will boil the blood of the over 70% of American's who think GWB's tenure of POTUS was the worst in history. His opinion of Bush's Top Ten Acheivements includes such gems as "Allowing "Enhanced" Interrogation Techniques"; Deep-Sixing the Kyoto Protocols; "Rebuilding" Presidential Authority; Creating the Medicare Drug Benefit boondoggle (and in the process forbidding the government to negotiate with Drug Companies on pricing); and the enactment (but complete neglect of) Every Child Left Behind. I only became aware of this by having to watch Faux News at the gym this morning and the nimrod love-fest that surrounded the review of this list (done with straight faces across the board) was disheartening and nauseating at the same time. Thank your personal version of the godhead that its almost over. Wake up Ummerrika!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/weeklystandard/20090114/cm_weeklystandard/bushsachievements