So You Think...

The Song that Never Ends

noreply@blogger.com (Iris) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 18:51:00 +0000

Are you tired of the government making personal decisions for you? When I was watching the news and trying to figure out what it meant to have the government bailout those large incompetent greedy companies, I thought about how I would spend the 700 billion dollars. I know how I would spend 80 million dollars because I have felt the need to make plans in case I win the lottery. I figure I’ll have about 40 million after taxes because I’m not able to spend taxpayer money in any Willy Nilly way. (What did Willy and Nilly do to deserve such a negative legacy?) Anyway, I plan to pay my taxes so that leave me with about 40 million. The first thing I would do is buy a place for all my friends mothers to live. It would like an assisted living facility only there would be wonderful food and entertainment. The staff would treat the mom’s and dad’s (if they lived as long as the mom’s) with respect and courtesy. There would be no talking to them like they were children and they would be able to put salt on their food. There would be a bus to take them to the theater, movies and out to eat—even if they had to go in a hospital gurney. And there would be full time competent nursing care for those who could no longer be independent. We could probably get a genius grant from the some company because this would be an innovative experiment – if we needed additional funding. Oh, and yes eventually the children would occupy the house – that is just the reality. But aging might as well be luxurious and entertaining instead of bleak and humiliating

That is the public service piece of how I would spend the money. Moving on to the fun part. I would buy a house in Italy—I am especially fond of Umbria and Verona but it’s a country where you can’t get a bad meal (except in a few tourist places near the Mediterranean). It has to be a villa big enough to house at least ten couples, (with everyone having their own bath – and although I would never invite ten at a time you never know what kind of entertaining you might want to do that would require overnight accommodations. The kitchen would have a pizza oven as well as the kind of equipment that, God forbid you couldn’t go out for dinner, you could still have a great meal. Of course there would be a pool as well as a mineral bath fed by natural warm springs, tennis courts, a pitch and putt course, movie theater, bowling alley (for friends from New Jersey) and a massage therapist on duty 24/7. There would have to be a private plane for travel to and from anywhere in the world but I think leasing per trip makes much more sense. I don’t need to have a car with a driver on staff but it would be nice to have someone available for trips to the city – any city. I would spend like the CEO of some big corporation .

It would be awfully nice to have someone to do my laundry, clean my house, fudge my taxes and take my car to be inspected. but those are things I don’t have to have won the lottery to do. I need to learn to think bigger. OK I’ve got it. Since there will be no money left in the US treasury to fix education, implement an adequate health care plan, help single mothers—who decided to have their kid -- (Palin line item vetoed that in Alaska so I don’t think we can count on much assistance from that side of the aisle), work on programs which create opportunity for women or continue to fight many more wars (that’s a good thing), I could use my lotto winnings to create a national lotto where the winner would be a social program rather than a person. It would be like what they do on American Idol only different. Here people could buy a ticket for $1 and if they won, they would donate that money to the government program of their choice. Yes, I agree that if some people would be reluctant to just turn that money over to the government ... maybe it’s not such a great idea. How about if we look at the last ten years and pass a law that any CEO who has been compensated well above what they deserved (I’m happy to make that decision or we can all agree on a number, say 6 million—that’s pretty generous), has to give that money back to the taxpayers, or even the shareholders of the company they raided, or they can pick a social program but it can’t be their country club. Even if they started a foundation to help children—I don’t care if they help with a disease (after the bailout there won’t be any money left for research grants), or education or health issues, just as long as they invest in helping this country become a better place instead of buying extravagant houses, private planes, and absurdly opulent parties. They are not allowed to have benefited from the fact that they appointed their Board of Directors and the Board of Directors determined what that their severance would be millions of dollars in overgenerous compensation.

Which brings us back to how I would spend the piddly little $80 thousand I didn’t win. Actually, when I was working in my first political campaign my salary was $50 a week, which they never paid me so I asked them to raise it to $100 – which they also didn’t pay me. There it is again, I wasn’t thinking big enough. I’m going to change that right now and as long as I didn’t win 80 mil, I might as well not have won 700 billion dollars – which I could also spend in much more reasonable and thoughtful ways than the people who have been in charge and are responsible for this devastation. The first thing I would do is buy a place for all our aging mothers and fathers... It’s like the “Song That Never Ends”.

Let Us Eat Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Iris) — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 02:50:00 +0000

Yesterday I was with a friend who works for a Democratic Senator. We were talking about the multitudes of crisis which face our country. And I was surprised when she confessed that until McCain (or whoever—probably not McCain) selected Sarah Palin as his running mate, she was not going to vote. So I guess you think that Sarah Palin being a woman made all the difference in the world and now she has had some kind of “kitbitka” (you remember that’s a word that means an old small Russian wagon but we thought it sounded like “a miraculous recovery” so we changed the definition -- and she’s going to vote for the Republican ticket. Quite the contrary. She will vote for Obama because she will not vote for someone who believes in creationism, eliminating Roe vs Wade, goes to a church where they speak in tongues, and shoots helpless animals for sport from a helicopter. She confessed, “I’m sorry to say that I don’t really like either candidate as a possible President. I simply don’t think either is prepared to be the leader we need today. But how, in this day and age can you vote for two people so out of touch with what’s going on in this country –culturally and technologically”.

Oye Vey! In Elizabeth Drew’s essay, “How John McCain lost me” she lists many reasons why she is no longer supporting her old friend. All the reasons are insightful, but I found this among the most interesting:
McCain's recent conduct of his campaign – his willingness to lie repeatedly (including in his acceptance speech) and to play Russian roulette with the vice-presidency, in order to fulfill his long-held ambition has reinforced my earlier, and growing, sense that John McCain is not a principled man. In fact, it's not clear who he is.

When I read this kind of stuff I find it incredibly upsetting, so let’s talk about the Emmy’s and who was the best and worst dressed. Now there’s something I can sink my teeth into. I do remember what some of them were wearing, now if only I could remember some of the names of the celebs. I'll try. I know there was a short dark haired woman who kept hiking up her dress and I know that this same woman had to take a golf cart from the parking lot to the event because someone screwed up her limo. Can you imagine. It's your worst nightmare. And I know that sparkles, or maybe it’s sequins , no it’s metallic fabric is back in. But in my closet it never went out. Oh, and both the Daily and Colbert shows won because they are funny and in fact, they are the places where most people under thirty get their political news—papers, magazines, and TV news are just not cool and too much work. Alex Baldwin is also Emmy award winning funny, but not in the same way. He's kind of mean funny -- but likeable. Mean appears to be the new nice. “Mad Men” was best drama, “30 Rock” was best comedy (but only on TV, in reality it’s just another GE media business. And someone named Bryan won for something called “Breaking Bad”, which I’ve never seen. But then I’ve never seen “Lost” or “Gray’s Anatomy” or “Survivor”. I’m kind of a “Cold Case”, “Bones” and “House” girl. I wonder what that means?

That was a refreshing break from the hum drum of politics. So where were we. There is a PBS poll on the internet that asks if Sarah Palin is qualified. It will come as no surprise that the numbers suggest she is – or the Republican technology is better than the Democratic technology. But I love a good survey almost as much as a good piece of cake or a vanilla malt, so I think I’ll spend most of my time exploring food instead of polls. John McCain has changed his mind several times about the bail out. Barack Obama has not really talked about it. Sarah Palin is cute, still has nice glasses and doesn’t ever leave the script. (Hey, Jordan is good at reading a script, so I guess she could be President). And Joe Biden is in some blue collar place probably yelling at someone with a blue collar. That pretty much brings us all up to date. Let’s talk about something far more interesting, like the wedding I went to this weekend. My niece Nora got married to a wonderful man named Bryan who is a successful entrepreneur. Thank God neither of them is employed by any stock related enterprise. She looked beautiful and they worship one another. The wedding was in a lovely space, all redesigned to meet their needs and the food was both elegant and creative – my favorite was the NJ diner table at cocktails preceding the dinner. The bride wore white, the groom wore a tux and the bridesmaids were in black with every dress being different --one even sparkled. It was a refreshing break from talk of the financial crisis, the gas crisis, the housing crisis, the war, and the election. As I watched these two wonderful people share their vows, I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of a world they will grow old in and what the lives of their children would be. Then I thought—stop that foolish troublesome thinking and go get a piece of cake.

Which La La Land

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 13:29:00 +0000

Remember when Jackie Gleason used to say “What a revoltin’ development this is”. Well now I know what he means. But I’ll get back to that.

I was watching some talking head TV this morning and when the talking heads opened their mouths, they all started in the same way which was, “I think... blah blah blah blah blah. As I was watching their lips move the Gary Larsen cartoon flashed before my eyes. The one where you see what people say and what dogs hear. It turns out that the public hears what dogs hear when politicians start to blather.

Have you ever yelled at the TV? David and I do it all the time. He is actually worse than I am because he calls the news desk when he feels they are incompetent or just stupid. All I could think (and I do think), who cares what you think! Take Lieberman –please. He was going on and on about the fact that he thinks we can’t withdraw from Iraq because there will be chaos and bloodshed. What does he think there is now? The US has become merely a third party in a civil war that has been festering forever and our presence continues to make worse. To be perfectly honest (and what do I to gain by lying? You’re not going to elect me for anything), I don’t care what any elected official thinks. They all have their own agendas,which usually include advocating for some special interest, rich contributor, or local very visible positive effort which they can use as footage in the next campaign. But it does not necessarily include being concerned about the lives of your family or mine –unless we are of some political importance. How many of those people are around? Quite simply we need to get out of Iraq and stop trying to think about why we can’t. If Iraqi’s choose to kill each other we won’t be able to stop them. What our politicians do or thing doesn’t make any difference. We can’t stop the killing on our own streets so how can we possibly stop it a million miles away—at least culturally.

Anyway, back to a former ‘revoltin development. My mom was in the hospital for six days. She could not walk because her feet were too swollen and arthritic. They couldn't give her the physical therapy she needed. In addition, she was in and out of La La Land. When Aunt Peppy (her twin) arrived at the hospital that day they discussed the fact that my Aunts, Helene Sophie and Fritzie, couldn’t possibly have come to visit mom because they had died. She seemed OK with that, for about a minute and a half. Then she wanted to know if they hadn’t called because they were in Florida.
“No” Aunt Peppy insisted, “They died”.
But did Sophie go to Florida with Rosalie?”
“No she died three years ago.”
“Don’t be ridiculous”, my mother replied. “They were here last night and if David had been here he could have taken their picture. They were wearing cardboard hats and Aunt Helene looked ridiculous.”

