Yes, We Can
Stock up on ammo, the Apocalypse is upon us. Or, a race war. Or, (insert grevious apocalyptic prediction here). That’s just a couple of dire consequences I’ve heard of electing Barack Obama to office. One gentleman said, “I can’t believe someone with the middle name “Hussein” is going to be sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom!” Ummm… huh?
Wouldn’t it be appropriate for the first African-American President to sleep in the bedroom named after the President who freed the slaves?
Oh, did you mean you still believe he’s a Muslim? What if he were? John F. Kennedy was a Roman Catholic. I don’t recall hearing stories of him phoning the Pope to converse on the Bay of Pigs. Nate’s neurologist is a Muslim. He’s never stopped our appointment to pray to Mecca, although I wouldn’t give two shits if he did. His right. THAT’S WHY WE LIVE IN AMERICA, RE-MEM-BER??
Honestly, I’ve never had a Muslim knock on my door, like the Baptists, the Church of God, the Mormons, and the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’ve never had a Muslim try to convert me. For that matter, I’ve never had a Jew try to convert me either. I leave them to their religion, they leave me to mine.
Unfortunately, the remarks which I have heard have come from a few of my guests, which leaves my tongue tied. I wanted to ask the lady who made the remark about the race war if she had any clue how many blacks there were in WV. Minorities, total, are 6% of our population. That’s 72,000 minorities and 1.128 million whites. One million of those whites probably already own a gun. We’re all about hunting and the 2nd Amendment, ya know. So… those aren’t very good odds for a minority uprising.
She wondered why all of her friends were voting for Obama. Well, sweetheart, I bet they’re wondering a bunch of things about you, like what kind of Kool-Aid you’ve been drinking and whether or not ignorance is a natural state or whether its contagious. I say that because if you don’t like Obama because of his policies, fine. If you don’t like him because you’re afraid of a race war or they’re going to put spinners on the President-mobile or you’re going to wake up January 21, 2009, to Sharia Law and burkas, then get a grip, because my guess is that the Congress, which actually makes the laws in this country, isn’t going to be drinking any of your Kool-Aid.
I look at this man, Barack Obama, my President-Elect, and I want him to succeed because I want America to succeed. I want all us to prosper. I want us to regain our respect and rebuild our relationships around the world. I want us to make the right decisions, not easy ones. If that means staying in Iraq and Afghanistan, then so be it. I want my President to remember that with great power, comes great responsibility, something that has been so lacking in our current Administration.
As my boss says, “If you’re open to intelligent discourse then let us sit and discuss, otherwise, in the words of George W. Bush, who I never thought I would quote, ‘You’re either with us, or you’re against us.'”
If you believe this country is going to go to the dogs, then you may feel free to wake up with the fleas. As for me, I choose to believe in Change. Not just for my country, but for myself. I have more hope now than ever before that I’m going to make it.
I was very moved by Senator McCain’s concession speech. I applauded after he finished. Not because he lost, which must be one of the most terrible feelings one could experience after putting so much into it, but because I believe it showed the true patriotism and love of country that John McCain has and the willingness he has to put his country first, and that includes his new President. Had we seen more of THAT John McCain, he may have won the Presidency. (Sarah Palin was the WORST choice for a VP! Whatever chance he had with me, he lost by picking her. Gah! My fervent hope is that she just goes away.)
I would have been disappointed had McCain won, but I wouldn’t have been “frightened” as so many claim to be now that Obama has been elected. Did he look scared? Did he tell the American people to be scared? Did he tell the world to be frightened? He had a prime opportunity, because not only was all of America watching, but also the world. Ask yourself if you stay up late at night or get up early in the morning to watch election returns for Germany or France or Russia, for that matter. My guess would be, no. But the world watches us. That is so significant! So VERY significant that the world looks to the United States of America. They look to us for hope, hope for a better world, whether we like it or not.
Stop stockpiling your ammo, break your addiction from the Kool-Aid, put away your yard signs, and break out the American flags. America is back, and we’re going to be better than ever – if we stay involved. If we follow what’s happening in our country. If we hold our governments accountable, from city councils to the Presidency, we can do it. Yes, we can.