Aunt Peppy gave up. So mom turned to me. “Did you arrange for them to come? It must have been expensive to come all that way.” You used to make arrangements for the President. Did you do this?
“No Mom. I couldn’t do that.”
“Well who did it then?
I thought about it for a minute and decided to tell the truth. “God did it mom.”
“You think so?” She asked
“Absolutely.”

About ten minutes later she was perfectly lucid and we talked about people who had expressed concern and the fact that the doctor thought she should be in short term rehab until she can get around a bit.

When David and I left the hospital we took a walk along the Boulevard in Mountain Lakes. It is gorgeous day, a little crisp but clear and sunny. When something like this happens and you seem to be facing your own mortality you realize that decisions need to be made while you can make them and even then who knows what will happen. Here’s what I think. Our generation must find a better way to deal with being old, sick and dying. The politicians who are always thinking into everyone else’s business and bedrooms, (domestic and international) would be better off thinking about dignity and elder care. If they have to think—let them do it about something that will really make a difference.

Hey Folks, this IS the Computer Age..

noreply@blogger.com (Iris) — Fri, 09 May 2008 15:13:00 +0000

That's why it's only taken us a whole week (7 days, 168 hours...) to get Iris' interview on Morning Joe (MSNBC) last friday. Here's the deal.. pretend she was on this morning.. and it WILL be the computer age!!!

ok. .lets see if this damn thing works:

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 15:27:00 +0000

BLUE COLLAR-WHITE COLLAR-NO COLLAR
Until recently I actually believed that most of the 300 million people in this country either watched or listened to the top rated cable news/political or radio shows.
But I then discovered that the very top rated shows only had at the best of times, one million tuners in. So what about the other 299 million? But this isn't about ratings, the key word here is "shows." Yes, shows. They are independent and usually only broadcast scripts they are handed to them by the producers and possibly even the advertisers. After all if I was paying millions of dollars to have my product advertised I'd want a say in what was being broadcast. I'll bet you never had that thought did you? I remember the time when President Johnson knew we had lost the war in Vietnam. How did he know? Walter Cronkite told him so. I know back then it was called the evening news but that's only because no one considered calling it "Just ask Walter." And where does all this rambling lead to? Pennsylvania, the so called "turning point primary" or the "win or lose state" or the "gotta win state" and to pull off that win the candidates must cater to the uneducated, non-skilled, shot and beer population. At least that's what the other forty-nine other states have been told. In fact Pennsylvania was and still is "The Keystone State" the cornerstone of our country. I grew up in that state where Coal was King, the modern wonders of the world were built with steel that came from us, we have the finest colleges, universities, medical and law schools than any other state. And to make it simple, all those people didn't leave to go to New York, they stayed, grew their families and continued their careers. It's probably the most diversified population in our country and it will continue regardless of the political incorrectness of being referred to as Blue Collar, White Collar and No Collar state.
So beware my friends, Pennsylvania isn't to be trifled with when it comes to electing our next President. They know what's best for their country, because they tuned into the new show, "Just ask Clay!"

Shame on you!

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 12:12:00 +0000

My vote counts. My vote doesn't count. My vote counts. My vote doesn't count.
Sound familiar, well that was the game I used to play with pulling off petals of flowers to find out an answer to some silly question. I'm a Florida voter, yes one of them.
I have voted in every election since I moved here thirty years ago when I retired from the United States Army. I always vote, not necessarily because I want any certain candidate to win it's a lot simpler than that. I vote because I get a warm fuzzy feeling everytime I step into the voting booth. There's just a certain feeling that comes over me when I look at all those names to chose from and I know that I am a part of his or her life. What an awesome power it is to vote. It even gets better when I walk out of that booth and get that little "I Voted" sticker on my shirt. I wear it like a badge of courage because I want everyone to know I fought for the right to vote. I don't take voting lightly but this year I feel lost. Additionally, being a Vietnam Veteran I liked to think that I was voting for all my comrades that didn't make it back to have a say who should be Commander-In-Chief. But this year, my vote doesn't count, actually to make it clearer I was denied the right to vote. I can live with not having my candidate of choice not win but it's so damn difficult to live with the fact that I wasn't allowed to be heard. So does that turn me off from voting in November? No, I'll vote but in the meantime I'm going to hand write everyone who took my voting privelege away during the primaries and tell them this. Shame on you!

The Test Cometh

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 17:21:00 +0000

FACTOID:

It's a little known piece of history that the second wave of immigrants did not land at Plymouth Rock, they landed at the southernmost point in America on a small island called Key West.

This second group decided to stay and remain hidden from the rest of the world. As they grew in numbers and formed what is now known as the Republican Party. They began to build and build this small island which eventually led to needing a large work force to maintain it's properties. That's when they brought in indentured workers who later became known as the Democratic Party. They renamed the island Cayo Hueso (Isle of Bones) and built a huge temple to show the world how powerful they were, This temple became known as The Southernmost Resorts Collection and still offering it's services to visitors from around the world. www.southernmostresorts.com

Flash ahead a few hundred years. A long line of potential Presidential candidates stood outside the registration lobby at the Southernmost Resorts in Key West waiting to register for the first ever test “So You Think You Can Be President” to determine their eligibility to become the nominee for the office of President of the United States. To ensure complete anonymity all applicants wore hoods, gloves and not allowed to speak, they were restricted to only sending text messages if they had any questions.

Due to the conflict within the Democratic Party and it's inability to choose a candidate for the general election in 2008 the party voted to move it's election to 2009. The Republican Party saw this as a victory insuring a long term advantage to occupy the White House. The Supreme Court also ruled that the current election process would continue as it always had. They sited a "prima facie law" that stated "it is what it is." But then in an addendum, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that any political party could choose when, where, and how any party could hold it's own elections. They didn’t have to agree to the same day. Obviously, with this in mind the Republican candidate whose election would take place in 2008, would get elected before the Democratic candidate had a tremendous advantage.

Hence, a need for someway to chose a candidate beyond th election. And so a test was created. The framers of this test Iris Burnett HF and Clay Greager HF chose the www.SouthernmostResorts.com to administer the questions. It is Geographically the southernmost point in the United States. They wanted to avert any diplomatic problems if they chose a location on the East (Right) Coast or the West (Left) Coast?

The results of the test will be scored by Price Waterhouse and the results announced during the half time activities of the 2009 Super Bowl. This event solution was deemed a victory by some economic minorities because it would allow them to raise money via car washes, yard sales and local lotteries (commonly called the numbers racket.)

All potential applicants, financial and personal data will be released and posted on the www.SouthernmostResorts.com website as soon as the scoring and evaluation is completed sometime in 2008. Carrie Lynn eventually married a Republican and Lisa Ann had a short but fun filled affair with a Democrat but despite their difference political affiliations, they have remained close.
Clay

Wake Up John

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 14:10:00 +0000

"Wake up John, I know it's 3:00 AM, but this is important. Can you ring downstairs and get me some ice cream?"

"Oh my God John, I said I need a new button, you pushed the red button!"

"John, it's the extremist not Al Quida."

"John, we're in Baghdad, not Hanoi."

"John, we don't have to stand in line, this is our own plane."

"John, it's not Deputy Commander, it's Vice-President"

"John, We better call a Doctor, I don’t think those were your pills."

"John, it sounds goofy to you, not gooky."

We all know that we slip up sometimes, especially when we're under stress, but can we afford to have take a chance our President will do it repeatedly. The President lives under great stress twenty-four hours a day. But let’s take a minute to look at the Republican candidate. OK, he's a little older than we would like, a little more broken and scarred than normal and possibly has suffered from ED the past couple of decades. Is that enough to keep him from being Commander-In-Chief. I don't think so, but I do think it should come it is something to consider before he becomes President.

We don't want him to get confused about which role he's playing. Can you imagine if he declared Martial Law in the United States thinking the terrorists were after him. Not far fetched you know, Perot thought the same thing a while back. So lets put this in perspective based on facts not emotions. We'll use this snapshot as something to think about when it comes to trusting him to become the leader of the Free World or just maybe only the United States.

We should ask ourselves these questions.
a. What is a bit two old for the job?
b. He was held as a prisoner of war for over five and a half years and underwent complete isolation, beaten on a daily basis, had more bones broken that existed in his frail body, fed only enough to keep him alive and was subjected to daily brain washing sessions make a difference? I guess there are people who don't think it matters, but there is still a large population that remember the movie "The Manchurian Candidate" and at least question, if not have serious doubts about his mental state.

"John we can't hold all calls until 9:00 am."

"John, gruel and maggots is not the right choice for a state dinner."

"John, wearing a karate outfit to travel might be comfortable but it's going to give the wrong impression."

"John, what in the hell were you thinking, she wasn't your wife, your wife is out of town."

"John will you stop watching the introduction to the move "Patton."

You are driving your secret service guys crazy making them wear World War II uniforms and standing at attention all night."

"No John, your not going to Hospice, your going to the hospital for a check-up."

"John, your wife called and said those adult toys you sent were addressed to her maid."

If this seems like an impossible scenario I suggest you drink a six-pack and let your mind wander a bit, and you might begin to believe, Nothing is Impossible.
Clay

Don't Make Me Stop This Car

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 15:30:00 +0000

Question: You are riding in the Presidential Limo and Arguing with your staff about a policy question. How do you resolve the problem?
a. You fire anyone who disagrees with you.
b. You have the secret service maim anyone who disagrees with you.
c. You never argue with people beneath your pay grade -- or who doesn't sleep in the residence.
d. Stop the car and refuse to take anyone back to the White House unless they admit you are always right.

When my kids were little and they would be in the car fighting with one another and it was impossible to concentrate because the noise was so intrusive, I like millions of other parents would threaten, “stop fighting or I’ll have to stop this car.” Over the last few days, when I listen to the news, it takes me back and all I want to do is yell. “Don’t make me stop this car!”

What are these Presidential candidates thinking? Don’t they get that everything they say now, will be repeated in the general election. Don’t they get that this is just, as my Alaskan friends have been known to say, “the tip of the iceberg”. If they think the attacks have been difficult to this point, they have no idea how savaged they are going to be by the Republicans. But for me, (and I like all of the talking heads and the bloggers do make it all about me), the most unattractive off-putting tactic is the whining. What ever would have possessed the Obama people to whine about Saturday Nite Live. “ Boo Hoo, they like Hillary better than me”. Well, who wouldn’t when that’s the approach you take to a good natured comedy sketch. Here’s some sage advice to my friends in Chicago. “Get over it!” The SNL people are going to do what they do and as long as they spell your name correctly, kids will be attracted to the election—and isn’t that what we’re all about. Oh God, I hate political whining. It’s so unPresidential.

But back to me. On my way back to DC today, I sat with a 25 or so, year old guy who was on his phone for three out of the three and a half hours. Most of his conversation was with some friends who apparently were interested in what this guy did before and after the trip. The conversations went like this: “yeah, so last night I was making out with Tiffany. She was so hot for me it was hard to leave, but I had other things to do.” Then the next conversation was: “ Claudia was so hot for me that she said she wouldn’t take a shower until I got there so I could wash her back.” The next discourse was much more graphic and not quite so interesting. And I asked him to cease and desist. “please” I begged, “I’m an older woman and my heart can’t stand it.” I thought that would be more effective than, “If you don’t stop I’m going to throw up on you.”

The technology today has made it such that conversations with/among strangers is inevitable. And some of those are about politics. (OK I know it’s a leap from the last paragraph – aren’t you perceptive). So when this guy started to talk about the campaigns (again to a friend who might have had more than a third grade education) I was glued to my adjacent seat. First he talked about how great the Spitzer ‘bimbo’ looked. Her boobs were mamazing (cute huh). Then his 2 minute attention span turned to Obama. “Yeah I thought I’d vote for the guy. But look at what his minister said. Maybe he is a muslim plant.”

You may say, consider the source. But even very smart people are asking questions about how a guy like Obama – someone who wants to be the President , can be associated with anyone who uses the kind of divisive and racist, anti American rhetoric that this minister used and uses. While I am sure the explanation is not difficult—there has to be a public explanation. I mean. I get it. My Uncle Phil and I used to fight about communism, the war in Viet Nam and the Chinese Communist Revolution. He was a fighter pilot in WW2 and as a youth, he like every Jew in NY, was a member of the communist party. He was embarrassed about the association and he was angry about the war in Viet Nam. He was right about the Chinese Communists, but, as a young person, I was inflexible in my thinking and one day, in an angry confrontation, I said he was stupid. He was visibly shaken to the point of tears. He never finished the argument because he was so hurt by my characterization of his intellect. And I was so ashamed about what I had done that I left his house without goodbyes. Eventually, we made up. But it took a long time and many earnest talks in-between. I think this is how Obama must feel about his spiritual mentor. He loves the guy. He can’t turn him away emotionally, but he’s a different generation and he has to turn him away intellectually because it is a different place than it was in the 60’s.

I have been thinking about this all day because I didn’t see a way out for the candidate. But now I do. The good senator from Illinois has to say, without any qualification or apologies that he loves this country. He chose, (as a young boy) to stay here when his mom left to go to Indonesia, and he loves it more than anyone can imagine. I believe this is the truth. I believe that there is no downside to loving the country you want to lead. I believe that while Republicans can find unimaginable ways to attack the Obama candidacy, they cannot possibly wage war on a candidate who says they love the United States and want it to be the best it can be. It’s not an enormous leap from what he’s been saying all along. This will work. Whining won’t.
Iris

Uncle Clay, who are you voting for?

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:40:00 +0000

Question:

As the candidate, how will you deal with a misinformed public.
a. Design a U-tube ad. It is more likely to be watched than any other media.
b. Hire ‘big’ out of work union members to beat up all the news people giving out the information.
c. Hope the little baby Jesus will tell his dad to strike the misinformers dumb.
d. If you can’t take the heat get out of the kitchen.

As I write this I have two house guests sleeping contently in our back bedroom. Actually, if you had ever been to my house I wouldn't have to say which bedroom, Eh?

It’s my wife’s niece and her husband and I need to say that so you don’t think they are on my side. They are both from Rochester, NY. He does lawn care in the summer and she is a hair stylist. They are both forty-years old and have voted in every Presidential election since they were old enough. Her mother suffered a series of strokes in the past several years and lives only a few miles from her. Her father is the caregiver but being he is pushing eighty it’s necessary for Alice (my niece-in-law) to spend most of her evenings helping out.

They were telling me over coffee yesterday about how difficult it was to maintain any sort of a positive lifestyle. They pay over $8,000 a year for health care. Their one bedroom house which he paid $28,000 for eleven years ago is taxed over $3,000 a year. She keeps turning off lights in the house to conserve energy and he only drinks generic beer. They fish and hunt and eat everything they catch or shoot. They have a dog, he owns twenty-five guns. Their only vacation is here in Key West staying with us. They rent an economy car with unlimited mileage and drive all day and night to get here. He is afraid that his employer who he has been with will replace him with an immigrant because he has worked so long for him that his pay is getting to be a burden. His employer could get two or three immigrants to work for what he gets paid. To him that’s a heavy burden to carry because he doesn’t think he can do anything else.

They put every penny into their retirement fund because they also are concerned about their own retirement. When they told me that I told them to start spending some of that money on themselves, maybe stock up on some real Corona and maybe consider flying down here next time. In other words “live a little.” I also told them that both of them could easily find work here in Key West and make a lot more money doing what they’re already doing, but that’s a mute point because Alice will never leave her mother’s side. Another forfeited life or lives.

So yesterday morning while we sat there talking David her husband asked about who was I going to vote for. I replied I wasn’t sure yet but it was going to be between McCain and Obama and I’d have to find out more about them. Then David who seemed almost embarrassed to say what came next asked me, “Do you really think we should put a Muslim in the White House?” I was taken back, here was the typical somewhat intelligent, hard working American couple who are sincerely concerned with not only their future but the future of our county as well and he asked me that! I took a deep breath and thought out what or how should I reply and came up with this: David, Obama is not a Muslim, never has been a Muslim and never will be a Muslim. He was raised a Christian and will remain a Christian. The look on his face was the tell-tale fact of what he really was thinking, (why is Uncle Clay lying to me.” I picked up my coffee and walked out on my dock to have a cigarette and just shook my head in disbelief. Oh, no I didn’t go back in to try and persuade him that he was wrong. My only wish was that he’d stop listening to those tv and radio talk shows. Albeit they are free and I guess that’s the only entertainment they can afford...
Clay

Another Idea

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 23:13:00 +0000

Question: What do you do if your Presidential campaign is falling apart?
a. Fire every consultant who has made more than a million dollars.
b. Buy a ticket to Aruba and get some rest.
c. Cover your spouse's mouth with masking tape
d. Just tell the public who you really are...if you know

The ‘politicking’ gets more and more complicated. Yesterday Bill Clinton was somewhere, the place doesn’t matter – it was some state -- they all begin to look alike after a few primaries. He was giving a speech about what Hillary would say if she was there. And at some point in the speech he said, “so if you elect me”. The intro was a bit far away from the “elect me” and so it seemed that he was actually campaigning for himself. Maybe he was. Who knows at this point. And is it important? Well, it is to the people who are voting for Hillary in order to get Bill back in the White House. That would be my mother and her 10 friends – maybe there are more. I didn’t mean to minimize my mothers impact on the election. But for those people who are tired of the Clinton team, and had hoped just Hillary was going to be their President, it doesn’t work very well.

When Gloria Steinem wrote her NY Times editorial and said that a woman with Barack’s credentials would not have been taken seriously, I objected to the piece. I still think I was right, but with a caveat. Sure, there have always been issues of electability – people have been talking about that since Hillary announced. Things like, she’s a lightning rod for the republicans. Or she’s too polarizing. And the campaign management problems are evident. It is certainly legitimate to say, if she can’t run her campaign can she run the government? But a campaign is not governing—despite rumors to the contrary. Bill Clinton’s presence should have been a plus but has turned into a negative. And it is true that she can’t she seem to get a break from the media? But I don’t think that the reason is because she is a woman.

I think if Gerry Ferraro, or Claire McCaskill or any female Governor were running, there would notbe the same amount of criticism. It seems to me that the attacks on Hillary are not about the fact that she is a woman. They are personal attacks by a media which has been mistreated or dismissed by the arrogance of the people running a campaign that does not respect the role of the media. It really wasn’t any different during the Clinton Administration. George Stephanopolis, now a credible media person, tried to move the White House press secretary’s office out of the west wing. The media—for reasons good or bad—were in a large part the enemy. Maybe that’s an oversimplification. I’m nothing if not simple.

But the questions of “Which Hillary” is going to be at the debate, is certainly being asked over and over today. And who did that? The fact is that she has been many different people over the last week, so voters are confused about who they may be electing. It should never have gotten to that point. But that’s what happens when the campaign does not have any discernable direction.

In 1992, when Bill Clinton ran against George Bush senior – the good George Bush-- the campaign I ran against the President (yes it was funded and impactful – don’t you hate that word, it sounds like a tooth issue) was designed to illustrate, in a humorous way, why the American public shouldn’t vote for the President. The best way to diminish the importance of a person is through humor, so we crafted a “Witch George Bush” effort which was launched on Halloween. There are those who say if people had ridiculed Hitler rather than ignore him in the beginning, he wouldn’t have come to power. Who knows? Anyway, we had people costumed as witches at all the President's events for the week following the holiday. We were funny. But the question was serious. If the public is not sure about the character of the candidate, or has to ask the question, “when we open the door who will we find behind it?” They will most assuredly be reluctant to support that person – whoever they are. As you can imagine there are many hilarious tales to be told about these adventures – but that’s another blob. The point is, no political person wants to be the butt of a joke – especially on u tube. And you can be sure they are running clips of all the different Hillary’s this week.

And speaking of TV, as my old friend Ed Sullivan said, now ladies and gentlemen back to the shows. Maybe it wasn’t Ed or maybe he wasn’t my friend, or maybe he didn't say that. I can’t remember. But the talking heads, from Mort Zuckerman to Joe Scarborough have come up with great ideas about what Hillary should have said about Obama accusations and how she might have responded to this or that issue. Or my own personal talking head favorite is the answer to the question, “At this point, how does Hillary win?” Then there’s a pause and the inevitable response of the day; which Hillary? This is followed by some empty ideas about how she wins, which among others suggestions always includes —she needs to know who she is. She needs to find a message. She needs to fire her consultants. She needs to wear better colors, higher collars, a different color lipstick. The dissecting of Hillary is so painful to all of us who worked for and respect her that I can hardly watch the process unfold.