A Call To Action
Dear America:
As our election looms, I turn my eye toward the future. A future, regardless of who is elected, that will encourage and fund Green Energy.
Before that time, I ask for your help in preserving what is left of the natural beauty of the Appalachians. I ask that you help in perserving clean streams and rivers by writing to Congress, the EPA, and the Federal Office of Surface Mining as the “Stream Buffer Zone” rule is under attack. The “Stream Buffer Zone” rule has been in effect since 1983 and was meant to protect the nation’s headwater streams from being buried by valley fills from moutaintop removal and radical strip mining.
The Bush Administration and The Office of Surface Mining, Reclamation and Enforcement have proposed a bill to seriously weaken this stream protection. If they are successful, it would be extremely difficult for either Senator Obama or Senator McCain to roll it back when either becomes President.
I am 100% opposed to Mountaintop Removal. It destroys the natural beauty of my state and surrounding states. It destroys the environment. The list of environmental impacts is staggering. Yet, the coal companies, through powerful lobbyists, have been able to continue and still cry about regulations.
I love West Virginia. I understand how important coal is to many, many communities, but coal is on its way out! The Appalachians reached peak coal production years ago. The U.S. will reach peak coal production in 2025. That’s not really far away. Many of the mountains in West Virginia are tall enough that there is constant wind. Even rural communities are savvy to the fact they can put wind farms on those mountains. All their asking is – take the coal from under the mountain but the leave the mountain so that we can have our wind farms. Clean, renewable energy, energy for our future, jobs for our youth, a clean environment.
The coal companies use scare tactics to push their agendas. People get scared when the coal companies threaten to move out, that its too expensive to mine underground, that there’s more death from black lung. There’s more death from black lung because MSHA has loosened the dust regulations because of Big Coal Companies who don’t want to follow regulations to ensure the health and safety of our miners!
When they take our mountaintops, they take our future. Mountaintops cannot be regrown. They are gone FOREVER. Then they push the remainders into the valleys to pollute the streams. When it rains, there’s no vegetation to quell the runoff, so the flooding is worse. It goes on and on.
Greed normally has a silent face, but in West Virginia, it is very visible.
Active and reclaimed mine sites in Mingo and Logan Counties, WV. Photo by Katherine Chandler.
Reclamation? There is no reclamation. The land will no longer support native vegetation. It becomes an entirely different landscape. Again, you cannot regrow a mountain. You cannot put it back. It will never be the same again.
Please go to ilovemountains.org and send a letter. Write to Congress. Write to Senator’s Obama and McCain. Write to the EPA. Please let your voice be heard. When we invest in keeping our mountains, we invest in keeping our environment clean, in the future of Green Energy, and in the natural beauty of our lands. They have some great videos at I Love Mountains. Please watch them, especially the one about Blair Mountain.
Thank you.
I’ma Rale Amurrikin!
Last week, Jon Stewart of The Daily Show had a piece about how to tell whether or not you’re a Real American. I thought it would be great fun to determine whether or not I was a real American.
First, you take the population of your town (11,028) and multiply it by the cost of an average cup of coffee ($1.29), you then add the number of art house movie theaters (0) and then multiply by the number of streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr. (0). This is the numerator (or the number on the top), which for me was 13,895.28.
Then you take the number of IDs you need to purchase a bottle of Sudafed (2) and multiple that by the number of people who wear trucker hats (3661) minus the number of actual truckers (407)* and then multiple that by one over the number of houses of worship (10) minus the number of bars (7). This is the denominator ( or the number on the bottom), which for me was 2438.226.
The resulting number, if less than 10, means you’re a real American. I’m happy to report that I am, indeed, a real American. My number was 5.69.
I’m going to show you how a real American spends their weekend at a haunted lunatic asylum and making beef stew. From what I could tell from my photos, I was unable to capture any apparitions or odd occurrences. Compared to Moundsville State Penitentiary, Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum (TALA), formerly Weston State Hospital, was relatively peaceful. I did have one encounter in part of the infirmary. I got quite spooked. I took a picture but again, nothing showed up. Some of the photos had “orb” (or dust) activity but that is to be expected from a facility which has become increasingly run down since its closure 14 years ago.