Women are excellent managers. And excellent leaders. I know this because some of my best friends happen to be women. And I think to base the success or failure of this campaign around the fact that Hillary is a woman, is to diminish who weare, the fights we fought to get here, and our ability to be great at whatever we chose to do. I among many other competent women could have crafted a successful campaign for Senator Clinton. These mistakes were not about her being a woman. They were, just like with any other person running for any office, about not having good advice, spending a great deal of money unwisely, and surrounding herself with people who had limited vision. At a time when people are looking for something to believe it’s ‘silly’ to think you can win an election by dismissing their ability to have hope for the future.
Iris

What Does a Lobbyist Do

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 16:15:00 +0000

Question: what is the job of a lobbyist?
a. To ingratiate yourself with a lawmaker in order to effectuate change.
b. To give a law maker big donations in order to get them to effectuate the change you want—in order that you keep your job.
c. To brag about your relationship with a lawmaker so everyone (especially the firm you work for) thinks you can effectuate change.
d. Never to say one word about getting a lawmaker to do something that helps your lobbying career.

Let’s talk a bit about the way Washington Lobbyists operate.

If you answered all of the above, you would be wrong. If you answered a,b, and c you’re on your way to a career as a lobbyist, or at the very least you know what you are supposed to do to succeed.

I don’t think what John McCain did years and years ago really matters. Here is a guy who was a fighter pilot in Viet Nam. I think he’s probably the kind of macho guy who likes women. In addition, he and his first wife divorced, while he was seeing his second wife. So we know he has had a least one moment when he may have embarrassed his family—if not his country. Did he do favors for the young lobbyist who has a great gold dress (as seen in the NYTimes)? I don’t think there is a legislator in Washington who has not done a favor for a lobbyist. They don’t call them favors. What the legislator says is that lobbyists present a case for their client and then the legislator makes a decision whether to support it or not based on the merit of the idea. Blah Blah Blah. But there was enough question about what legislators get from lobbyists (money, trips, meals, maybe even sex) that Senator McCain, working with Senator Feingold, tried to change the way lobbyists do business and legislators do favors.

It’s all part of the Washington game that Senator Obama wants to change—and I’m right there with that kind of change. But don’t tell my lobbyist friends, (some of my best friends are lobbyists.) But that is not what this blob is about. As I said, John McCain is a nice guy, macho, older person. I have the greatest respect for him because as a young legislator he was befriended by Mo Udall, an older (Democrat) Representative who later ran for President and for whom I worked and who I loved (not like Monica Lewinsky). And when, years later, Mo was diagnosed with severe Parkinson’s and confined to a nursing care facility, McCain visited him every week. There was no one else who did this. Not other friends or family.

What is much more interesting than if he did favors or had an affair, is why the story broke now and who benefits from it. Supposedly, the NYTimes broke the story now because the New Republic was going to do a story about why the Times was holding their story. That has to be crap—all the NY Times would have to do is say ‘we didn’t have enough substantiation.’ It’s not the Democrats, because they would prefer a story like this break during the General Election. It is premature for a Democratic victory. So let’s think. Far as I can see, only Huckabee has anything to gain with a story like this. We’re not sayin that Huckabee crafted this scenario—Drudge had the story in December – but as a person who believes that people care about character issues and pointing out character flaws is a good way to defeat your opponent, I ask again, who benefits from the release of what appears to be a story not quite fleshed out. Not the Republican Party, although there are those people who don’t believe he is a real Republican nor can he win an election without the conservative base. Not anyone who wants to run for his Senate seat if he loses the Presidential election and has to face another Arizona senate race. That’s much too premature.

If I were a reporter this is where I would focus my attention. Speculating about whether or not the staff tried to keep them apart or warn of the improprieties, or appearance of impropriety is just silly. It’s no smarter than when the a senior Clinton White House official called and suggested, because of the appearance of impropriety, (little did we know), I hire Monica Lewinsky at USIA. I refused and suggested they just fire her. ‘Well,’ I was told, ‘they couldn’t because her family were important funders.’ So they sent her to the Defense Department and wasn’t that a wise decision.

Anyway, let’s talk about the only important issue with regard to John McCain and this election. How much pancake make-up does Cindy McCain apply. And further, wouldn’t it be easier to just apply real pancakes.
Iris

The Thief of Words

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:24:00 +0000

Factoid: The President’s speech writers salary is generally paid by Random House or an equally large publishing company in order to avoid any accusations of plagiarism when they write their memoirs.

Several months ago I got up the courage to leave “the rock” Key West, and travel to Washington, DC for a visit with Iris (my co-author)and David Burnett. The highlight of that trip was a tour of places Iris frequented when she was working with the White House. It was then that I began to see the depth of her love for this country and the concern about who the leaders will be.

The first stop, was her favorite ice cream shop where she would take her staff almost on a daily basis for their noon pick-me-up. But they were working 14 to 18 hours a day so I guess that time was well spent. The second place she took me was to the Lincoln Memorial and that’s where she revealed that there were many, many nights when she would visit old Abe and sit on steps and reflect about what a wonderful country we lived in. As we walked inside the memorial she whispered to me, (you see there is a sign that reads “Silence Please” which only we respected but because there was so much tourist chatter about who was going to stand in front of Abe and who was going to take the pictures. She guided me into the room to the right and pointed to the walls inscribed with some of his words.

Yes, words. And I read them, all of them and as we walked out and down the steps I said to her, “Iris, this whole country needs to hear those words again.” Then I told her that I had four grown children and I wished I had brought them here when they were young enough to understand why we consider Abraham Lincoln a true visionary. I even suggested to her that she should make flyers of those writings and have the Democratic National Committee pass them out at every rally or speech their candidates attended.

Hell, they should be printed on the front pages of every newspaper in the United States.

But then, wouldn’t that put all the speech writers, campaign workers, and strategists out of work?

Enough of that, now on to the second memorial, the FDR, as in Franklin Delano Roosevelt, once again I told Iris my children would have no idea what FDR stood for, another mistake on my part I guess. Anyway, as we walked through his expansive memorial of statues and inscriptions I felt myself going back in my childhood. My parents were raised in the era of the great depression, soup lines and governmental work programs. We didn’t have welfare but we did have what was called, Relief. Which was food subsidies. My father was so proud that he never took the monthly trip to receive these handouts, but he was no fool and sent me. I really didn’t want to leave that memorial. I felt once again the pride I carried as not only a citizen but a veteran. Now I could go on and on and just write some more melancholy stuff so I’ll just end this by saying: What happened to our country, how could we have forgotten these great men who uttered such great words that moved us through wars and depression into greatness? Did someone put into effect a law or a ban from using these words under penalty of plagiarism or being called a thief of words. I guess there must be such a law because I never hear anyone repeating them anymore. I just hope somewhere down the line someone doesn’t put covers over those inscriptions with the warning, “No Trespassing!”

As we were walking back to her car she kept blowing her nose and wiping her eyes and I asked her if she was OK and maybe we should go get some ice cream and said she'd love that. Then she explained her eyes were watering because of her allergies. I stopped, took her by the arm and said, "Look around Iris, it's the dead of winter, there isn't one thing growing within a hundred miles."
Clay

Long Running Drama

noreply@blogger.com (Christian) — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 06:36:00 +0000

We have invited people we think are smart and funny to be guests on this Blog. And here are some musings from our incredible WebMaster, Christian Coulon

Question: Which movie or TV show starring a Presidential candidate would you most love/hate to see?

A. Anything Chuck Norris with Mike Huckabee as the good natured but doomed sidekick
B. A Fist Full of Dollars starring Barack Obama as Clint Eastwood and Mitt Romney as the suspiciously eyebrowed villain
C. The Godfather with John McCain as the Godfather, Rudy Giuliani as Councelieri, (wait switch that) and Mitt Romney as 'Sonny'(wait, switch that any way)
D. Robin Hood starring John Edwards instead of Kevin Costner
E. The whole red and blue crew as the Republic Council in Star Wars, with Barack Obama as the Luke Skywalker discovering his blood relationship to Darth Vader played by Dick Cheney (yeah you've heard the last part before so subtract 5 from originality)
F. Scrubs starring Hillary as Eliot, John Edwards as J.D. (J.E.?), and Barack as Turk
G. Dr. Strangelove with Arnold Shwartzenegger as General 'Buck' Turgidson and Ann Coulter as Dr. Strangelove

Hillary's statement that 'you campaign in poery but you govern in prose' would take her further if Barack's speeches rhymed in couplets:

Let's bring people together
On the war we said never

I'll still be friends with Hillary
After I get tough with Billary

Hillary could also have said is her campaign is TV while Barack's is a movie.

Hill and Bill are from, of, and for the TV generation. Like a sitcom their drama is a result of their all too human character traits, and external forces figure second. But they're a big popular show: ER, The Simpsons, Bat Gat. They're no daytime soap, (although they borrow a plot line now and then). The are a well respected, if long running program. The smiles are still radiant and the lines are still clever. But they're into the 11th season by now and they don't look like they're enjoying it as much as they used to.

Meanwhile Barack Obama is starring in the role he seems born to play. It's like The Lion King were it an intensely serious adult drama. His words might be poetry but his themes and ideas are long and deep and serious like a film. He is the most presidential and dignified political presence some of us have ever seen, and when he gives a victory speech it's like my 22 inch screen starts to grow, the lights go low, and someone passes the popcorn.

This political season is the best entertainment going because of Barack. Even if he doesn't win (yeah right) I'll always feel like I've seen what a real president should look like and be. It's like he's destined for the role, and like it was written for him. For some of us, whether Obama fails or succeeds will determine whether we're watching a heroic or tragic drama.

The trailer for Barack Obama is playing every day now. It's playing during "The Clintons" prime-time spot. It looks like it's gonna live up to the hype after all. Everyone's wants to see it. If they don't release it because a Hollywood Dynasty flipped the jealous switch there's gonna be some seriously ticked off people.

But Americans watch a whole lot of TV. "The Clintons" have been running a long, long time. They're begging us to keep watching and not ditch them for the big new show. If they go off the air we'll feel bad and we'll miss 'em. But will we take a chance on a big movie night anyway? Hell yes! We can stay home and bathe in the warm mind numbing glow of the TV set any day.

Christian

Super What?