TALA is a National Historic Landmark and the largest hand cut stone masonry building in North America, second only to the Kremlin in the world. It stretches almost 1/4 of a mile and was built using the Kirkbride plan, in which there was plenty of fresh air and sunshine. The hospital was constructed from 1858 to 1881 and began receiving patients in 1864. It was operational until 1994.
Part of the TB building.
TALA at dusk.
But, real Americans also visit other historic places while waiting to tour asylums. We headed over to Jackon’s Mill, the boyhood home of General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson. We met some geese there.
Cleanliness is next to Americanism.
Part of the old mill, moved painstakingly from another site to its current home.
The colors of Lewis Co., WV.
Post-Revolutionary War era log home among the trees. What’s more American than that?
Nate and Cam practicing their new $1 bamboo flutes. Nate was playing “Iron Man” and Cam was playing the theme from “Star Wars.” By the end of the trip I was kicking myself in the ass.
The boys tell ole Stonewall to give peace a chance. Hated to tell them he died from wounds sustained in the Battle of Chancelorsville. He died being un-American.
Bridge over West Fork River.
Visiting with our military. Very American!
Future G.I. Nate.
So, after all the traveling, ghost chasing, and being true Americans, Sunday was spent tidying up a bit and making beef stew.
Also a very American past-time, especially when made with potatoes grown on my parents’ farm.
And corn grown on my parents’ farm. Since my father is a veteran I’ll stretch to make the connection that it was patriotic corn and potatoes. We also had cornbread which has no connection to my parents’ farm but I did flavor the stew with California Merlot, which I finished off with dinner. (It was a quarter bottle, just looks much bigger here.)
And, while on the phone with my mother today, my brother, in his Blackhawk, buzzed their farm while on a training mission for the National Guard. What a patriotic, American love fest! I really am a TRUE AMERICAN!
TRUE AMERICANS FOR OBAMA/BIDEN! Anyone who says any different can kiss my red, white, and blue ass.
* I arrived at the trucker number by taking the population of males in my town (5,085) and multiplied that by the number that were truckers (approx. 8% or 407). I then took the number of males and multiplied that by 80% or 4068, which is being generous as to the number of men who wear trucker hats (it could be as high as 90%). Then I minused the 407 from the 4068. All information, other than the guestimation of the percentage of men who wear trucker hats, was derived from city-data.com.
Using My Degree…
One more time. I signed up to work in Voter Protection for the Obama/Biden campaign a while back. They had a call for lawyers and paralegals to help with voter protection in swing states, three of which WV borders. I received an e-mail today asking that I work in the Youngstown area of OH, which is about 4 1/2 hours away, depending on how I roll up the Appalachians.
I actually believe I’ve been assigned to the Gallipolis area, which is only about an hour away, but hell, I’ll still go to Youngstown if that’s where I’m needed. The way the early voting is going in WV, perhaps I should stick around here and do voter protection!
I did e-mail the Gov’na and The Secretary of State about the voting issue and received a response from the Election’s Division of the Secretary of State stating that anyone who had contacted them about the problem was able to have their vote cast as they intended and they are working closely with county clerks and the makers of the voting machines to ensure everything is fair and clean with our election.
At least my voice was heard.
My father was always very adamant about his children receiving college degrees. My brother decided to work for his guard unit for a while and then secured a job with a helicopter manufacturer before obtaining his degree in some long-winded something about helicopter mechanics/design/engineering. I obtained both my Associates and Bachelors degrees in Criminal Justice in the Spring and Fall of 1994, respectively.
The best teacher I had at the college was a local lawyer who taught the 2 hour 45 minute Political Science class. I guarantee had Sarah Palin had Professor Woods for Poly Sci, she would have no doubt as to what the position of Vice-President entails. She would know a shit-ton about the Constitution, important Supreme Court cases, and the judicial process.
Professor Woods was also the kind of educator that made you think. He expected participation, he expected you to have an opinion, and he expected you to think critically. Not only were we expected to know the important points of Supreme Court cases like Roe v. Wade and Brown v. Board of Education, he expected you to be able to discuss, dissect, and debate said cases. Rote memorization? Hardly. His 15 page, three hour tests? Infamous.
Even though it has been 14 years, Professor Woods has stuck with me. He opened the door of critical thinking, to look past the surface, to look past sensationalized headlines, and dig deeper and deeper. He taught me to take the source into consideration, the political climate, and my own prejudices and biases.
I find it rather ironic that the person who pushed for my education is the one who shakes his head when we butt heads over politics. I know my father has already voted early for McCain/Palin. I know I’ll vote early for Obama/Biden. My poor mother is still sitting on the fence.
When I left the legal realm after 12 years, my father was displeased. I told him, “You got your money’s worth.” He got his money’s worth from Professor Woods alone, even if he doesn’t like it when I counter his political arguments with ones of my own.
Voting Problems in WV… *Updated
Nothing new here, just a bunch of old school politics that just can’t seem to be routed from the WV political scene.
The Charleston Gazette lead with the story about voters in two counties casting early ballots on voting machines having those votes cast to “McCain” when they touched “Obama” on the screen. More early voters have come forward to attest to this problem. Naturally, our good WV government says, “Everything’s okay, my little lemmings, just follow the others over the cliff.” (The evening paper – The Daily Mail – stuffed the story to page 5.) * More voting problems reported in Martinsburg! IF THE MACHINE YOU USE PICKS THE WRONG CANDIDATE, ASK FOR ASSISTANCE. DON’T GIVE UP UNTIL YOUR VOTE IS CAST CORRECTLY!
Of course, the biggest brouhaha is because the two counties this has happened in are Republican counties and the ones in charge of the election are Republican. However, it shouldn’t matter what county it is, who is in charge, or what political party they are affliated with, everyone should be outraged. What if it were the other way around? Would you McCain supporters want your vote switched to Obama? Certainly not.
But, to say I’m shocked, I just can’t bring myself to say yes. West Virginia has been and perhaps always will be associated with some of the most corrupt politicians this side of New Jersey. For $20 and a pint of whiskey, votes can be bought. Hell, in this economy, $20 would probably do it. Our former governor, Arch Moore (father of current Congressional Representative Shelley Moore Capito), was found guilty of accepting graft and sent off to the Federal Pen for a sojourn. (He was a Republican, by the way.)
An associate of my old boss was also investigated, indicted, and plead guilty to a whole rash of vote tampering, corruption mongering charges and is currently doing time on Uncle Sam’s dime. (He was a Democrat, by the way.)
One would think that our government would attempt to bolster the image of our vastly underrated Appalachian state. Attempt in some way to erase the negative stereotype of toothless, ignorant hillbillies with one leg shorter than the other married to their cousin, spitting out babies, living on welfare in a trailer park in squalor, accepting a 20 and a pint to vote one way or the other.
West Virginia, per capita, has given more of her sons and daughters in the pursuit of freedom and the protection of the American way, than any other state in the union, yet allow those very freedoms to be trampled upon. For once, West Virginia, STAND UP FOR YOURSELVES AND STAND UP FOR YOUR FREEDOMS! HOLD YOUR GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABLE THAT EVERY VOTE IS CAST CORRECTLY AND EVERY VOTE IS COUNTED AS IT WERE CAST!
It doesn’t matter whether you’re blue, red, black, or white, STAND UP WEST VIRGINIA!
All Quiet on the Eastern Front
The kids had a great time at the festival yesterday. Traffic was horrible and when we finally couldn’t handle being stuck in traffic any longer, we just parked beside of the road and walked. At the end of the parade the Honor Band almost got run over by a fire truck responding to a call. I always wondered what would happen if there was a major crisis while the parade was going on, since every small town within 30 miles sends a tanker or truck. They just mow down the hometown honor band in front of them.
As the local TV weatherman drove by we hollered out what the forecast was, to which he responded, “Perfect!” And it was. Sunny, sunny, sunny with a light breeze, temp at about 80*. It was indeed a beautiful day in the mountains. Since its an election year, the Governor and his opponent were there, our Congresswoman and her opponent, and just about any other pairing you would care for. On my end of the street, the Obama/Biden float got a better response than the McCain/Palin float, but further up the street, my mom said it was the other way around.