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 14:18:00 +0000

How can the average person identify who the Super Delegates are at the DNC convention?

a. They all will be wearing large flashing badges imprinted with a rhinestone S similiar to the Superman logo.
b. They will be escorted at all times by a scantily clad young lady carrying a very large crystal bowl that reads: Tips Appreciated
c. By the look like Secret Service agents surrounding and providing them with personal security.
d. Anyone that Geraldo interviews, will be a Super Delegate, anyone.

My new interest in politics is driven by the similarities between Wall Street and the Democratic National Committee. It all began when I heard about close-hold covert operations, not unlike the military’s special operation command, that are an integral part of both the DNC and Wall Street.

I bought a copy of the WSJ, (just love acronyms) and searched the business opportunities section and found exactly what I needed. A highlighted classified ad that read: Internship Opportunities with the DNC: With the 2008 Presidential Election ahead, the DNC is an exciting and busy place. This enriching experience in politics is an opportunity to get an insider’s view of the Democratic Party and to make valuable life-long connections.

What really caught my attention was the phrase “valuable life-long connections.” My whole life I wanted to belong to some organization that had valuable life-long connections. Sure I tried the Salvation Army, The John Birch Society, The Culinary Union and Alcoholic Anonymous but they all sort of fizzled out or just became plain boring and not to my liking.

I sent a letter of inquiry to the address indicated and within three days I received a Fed-Ex envelope or should I say package. In it was an application and booklets that were over an inch thick.

The first document was a request for my personal financial statement. I left it blank because all I had was my veteran’s disability pension and that hardly covered the cost of my subscription to the WSJ. They also wanted my D&B Report and credit rating. I didn’t know who D&B was so I left that section blank. I sent the info back, along with a small check to cover research expenses. I took that money from my pet’s food allowance. Next was a release of my rights under the Freedom of Information Act. That worried me a bit but what the hell, I’m sure being a “one for all and all for one” kinda organization they “could forgive and forget” some indiscretions in my past. And again, I had to send a check to pay for the inquiry they had to submit to the FIA agency. That money came from my food allowance.

Then there was also a confidentially statement which they wanted me to sign before I moved on to the next level. Oh yeah, I had to send a small sum to cover the printing and postage. So I opted to cancel my WSJ subscription and used that money to cover this cost.

Lastly, they wanted my insights and opinions on what would make the DNC reach its goals of global leadership. I didn’t have any except I wanted to live my remaining years in luxury, or at least a small dwelling. But I had to send something, so I enclosed an old CD of Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Re-visited. And yes another pittance to cover expenses and editing of my statement. I wondered if they could get in trouble if they edited Bob Dylan’s songs.

The last thing I had to do was read the several dozen pamphlets they sent to start my career in the DNC. Information on becoming a political pundit would be forthcoming in another packet. And yes another check which came out of my beer money. That one hurt, but I figured what the hell, it’ll pay off big time for me and I certainly could sacrifice for a little while.

So off everything went and as I left the post office I began to play a game of “what if” and before I got back to my bunk under the bridge I saw myself becoming a “super delegate.”

It took two weeks to get a reply and all that was in the envelope was a short note along with my checks. They were all marked Account Closed 2002.
Clay

What Were They Thinking

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 16:12:00 +0000

Question:

If you had to choose among the following campaign slogans (we will not use names but we will tell you they have been used in the past by political opposition teams) which do you think would come closest to a slogan that might be used about you, by your opponent.
a. Hey ---- your tie is open

b. Hey ---- your eye is open

c. Hey---- your lie is open

d. Hey ---- your fly is open

There isn’t a place he goes where there aren’t thousands of people. Usually the overflow people stand outside and he comes out with a bullhorn to say hello. It must be the rhetorical flourishes.

What were the Clinton people thinking when they decided not to organize for the caucuses. They had years to put organizations together. A year ago Obama wasn’t even thinking about the race, and maybe because he had so little money he determined that they needed to take the “old’ political tactic of building organizations, while the Clinton team determined that they would be the candidate after Feb. 5, so they could just do media. Or maybe Mark Penn, whose company made 4 1/2 million dollars for strategy and media buys, decided that strategy would make him rich – so why should he build organizations. They would have plenty of time to do that during the general elections.

And why would they make a big deal of Patty Solis’ departure? First of all, she’s not departing. Second of all, she was always more of a fund raiser than strategist. Third, Maggie Williams didn’t suddenly appear on the scene, she’s been in place for a month, and an advisor forever. Is there a fourth? Yes, there is always more when you most expect it. Why would you get rid of the one person who was accessible, and keep all the people who have made bad decisions and continue to be isolated from the reality of what’s happening?

Does Senator Clinton not understand that when she tries to demean Senator Obama by taking a pot shot about his speaking ability, by indicating that she could do the same but she would rather people know about her 35 years of dedication to helping children, it doesn’t make her any more likeable or for that matter, electable. Clearly people want to be inspired by what a candidate says.

We now know that people don’t seem to care about experience or they are not buying the kind of experience she has. We also know that Bill Clinton can’t be controlled – if he wants to talk fantasy – we all finally see that the fairy tale is about him. We know that Mark Penn and Terry McAuliffe have an agenda that does not necessarily reflect Hillary’s best interest and we know Chelsea is in Wisconsin because they have pretty much written off that state. What a terrible thing to do to your progeny. Maybe she’ll spend a weekend there.

And what are they thinking to send Hillary off to Texas and Ohio and whatever other hinterlands, rather than stay in Virginia, DC and Maryland and face the music. It just looks like she’s running away from the inevitable. It just seems like she has thrown in the east coast towel and has moved on, hoping that in other parts of the country the people who are supposed to vote for her will actually do so. But look at the exit polls (which I hardly ever do): Obama won with white males in Virginia-- that is amazing. And young women (they now need to think ‘old’). The Potomac vote, as they call it, was not supposed to be for Obama. Yes, we all knew DC would vote for him, but it was never clear what Virginia and Maryland would do. And they have done what they rest of the country may do. Right now Obama has 63% of the vote in Virginia. And tomorrow I may tell you what happened in Maryland.

Here’s the thing. Hillary never expected to be in a contest and Barack never had anything to lose. She is not well served by the people who are giving her advice and he is very well served by the people who want to be inspired. It’s not like anything any of us have ever seen. In 1972, we rallied around McGovern because he was an elected voice for our anti-war cause. The campaign was young and we didn’t have the support of mainstream Democrats. But we were inspired to vote and to make a difference. This is not the case with Obama. Mainstream Democrats have endorsed the man and his vision. Young, old, black, white (brown is slow to come), Jews, Christians, Moslems, and Buddhists. (You get the point). People. Just people, have decided that they want a real change. This is not about ‘changing things for 35 years.’ It’s about a vision for the future and looking beyond who the Democratic party is today. It’s about what the Democratic party will be tomorrow. They do not want Bill Clinton and the Clinton drama back in the White House—this is too important an election to reduce it to marital politics. Oy vey. (That’s Jewish for ‘oh my oh my’). I don’t pretend to know where this election will go—although I could pretend, and it would be pretty entertaining. I just want Hillary to get rid of the people who have led her astray, and to make this into a real race for the future.
Iris

Thinking While Drinking

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Fri, 08 Feb 2008 00:40:00 +0000

Questions:
If there is an unusual natural disaster your first thoughts will be:
a. What actions do I need to take to protect my approval rating.
b. Should I look into the possibility of forming a sub-division that focuses only on catastrophes which have never been dealt with in the past. Things like: Flocks of
wild chickens running around helter-skelter infecting everyone they come in contact with a deadly virus. Perhaps appoint someone to be the Official Chicken Catcher.
c. If there is the possibility of massive injuries and death due to the illegal imported Snake Fish and Killer Bees, should I suggest that citizens have stocked their homes with duct tape because it could converted into bee paper, just like days of old. Or should I suggest the use the Killer Bees as bait for the Snake Fish, after all using they will greatly reduce the cost effectiveness of eradicating both threats..

If there is a normal natural disaster such as an earthquake, flood, hurricane or tornadoes, do I tell the public:
a. It is just Mother Natures way of expressing herself.
b. There but for the Grace of God go I! and let it work itself out.
c. The only possible assistance from the Federal Government will be a National Day of Prayer.

Maybe I’m missing something but when I was in elementary school math, 207 was more than 140. The media in their wisdom has determined that Huckabee is in second place in the Republican race. What are they talking about? By all counts he’s in third and further, there aren’t a whole lotta states left for him to win a big evangelist vote – the evangelists are running out. The Little Baby Jesus is not happy. David said, given the choice of having a beer with any of these candidates, Hukabee is the only Republican with a real sense of humor (Romney’s family practical jokes and McCain’s occasion sneer, don’t count). Note: It doesn’t matter I was wrong in my prediction and (breaking news) Romney has discontinued his campaign, so David won’t have to have a drink with him.

But aside from playing the numbers game, and Hillary and Barak are pretty much in a dead heat when you look at the numbers. However, I still think the most fascinating thing about the campaigns is the rhetoric/message each candidate delivers. The election night speeches were a perfect example. Both Senators declared victory, “I got more states, I got more numbers, I got a bigger headache, I have a bigger 'tuchas' and like that. And they both talked about change, but in such different ways.

Hillary told us how she she’s the future with sentences that started “I see...”. Based on everything she has said she genuinely believes that you cannot change the world without the experience to know how to do it. And having staffed the Government after Bill Clinton’s victory, she isn’t wrong.

Barack did his, “Yes we can...” speech. The ‘we’ is appealing because it says that we’re all in this together. I can’t do it alone. (People want to be part of a group. It’s brilliant). In fact, at one point he said something like, We are the people who we are waiting for. In other words, no one is going to make change alone—it’s a team effort and you are all the team. He feels that Washington is a mess and you can’t fix it with thinking out of the box about how business is done. Experience is overrated. (Who knows).

It is possible that I am reading into what they both are saying and making it my own (but you know it’s always all about me), and I don’t get it. I know it is impossible to change the bureaucracy overnight and without experience and at the same time But I like the thinking out of the box route. And speaking of thinking out of the box (yes I know this is a literary leap, but worth making), I met a fabulous guy today. Don’t make that other leap-- I am still seriously committed to the husband, but this was a professional marriage I’d like to make. His name is Justin Krebs and if you go to http://drinkingliberally.org , you will get a taste of what he has done. And speaking of tastes, one of the organizations he helped to create http://eatingliberally.org– the other being http://laughing liberally.org. If you go to Cosmopolity.org you can see all the things he has done.