Although the county my parents live in is one of the wealthiest in the state and a Republican stronghold, there were many people there from neighboring counties. So, there was a split of support from the 50,000 or so attendees of the parade as to their favored candidates. Although West Virginia has traditionally been Democratic due to the strong influence of the unions, it has gone red in the last two Presidential elections, yet has overwhelmingly elected a Democratic governor.
Although I’m not a fan of our Governor, WV has been one of only 19 states to post an increase in our economy and we won’t be facing billion dollar budget shortfalls in the coming fiscal year. That’s a pretty good thing considering how everything else is tanking.
On to the cats. While Tango appears to be recovering nicely, Jirachi is back to wheezing. I’m not sure if he has allergies or asthma or just something chronic. After two rounds of antibiotics he’s not recovering fully which is very frustrating and quite frankly, I’m out of money. Matter of fact, I’m in a severe deficit. So, we’ll do what we can.
Well, the house needs work and I can’t sit here all day and blog. Hope your Sunday is quiet.
Sunday Shorts
* Read an article in the Washington Post about Michelle Obama. It was pretty interesting, not all of it was muck flattery, but a decent piece of journalism about who she is and her relationship with Barak. The main idea I got from the article, which was condensed from the forthcoming biography of Michelle, was “ambition.” Both she and Barak were characterized as such. I hope they, Michelle and Barak, remember what Laura Ingalls Wilder wrote about ambition, that it is a good servant but a poor master.
* I also read an interview with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in The Wall Street Journal. Ummm, it was okay. Pretty short, but it made some pretty good points about how much better the Taliban can pay Pakistan’s military than the government can. Zardari seems to be moving progressively toward raising the funds to provide for his military so the Taliban doesn’t pay them better, improving relations with India, and assisting the U.S. in rooting out the Islamic militants, unwilling to be specific on that point, and dismissive about irritated relations with our government over attacks, but generally seemed to be a very sad, tired man who knows his head is on the chopping block, and what happened to his wife is probably going to happen to him. He just hopes he can get them, before they get him.
* The WP and the WSJ both have articles about the EU trying to bolster confidence in their financial markets. The WP has a nice photo of Sarkozy and Merkel. At least he’s not trying to hug her or squeeze her. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about, its when Dubya squeezed Merkel’s shoulders at the G8 Summit in Russia a few years back. Made big headlines then. Angela is a really interesting person. She was born in Hamburg but raised in East Germany. She’s a physicist and speaks fluent Russian. She and Putin must have gotten along well because he also speaks fluent German. Just thought that was interesting.
* Mudflats, the Alaska journalist and blogger has a great piece up about the duel rallies held at the same time and blocks apart in Anchorage, Alaska. She also has continuing updates about the Troopergate (I hate calling it that!) and the Branchflower Report that is due out on October 10th. She has the phone numbers and e-mail addresses of the people in charge of deciding whether or not to release the report publicly and many are involved in an e-mail/call-in campaign to make sure it is released. The report is set to be completed even though Todd Palin and state employees, at the behest of the Attorney General of Alaska, Talis Colberg, ignored lawful subpoenas to give sworn testimony on this matter.
If sources are correct, Governor Palin was the first to say, “Hold me accountable!” and after becoming the Vice-Presidential nominee, the McCain camp swooped in and said, “Nah.” So much for all that government reform – accountabillty bullshit. That’s actually the only reason I liked Sarah Palin at all.
If you have nothing to hide and have done nothing wrong, then why not cooperate and get it over with? Why not cooperate to exonerate yourself? Yeah.
* The WP and Rolling Stone both have articles on John McCain. The focus of the WP article was the time that Senator McCain spent in Hanoi as a POW. The RS article gives an entire background of McCain, starting with prep school through the present. It includes a quote from retired Colonel John Dramesi, also a POW in Vietnam – “McCain says his life changed while he was in Vietnam, and he is now a different man,” Dramesi says today, “But he’s still the undisciplined, spoiled brat that he was when he went in.” Dramesi’s story is still spoken today among Air Force initiates and his story is quite compelling.