On their drinkingliberally.org site, which was their first, they explain that the idea was to find a way to “Raise your spirits while you raise your glass, and share ideas while you share a pitcher.” The idea was to give “Liberally gives like-minded, left-leaning individuals a place to talk politics.” Justin graduated from Harvard and decided that he wanted to work on a great many projects and, in order to do this he couldn’t work on any one of them for more than six months. (He’s my kind of guy, but I said I was never going to do anything for more than four years—the Presidential cycle. He was smarter). First he worked in Hillary Clinton’s Senate race, next in the parks advocacy movement. Then with a friend Matthew O'Neill, he collaborated on Speak Up New York! - a state-wide youth civic engagement program that won special commendation from the Society of Professional Journalists. Next he developed all the “liberally” organizations. Oh and at the same time they were drinking liberally they created The Tank, a space for performing and visual arts in Manhattan. Whew! But what I think is the best thing about what he has done, other than building a creative, worthwhile, humorous, civic minded, empire (yes, it’s pretty amazing), is that they think face to face communication is the best way to do anything political. Unlike MoveOn, org, they use the website to exchange information (sometimes by linking to other blogs) and promote events. They do not advocate for or endorse any candidates. He did say (without indicating a candidate preference), that when the Senate voted to censure MoveOn, Hillary voted against it and Barak didn’t vote. Instead, they want people to get together, have fun and exchange political ideas.

The more I write the more I love the whole concept. It’s like politics used to be before you had a computer and a cell phone and you didn’t need to ever see another person or hear a voice. He has successfully combined the use of today’s technology with the concept of old fashioned retail politics. Every person who wants to see the potential of a what can happen when you know people need to have a place for conversation, while at the same time thinking out of the box, should click on at least one of his sites. It's a little about thinking while drinking.
Iris

Run Hither and Thither

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 18:50:00 +0000

Question:

If someone were to ask you if you were capable of diplomacy, which answer comes the closest to what you would respond:
a. No, but I did have attention deficit disorder for a few years.
b. Yes, and after I mastered it I moved right on to the cha cha.
c. That’s synonymous with mediation isn’t it. Or was it medication? Whichever, I take mine on a regular basis.

The Patriots lost. I am heartsick. And I am in New York so the horns are blowing and the drunks are throwing up—but they are happy. My kids are suicidal – they live in Boston. My grandson spent the day dressed in his NFL sweat pants and his Bruske
T-shirt. These are personal important issues that momentarily distract me from politics, but only momentarily.

I had lunch the other day with a wonderful old friend from USIA- that was the public diplomacy Agency that was reorganized into the State Department-- virtually rendering the United States without a public diplomacy effort. Why, you may ask yourself does that matter? Because public diplomacy is all about people talking to people (all the organizations, educational institutions, press, public affairs) rather than political (the governments) diplomacy. So these were the people who spoke the language, did the press work, and handled all the exchanges of ideas and information. In other words, they actually knew what was going on in other nations. Once the State Department took it over it was relegated (stupidly) to nonexistent. Anyway, my friend, who would rather be water boarded than be involved in politics said “So who do you think should be the Republican choice for VP?” I said “the governor of Florida or maybe Lindsay Graham” He said, “that was not thinking strategically.” He went on. “What about J.C. Watts.”

What about J.C. Watts. Black, handsome, articulate, conservative, rich, astutely political. Brilliant. I wish the idea had been mine. If any of the Republican candidates determined that J.C. Watts was their choice for VP. It renders the Democratic firsts, (female, black), immaterial—or at least, not so unique in terms of 'change’. Oh my. What to do?

The candidates are all over the place, they may even be in two places at once. David (crack photojournalist) is with McCain, oops Clinton, no, Obama. This means David is in two places at once. For the candidates, this National Primary is very much like the last day of the general election. You wake up in one place and for the next 24 hours you do skitter across the country with quick stops in as many places as you can. And, because of the dynamics of campaigning, things change (there’s that word again), all the time—including the schedules. Right now, in all the political strategy sessions, the powers that be are still making decisions about where to go for the next two days. You can be sure the field directors in every one of the primary states is screaming that they absolutely have to have the candidate in their state, or they are screaming not to send the candidate because they don’t want to be distracted by having to deal with candidate events—they just want to concentrate on get out the vote. And the way these decisions are made is critical. Where do you take the plane/candidate. During the Hart campaign, as an old example, there came a time when the people on the plane didn’t even bother to call the strategists—they just took the plane to wherever and hoped there would be people in those places who could organize and attend the events. It was a little disconcerting not to know where the candidate was, and there came a time when we just hoped he was someplace.

And almost as important, who do you send out as surrogates when the ‘principle’ can’t be there. Look at what’s happened with surrogates and at the message the presence of each surrogates sends. Yesterday, Oprah, Caroline Kennedy and yes, Maria Shriver appeared at a single event in California. Strong women who have strong voices with strong opinions. At the same time, Bill Clinton was across town trying to mend fences with Black preachers. It had the appearance of a little desperation. Kind of like, “I screwed up big time so I better try to make it better or my wife will really be pissed off.” It’s a difficult time for the Clinton’s because they never expected to have to deal with this kind of a challenge. It would be interesting to see, based on all the polling information, how the schedule has changed over the last couple of days based on each new concern. My guess is that the McCain schedule has remained fairly constant, Romney is staying in the west. Huckabee is only making appearances in southern states and Obama and Clinton have remained in flux. Which most importantly means David is fluxing and we have no idea where he is. Where in the world is David Burnett. I guess we’ll find him after Tuesday, but who knows.

Anyway, there is no joy in bean town today. And probably there won’t be joy tomorrow, or until the season begins next august. That being said, I don’t think February 5th will determine who the Democratic candidate will be. But I do know that whoever it is, someone will be as unhappy as the Patriots are today.
Iris

So Few Candidates, So Much Time

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 02:27:00 +0000

FACTOID:

In l953 President Eisenhower changed the name of the ultra secret presidential retreat then known as Shangri La, (a name that Pres Roosevelt selected when it was first built in 1942 in the Catoctin Mountain Park 70 miles from Washington DC to Camp David.) When Pres Eisenhower changed the name to Camp David after his grandson he was queried as to why he didn't name it after his son he replied, "Somehow Camp Dwight Junior seems a bit to much like a girly man."

John Edwards withdrew yesterday. So much to talk about. I miss Bill Richardson and Dennis Kucinich and I’ll miss John Edwards. Or I’ll miss his civility. Oh, and Rudy Guiliani also dropped out, but I won’t miss anything about him. Back to John. He was the foam in a sea of ... OK I’m at a loss for what else is in the water. I know there is pollution, and sand, a few fish, and coral—but none works as an illustration of what I want to say. I guess I could take the fish route and say he was a guppy in a school of sharks but that would be overstating. He was more than a small fish in a big expensive swimming pool—although neither of the other candidates wanted him cluttering up the water. So maybe I should go for the coral... Nevermind, I’m starting to sound desperate. Anyway, he’s out of the race and I’m sure the phone calls to his supporters were ongoing and relentless.

I spoke to my mother today, she is an avid Clinton supporter. She was happy that John Edwards was out of the race and she wondered why Bill Clinton couldn’t be the Vice President. “Don’t you think that would be nice for the Clinton’s? Then he won’t feel bad about not being the President.” I tried to explain why that wouldn’t work and then I thought, well if Bill spent quality time trying to change the Constitution, maybe it would keep him out of the campaign. Then a friend said, he could be the Vice President, if Hillary asked him to run. So then, for absolutely no reason, I flashed back to last week when my mother and her twin were together. Aunt Peppy went out to Seattle to see Mom. They were thrilled to see one another and then after about ten minutes they started to fight—it’s what they do. My brother called to say the good news was that they didn’t kill each other –which would have been my preference because then, after long and happy lives, they could have gone together doing what they loved doing the most—having a good fight. Kind of like “Second Hand Lions” when the 92 year old former adventurer brothers built a plane and flew it into their barn—upside down. Anyway, I thought, changing the Constitution would be easier then getting Hillary to agree that Bill should be the Vice President.
Back to the campaigns. Guiliani appeared with McCain tonight and gave him an in person endorsement adding that he would go wherever McCain wanted him to go – unless it became a problem. I guess he was referring to all those questions of appointments and spending. Isn’t it funny that McCain, an honorable person, would want to be endorsed by a person of questionable character. And I don’t get it since about 6 people in the entire US were going to vote for Rudy. But since McCain admits he knows very little about the economy, he probably thinks “it’s not the economy stupid, it’s about the power.”

And speaking of stupid, it is outrageous that the media have seemingly selected Clinton and McCain as the nominees. Maybe I’m missing something but I thought there were other Primaries. In addition, the media didn’t do very well with their predictions in Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina – so what makes them think they know any better now. This is a game of “will young people and independents vote?” If they do, Obama and Romney may do very well. If they don’t then “it’s about the stupid, stupid.”

Iris

Actors and Politicians

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 02:16:00 +0000

Question:
What is the difference between actors and politicians.
a. Paparazzi chase their subjects.
b. Politicians chase the paparazzi.
c. Paparazzi are issued restraining orders.
d. Politicians pray to God someone cares enough to take a picture.

Factoid:
A highly regarded independent auditing company has concluded that after extensive research, the amount of money spent for cosmetics, hair stylists, make-up people and wardrobe is almost the same whether the candidate is a man or a woman. One exception is their undergarments, male candidates spend much more! Go figure?

Once again in Florida “It’s the economy stupid.” Yes that’s true as the final votes were tallied, in this kaleidoscopic state where voters never make up their minds on who to vote for until they have left the voting booths. That remains the primary reason that exit pollsters have abandoned the standard, who did you vote for, and replaced it with, “what’s your favorite form of gambling?”

Average voter turnout for presidential primaries in Florida since 1972 has averaged 38 percent, that year there was an all-time record of 58 percent. Yesterday's turnout was slightly above 25 percent. And that was a surprise because polls taken early on indicated that possibly only five to eight percent where projected to show up at the polls. This set an all time low and only reinforced the fact that Florida is becoming a very self-centered state concerned only with the weather and, you can’t vote for what you want, so why go.

Here is some background on what why there was record for turnout in l972. That was the year that an amendment was attached to allow gambling on jai a·lai (pronounced HI-LIE), a game derived from pelota: a Latin American game similar to handball, played with baskets fastened to the arm for catching and throwing the ball. Here in sunshine land that game is also used as a tie breaker when deciding any winners in local politics. Only then it’s call jai a.tie. Yeah, I know you don’t think that a real game but only if you don’t live in Florida.