In short, you probably could not find two more opposite articles regarding John McCain. I read them both. The RS article is very long (10 pages on the Web), but I would suggest reading it, along with the WP article, just to get both sides of it. Its very compelling. Very.
* On the home front, Luna tried to incenerate herself in the oven earlier. What I figure is that one of the cats had been playing with the bottom drawer, or broiler of the oven, which was open about two inches. With their crafty paws, it wouldn’t take much to open it. After I opened the oven door a crack and turned it on, I came back to find the drawer opened even further. WTF? So, I closed it. Luna must have been in the broiler when I turned the oven on and when the flames in the oven poofed out, well, Luna came crashing out of the broiler door, opening it even further.
Luna must have hidden because it was a few minutes later than she tore deranged into the computer room, her coat singed and her long white eyebrow whiskers melted. If I had closed the broiler door when I turned the oven on, Luna would be dead. The thought tears at my heart, and I’m just so very thankful that I didn’t. Quite possibly when she squeezed out of the space of the broiler door it put the fire out and she escaped with a lot of singed fur but no burns. I’ll be checking the oven now before turning it on, just in case.
Her brother, Jirachi, is on another round of antibiotics and seems to be improving. He’s so spoiled, its unreal. We have coddled and babied him so much that he’s just a little rotten monster. He’s adorable. Rotten, but adorable. He does have decent manners though. Instead of jumping up on the counter or the table, although I’m not sure with his small size that he can, he just climbs up my clothes to obtain whatever it is that he wants. What actually happens is me dancing around yelling, “Ow! Ow! Ow! Get off!”
Rotten little puss likes to blog with me. He’s lain here the entire time, purring his face off. Its after 1, and I have a lot to accomplish before I pick up the Natester, who went to his first college football game yesterday. He said he had a really good time.
Have a lovely Sunday.
She Held Up Better Than I Thought She Would…
By not answering questions, deflecting answers on questions back to topics she was either comfortable with or been heavily briefed, by using folksy language that made me want to throw my beer bottle at the TV, WINKING – OMG!, and a SHOUT OUT???? THIS IS THE VICE-PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE, NOT THE FUCKING PTA! *head slams on table*
Are you going to do a “shout out” at nuuklar arms talks with Iran? Are you going to wink and say, “You betcha,” in discussions with North Korea? Are you going to shove energy, energy, energy down the throats of the Pakistani government because its obviously the only thing you know about???
Listen up, Gov’na, Joe Biden mopped the floor with you on the Vice-Presidency and you totally showed your true colors as a) uninformed as to the actual powers vested to the Vice-President and b) you came across to me as saying, “Well, I’m a maverick, and IF I were to make it to the Presidency because something happened to McCain, well, you betcha I’d do things my own way, and definitely not what you’re voting for now. Vote for me, I’m the next Cheney.” And they accuse Joe of being undisciplined???
I felt like I was back at Shermer High with The Breakfast Club because all I wanted to do was throw my beer bottle at the TV and yell, “JUST ANSWER THE QUESTION!” Avoiding the question by reverting back to issues with you have been heavily briefed is just as Joe said, “I didn’t hear a plan.” At one point Joe Biden sighed and I sighed right along with him.
I have a lot of respect for someone who voices their opinion in an articulate, intelligent manner, even if I disagree with them. I finally called Troy at 19 minutes after 10 and asked, “Could she just answer a question? And what’s with all that “betcha” and “gonna” and “yeah buddies,” and Troy laughed and said, “She’s trying to appeal to you, darling.” My response, “Well, it ain’t workin’.”
I feel screwed and I think America should feel screwed. If I’m going to take the time to watch the debate and be involved, then answer the damn questions, be informed, and speak intelligently about all of the policies and plans that you have. Even if I disagree with them, I would at least know where you’re coming from and how you got there. If you don’t answer the question, and blatantly at times avoid the question, then I feel as though you’re hiding something or you’re so woefully ignorant of the issues that you can’t form an opinion. There were times I looked at the TV and wondered what the hell she was talking about because it wasn’t what was asked of her.