OK back to yesterday. Florida didn’t want to it appear that they didn’t care about the presidential primaries (after all there was no reason for Democrats to vote once the Democratic candidates took a pledge not to campaign in the state). Then Governor came up with a novel, but well thought out inducement to get voters to the polls. An amendment was added that would double the property tax homestead exemption for primary homeowners. This could save home owners a lot of money, except since the housing crisis, Florida homes are only worth half of what they used to be. Since the savings would only amount to a few dollars, it didn’t seem worthwhile to bring the voters after all. So one more amendment was added, but only for Miami-Dade County. Which by the way accounts for one third of our states population. This additional referendum was to add slot machines at Miami Jai-Alai and Calder Race Course Horse Track! And WOW did it work. Both measures passed by an average of over sixty-eight percent of the vote. Note: Now you know just how important the game of HI-LIE is to us.

Locally here in Key West our newly elected Mayor stated that the lost revenue from the property taxes would have a definite impact on our local services. He went on to target make sure school bus drivers and law enforcement agencies would take the biggest hit. Some children will now have to walk to school and he’s asking for volunteers to become mobile crossing guards. He will also fire one in every six police officers. Those officers removed will primarily come from our undercover T-Shirt Ordinance Compliance even know just how integral a part of our state HI-LIE is?
Clay

Today's Youth?

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 21:36:00 +0000

Question:

If you were trying to get young people to vote what would you promise them:
a. Good health care or rather good drugs
b. Permanent seats on Saturday Night Live and a big kiss from Andy Samberg.
c. Never to wake them before 2pm
d. A limousine ride to the poll of their choice
e. A U-tube appearance... oh never mind, anyone can do that.
f. Never to make any promises.

I have a hard time trying to figure out just who they are. I mean like I’m in my late sixties so in reality I can use that phrase when referring to anyone in their fifties. Or at least that’s the way I look at it.

If a candidate is going to target a group hereby classified as ‘Today’s Youth’ has anyone tried to figure out just what group it is. Let’s see, one group could be those between the ages of 18-20, I’ll call that group the not legal drinking age group, 21-30 looking for a job group, 31-45 employed and moving back home group, 45-54 taking care of parents group, 55- ? Faith based group praying to win the lottery and live another year group.

OK, now that I have established that let me talk about the media. If I had to group them I guess the best I could do is classify as them as the ‘Let’s Keep them Drooling Group’! Yes I do believe that is their intent. And what effect does that have on the above named groups? I can only refer to my visit yesterday at our local Dunk’n Donuts coffee shop. I seldom go there anymore because here in Key West they only hire illegal employee’s from the Eastern Europe countries. I guess the management think they look more American than other of the illegal persuasion. That is until they speak and then you know because their ability to use the English language is limited to, Yes, Thank You, Have a nice day. Tourist love it until they ask for something difficult like a low fat donut with a side of cream cheese.

Anyway there I stood in line listening to several of “ Today’s Youth” discussing who is going to be our next President. At first I was really listening but it seemed there was a lot of redundancy in the words I was hearing. Obama, Clinton, Clinton, Obama, etc, And to tell you the truth it was a rather rollicking and intellectual exchange of views. I almost began to wish that the girl at the counter would forget how to pour coffee which would give me a chance to join in the conversation. I was formulating some kind of awesome statement I could inject and become of the focus of this impromptu coffee klatch. I almost had it nailed when someone said, “Well, we’ll all know who is going to our next President when night falls on Super Tuesday.” And it was then that I realized that the entire group of “Today’s Youth” were talking as though our next Presidential choice would only be Obama or Clinton.

Now if you’re confused about what I’m writing let me make it perfectly clear.

Not one of them were talking about the Republican Party’s nominee. They were talking as though it was going to be America’s choice but it didn’t include two parties. There never was a mention or even a consideration that there was another party involved. They were so caught up in the massive media coverage that they talked like the primaries were actually the general election. It seems as though the Republican Party disappeared in a blaze of breaking news once Teddy told us how to vote.

I began to wonder when was the last time a party conceded the election before the election. At this point I wanted to ask the group, Does anyone think McCain or Romney would make a good President or even Vice-President? But if I had asked, I’d probably have been shoved to the back of the line. So here we are. We have become, thanks to the media, a one party nation. And in Florida, the Democratic Primary doesn’t even count. I think the best thing for the Republican Party to do is donate all the monies left in their campaign chest to the AARP. However, since I firmly believe in the (at least) two party system and equal representation to the public, I’m going to send a letter to the Mardi Gras Committee in New Orleans suggesting they select John McCain to be their next Grand Marshall. He at least deserves that.
Clay

A Huge Event--Not Only in Size

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 02:23:00 +0000

Question:

You can't be everywhere as a Presidential candidate. What do you look for in your surrogates? Choose from the following.
a. Someone who is deaf and dumb and needs to depend on a signer, who you will control.
b. The spouse of a former opponent who will be satisfied with a shopping trip as a thank you.
c. Someone who looks great, smiles constantly and will stick to any script you write.
d. A convicted felon. Someone who you can say you inspired back to good citizenship.
e. A really cute 19 year old, who indicates that they will have sex with anyone who votes, other than the candidate.

We stood in the cold for 40 minutes lined up at a machine that took (no joke) 4 minutes per person to pay to for parking. There were at least 20 people in front of us and twice that amount behind. We discovered there was another machine across the parking lot, but that one had twice the line as ours. “OK, no more of that”, I said to Kat, “I don’t wait in any more lines.” She agreed, confiding that she could no longer feel her toes.

Kat attended American University and I was a Professor there a few years ago, so we knew how to navigate the campus, and indeed, found our way through the Mary Gradon Center and in the back door of the Bender Arena, where we slid through a large crowd of screaming students and found ourselves in the center of the event. But we were credentialed as press, and preferred to be in that area, so a nice volunteer directed us in through the back of the arena without any hassle. That whole process took six minutes. We did stop by the press credentialing table to say we inadvertently forgot to pick up our credentials, and they gave them to us without any fuss. I love credentials. As I have always said, if you look like you know where you’re going, people will think that’s the case. About five minutes later, we discovered they were closing the working press area with 200 press people waiting in the actual press line. They were not happy press. Unfortunately, those decisions are made by the fire marshals and the public safety people and there were already too many real people inside—it’s just a numbers game with no room for negotiations.

The program opened with an a cappella group singing 60’s songs into a bad mike --which made me a bit nervous about the rest of the event because I did want to hear what the Principles were going to say. The room was set up with the podium in the middle of the arena so that the speeches would be made facing the media and the crowd was placed on the other three sides. The press area was vast. I guess because there were so many people left outside there was an amazing amount of empty space. Even with the 16 tables, and chairs (a nice touch) the press area was not crowded. I thought it was fine because I could stand on a chair and actually see what was going on. (Yes, it is all about me). Space is something that never happens at a crowded political event.

After about an hour of entertainment. a female student made her way up to the suddenly repaired microphone to introduce the talent. “Today’s youth”, she said “ will join together to elect the next President”. Then she introduced Patrick Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, Teddy Kennedy and Barack Obama. Patrick spoke first and reminded us that Teddy Kennedy was instrumental in lowering the voting age to 18. He introduced Caroline, who spoke briefly about how her children thought Obama would be able to change the country, and of course, about how she also believed Obama was a candidate like her Dad, who had the ability to inspire young people to make a difference. Then she introduced Teddy, who, when he is good is really good -- and he was.

His rhetoric was brilliant and targeted. He used phrases to describe Obama’s ability like, “not diminishing the hopes of the hopeful” , “lifting our spirits and making us believe again”. He said Obama had the “power to make America good again” . He referred to Martin Luther King’s “fierce urgency of now”, and how Obama would refuse to be trapped in the past. He talked about how impressed he was by Obama’s desire to bring the country together and referred to the the speech when Barack said, “we must no longer be red states and blue states, we must be The United States. He also took a couple of hits out on Bill Clinton by saying Obama would win without “demonizing those who hold different views”, but he confessed that he would support whomever the public determined should be the Democratic candidate. The words and sentiments were familiar but the magnitude of the event truly left me breathless. I think the fact that it was shaped around a time when there was hope and the determination to look at the future in a positive way, moved this cynic tremendously.

In direct opposition to a positive vision for the future, what was John McCain thinking when he gave that “there will be war, more wars, many wars, wars to end all wars, breakfast lunch and dinner wars, speech yesterday. Did I miss something? Isn’t this election about finding a leader who will take us out of war. One who will ‘lead’ the nations to a peaceful and diplomatically negotiated future. It’s bad enough that he is cheerleading for the Iraq war. Who wants a guy that says was is inevitable that we will be in many more wars. Doesn’t he get it. It’s the economy, stupid.
Iris

Depending on Who's Writing the Story

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 03:20:00 +0000

Question: What alternate plans have been put in place to make certain a Presidential inauguration will be conducted if there is serious terrorist threat?
Choose from the following:

a. Have the ceremony performed in a hidden safe house out in Utah and simulcast on U-Tube. In addition there should be a 10 second delay, just in case there has to be a re-take.
b. Perform the ceremony aboard Air Force One, flying at 40,000 feet only aliens will be able to get to the plane. It's been done before you know.
c. Pull all the body armor out of Iraq and have all participants fully protected. Note: The weight of full body armor exceeds 80 pounds so it will be necessary to have escorts, We would suggest Marines.
d. Declare martial law and have all law enforcement agencies arrest and remove anyone who isn’t smiling—or even looks like they might be having a bad thought.

Depending on who’s writing the story, Obama won in South Carolina because Black people voted for him 2 to 1. But that’s not the real story. What is really important to those of us who have been trying to get kids to vote is that the turn out of young people was twice what it was four years ago and that the vote among young people was close to 2 to 1 in that category as well. It’s easy to write off a Southern State because one of the candidates is Black. But does that mean that our first Black President – who spent the last week in South Carolina campaigning for his wife without making race an issue (not), might not have the kind of power with this constituency that everyone thought he had. Or, as one of my not to be mentioned friends suggested, maybe the same thing is happening with young black voters that is happening with young white voters. Maybe the older Baptist preachers, like the older organization women, don’t have the ear of t young voters.

Here’s the other incredible news. Remember when the Clinton's said that Obama was no Martin Luther King or John F Kennedy, well tomorrow President Kennedy’s daughter and his brother Ted, are endorsing Barack. This is huge. In addition, the Jose Mercury News and Xavier Bacerra, former chair of the Hispanic Caucus also endorsed. Again it’s easy to dismiss Teddy as just another incredibly important liberals. But no one can dismiss Caroline. She knew her father. She has been carries the Kennedy legacy. She is part of an important political dynasty and she has decided not to endorse a Clinton dynasty. And maybe she, like Senator McCaskill will say, it’s not that I don’t want Clinton... it’s just that I do want Obama. I love this election. Not because of a preference for a candidate, but because it actually may be an election—a real race. When was the last time that happened?

Depending on whose writing the story about the South Carolina Primary is one about Obama’s victory speech, which got back to his message about hope—although I think he needs to get rid of all those stupid “change” signs and just keep talking about hope. Or it’s a story about Hillary in Tennessee hardly spending a minute and a half on the results of South Carolina. I watched her speech, which was not easy because after about three minutes most of the cable stations dissed her and went back to the South Carolina coverage. But I wanted to hear her say something gracious about Obama and Edwards and it just didn’t happen. So I guess if you are writing with a Hilary perspective you say, “she knew she was going to lose so she needed to take the opportunity to talk about the future.” I guess that works. But if you are writing from an Obama perspective, you say, “She not only lost, but she lost 2-1. That’s not only a defeat, it’s a sign, a signal about where the election is going.”

I am not ready to make a judgment about who said what about whom and whether it was politic. But I can say that, just as the media was responsible for Hillary’s win in New Hampshire, Bill Clinton was responsible for her loss. You can argue with me about this but I took yet another anecdotal survey and people who were hard core Hillary supporters are so angry at Bill that they don’t want him back in the White House. They do not buy the “he made this a race issue” and his conversation is “fairy tale”. How stupid does he think the public is? Obama did not play the race card. Bill held that hand and used it in a rhetorically brilliant way -- but it was dishonest.

When I was completing my Master’s degree in Rhetorical theory, we studied all the most effective rhetorical techniques, among which were use of repetition and turning the argument around so it would appear that the opponent said what you were actually saying. And that’s what Bill Clinton did. Read what he said. In addition, it is always a good idea to blame the messenger, in this case the media, and admonish them for something they did not do. The “Shame on you” in the CNN interview was wonderful. People hate the media and when someone actually accuses them of being unfair or even worse, biased, it’s the rhetorical ploy of asking them to look at themselves and be sorry, is likely to work. But it didn’t work in this case because there was no basis in fact. So rather than hanging their heads in shame, the media said “What the hell is he talking about”, and proceeded to cover the facts in the story – which were Hillary was playing catch up and Barack was confident and comfortable with his campaign.

So depending on who’s writing the story, you can feel Hillary was right to move on and look at the States to come. February 5th could be a turning point for any of the three Dems and three Repubs. Or you might say Hillary needed to acknowledge the Barack win before she dismissed it—and Bill dismissed it as inconsequential. Again I have no predictions other than Mitt, but I think that if Hillary is the candidate of change, she may need to start to change. That will require a conversation with people Chelsea’s age. At the very least it will require a conversation with someone who has not protected and insulated her from the reality—she is in a real race, whoever is writing the story.
Iris

Commaderess in Chief?

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 17:10:00 +0000

Question:

Since it's inception there have been 3,461 Medals of Honor awarded. How many Commanders in Chief have been awarded that distinction?
a. None of course, no Commander in Chief has ever heard a shot fired in anger.
b. All of course, they need to have something to wear on their lapels.

Note: One Commander in Chief was nominated for performing a successful landing on an aircraft carrier but it was determined that he actually wasn't the pilot, therefore the application was denied.

Factoid: There was an assault on the White House back in the fifties but the Commander in Chief was in Missouri taking piano lessons.

Every time I watch the debates I think, Is Commander in Chief politically correct in all cases or should it be Commanderess in Chief?
In every military organization there are prominently displayed framed pictures of the soldiers chain of command. It starts with the immediate commander and ends with the Commander in Chief. All of these pictures show stern and "follow-me" images. I was always amused that the Commander in Chief was never in uniform. Now I'm beginning to wonder how that display will look if we had a woman as Commander in Chief, or would she be called Commanderess in Chief.

If a “People” photographer was commissioned to take that picture I can only imagine that he would have her dressed in some kind of thigh high combat boots, short khaki skirt and a headband with stars on it. Which brings us to a totally different only somewhat related subject, Why do Presidential Candidates solicit veterans organizations for votes? I have done my own anecdotal survey. That’s when you ‘dote’ really know what you’re doing, and I have concluded that the candidates draw such large veterans audiences, not to show support; but instead, they are going there to see what a commander in chief looks like. It's similar to the crowds at a "Bigfoot" seminar. A lot of people believe there is such a thing as a Bigfoot but have I don’t know anyone who has ever seen one. Not me for sure.

Just once I'd like to see a candidate do a take off of the opening scene in Patton. You know, big flag, lots of make-up, pistols at the ready and screaming, “I need you to go out there and kill my enemies”. Notice I said, my enemies not our enemies. Reflecting on that I must say that I never thought I was fighting for my Commander in Chief, more like fighting to save my ass. Along that note being a wannabe writer I now question why I never sent my Commander in Chief (CIC) a thank you letter for leading me into Ah Shau Valley back in l968, or Cambodia back in l970. And let’s not forget all those woman that served in uniform. Perhaps there should be woman only rallies.

Never mind, I’ve rethought the rally thing and if I were a candidate looking to make an impact, I wouldn’t impersonate Patton, but rather a shirtless Putin. At least Putin has created quite a stir in recharging Russia. But back to the serious side of the military. Soldiers only relate to those "Follow Me" stereotypes to become CIC's. They may applaud, hoot and holler at rallies but once they leave the auditorium they walk directly to the VA and start filing disability claims., because they were just told, “if elected I'll make sure you get everything you deserve”. In the block where it asks what were the mitigating circumstances contributing to your disability they aptly write, "My CIC lacked leadership qualities."
So where can we find a true CIC? I don't know nor does the military for that matter. And to prove that point, all someone has to do is visit a large Army post and look at the statues of ‘Follow Me’ leaders. You'll see a soldier in combat gear looking over his shoulder with a raised rifle in one hand and the other hand pointing to the objective. Sounds inspiring but look closer and you'll notice there is no one behind that leader. What do they know that others don't?

Commander, Commanderess, doesn’t it matter.... If the tree falls in the forest and there’s no one playing follow the leader, who’s going to care. Hey, maybe beat the leader out of Iraq will take care of that issue.
Clay

But What About Me?

noreply@blogger.com (Iris and Clay) — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 15:34:00 +0000

Question: In what year was the Presidential election decided by a best two out of three game of horseshoes because no one wanted to vote for any of the Candidates.

1. 2008
2. 2008
3. 2008
4. 2008

Factoid: The only control against non-citizens registering to vote is a required statement in the application form that the registrant is a U.S. citizen. Of course this application is printed in 17 languages. Go figure

What about me? I woke up this morning not looking forward to our Presidential elections. For decades I enjoyed listening to and trying to decide which candidate was going to be best for our country --which definitely included me. There were some great debates/platforms that I could ponder with relish. There were even times when I made up my own banner and stood along the highway letting people realize that even my one vote counted. Even in the worst of my own financial recession I could somehow manage to send, albeit it was a pittance, to my favorite candidate. But I can’t find a favorite candidate in any party this election cycle.

Me? Vote? No, I'm a Canadian. That was my response back in 2004 whenever anyone asked “did I vote in the general election.” It was almost true since Florida voters were so embarrassed and frustrated that some actually did move to Canada. Well they say time heals whatever it’s supposed to, but that's not true when it comes to voting in Florida. It is no surprise that when a survey was conducted a majority of the voters expressed their intentions not to vote in the Republican Primary on Jan 29th. So the powers to be had to come up with a solution. For the first time in Florida's history there will be an amendment added to the ballot that is a measure to cut property taxes! Yes that's true and all of a sudden a new survey shows an increase of over 20% beyond the 2000 and 2004 elections. Whoever came up with that idea, certainly deserves some kind of political medal. And maybe there should be other encouragements like an amendment to the Constitution that allows non-citizens to run for President. People who really care about the welfare of the United States. Arnold, Fidel, Hugo are just a few that come to mind. Or perhaps have one of the think-tanks rewrite and update the Constitution to keep up with our evolutionary My-Space, Your Face, My Face, media driven information centers. Of course we'd have to lower the voting age to 16 but if they're old enough to drive and drink they're old enough to vote. But after all we are a country of the people, by the people, except I keep asking "what people" and can't get a good answer from any candidate.

But back to my vote. I have found a candidate who’s my age but some think he’s to old (actually only one…Chuck Norris) and that irks me because I’m the candidate’s age and I certainly feel that I could be president. Oh yeah, Chucky made that comment right after finding out that he application for running was denied based on his height. Simply said he is too short to run because he would always be lost in a crowd or hidden behind a podium –that would certainly keep him from being able to join any debate. Just like in the Wizard of Oz, he’d have to be just a voice.

So what is the real reason Obama and Clinton are running in this race. Actually running away with the campaign leaving Edwards in the starting gate. But maybe like in the movies he just might blast out and win in the final stretch. (Yeah I know, unlikely, but I happen to like horse movies). Getting back to the real reason for O and C running I have but one simple question. Is it because they both want to be the first woman something.

I don’t think that’s enough reason for me to take them seriously especially when it comes to, how about me unless the first black man or first woman also becomes the first one to bring the price of oil down, create an equitable health care plan, realize that social security is important and possibly remember that there are many kids left behind. Just once I’d like to hear something like, we have to “walk softly and carry a big stick”. Thinking about that, if they were given big sticks they’d just battle it out on the debating platform. Although they could be given those little whips that jockey’s use. Small but effective except they do leave deep bruises.

No I haven’t forgotten about the old guy who is running in the other party. I could suggest that he no longer needs to be out there campaigning, he would serve our country better by entering a health spa and getting ready for the task ahead. Oops, did I reveal my projection on who I thought would win? Oh well, I guess I just couldn’t keep from blurting it out.

In simple terms I can only say this: When I enter the voting booth do I think to myself, “I want to be able to tell my grandchildren I voted for the first black president; the first woman, the elder statesman, or I voted for the best person to run our country.” But in truth I will really vote for the one who seems to care about me!
Clay