And for those of you who want to say that she was just trying to connect with the real people of America by using that folksy language can all kiss my backwoods ass. I don’t talk like that when I have a serious conversation and frankly, I don’t know anyone who does! I know some people who were born in the most backwoods areas of West Virginia, who are thoughtful, intelligent, articulate, and very successful people. I find it extremely condescending.
Joe Biden did an excellent job. I wanted to reach through the TV and hug him when he said that Dick Cheney was the most dangerous Vice-President we’ve ever had, right after Palin referenced him and how she wanted all the leeway she could with the Vice-Presidential powers. He answered all of the questions with authority and intelligence. He totally nailed it at the end.
I’m done bitching for the night. Good night and good luck.
A Quite Fetching Day
So, after spending an inordinate amount of time going over the new bailout proposal, I was glad to see that Paulson did not get his way in which foreign banks could transfer their debt to their American counterparts and then have we taxpayers shoulder that burden. I believe all of the sweetening caveats in the new bailout proposal would be just fine WITHOUT the 700 billion dollar (or so) pricetag.
I agree that eventually something will have to be done, however, I believe if we raise the FDIC, that things will stablize for the time being until more time can be taken to review all of the options instead of just those of former Goldman Sachs man, Henry Paulson. I don’t trust him not to be a bit, shall we say, biased towards Wall Street versus the best interests of yours truly. After all, instead of standing with my hand out, I would instead be telling him to STOP SPENDING MY MONEY!
*Ahem*
Anyway, I had a much better day at work today. I’d say it was pretty damn good. I waited on the First Lady of WV who wrote, “Great Job!” on my credit slip. I’m making a copy of it.
However, the best part of my day was when I noticed a particular guest at the bar. He’s one of those guests that I’ve secretly, or perhaps not so secretly, had a crush on. Actually, I’m not sure I would call it a crush. We had a little bit of run-in one day over a parking issue and then the next time he was in, which was yesterday, he was being a bit, umm, cranky with his mother. I’m a huge fan of his mother as she is a true lady. I believe she’s quite fond of me as well. So, he was rather cranky yesterday and then someone joined them and I went downstairs and didn’t see him again.
Today was a bit different. I went up to the bar to say hello because it would be strange if I didn’t, plus he seemed to be in a better mood. He said, “Well, hello babe. You look quite fetching today.” (Yeah, in that black uniform I wear everytime he sees me.) I thanked him and then said, “Hmmm, ‘fetching’, I do like that word.” And then we discussed how people just don’t use that word anymore. I quite like it. But since I had the F.L. of WV at the other end of the restaurant I had to leave.
But I returned, where we discussed the bailout new proposal and he said “Its refreshing to talk to someone who’s been paying attention.” I also asked him what he did for a living. I know he’s been involved in politics and PR and used to live in Washington. I also know he ran the Bush campaign in WV in 2000 and 2004, which, okay, I didn’t say he was perfect. He seemed very proud that I had written to my Senators and laughed out loud when I told him that I had told them that I expected them to stick their feet up Wall Street’s ass so far they coughed up shoe leather.
Right now, he eats lunch at the restaurant. That’s his job. At least, that’s what he said. But, he’s hot, intelligent, and passionate. Plus he’s 42 and he said I have pretty eyes. He also said that after 9/11 Washington became very boring. (As if WV is a bustling metropolis???) I told him I had a friend who was an attorney there but I didn’t care much for D.C. We talked about my work at the restaurant and my previous employment with the law firms and he, like a lot of people, wanted to know why I left.
Tired of an office smaller than a jail cell, tired of sitting on my ass, “and, I like people.” He said, “Yes, you connect with people.”
So, after all that, I had to retreat to the back of the restaurant and serve some food instead of flirting with hot men at the bar but emboldened by his response today I silently hoped he wouldn’t leave before I could make one more pass. He was gathering his things as I did so … on the run… never stopping… just saying…
“We should get together and discuss politics sometime.”
And he said, ummmm, he said something like, “Yeah, that would be great!” or something like that. It was an affirmative answer with enthusiasm.
Yeah, that would be great.
He’s quite fetching you know. Quite.
Anything Goes 