SHE WON!!! SHE WON!!!

Thank you Nagano-san, you have made a difference in the lives of so many.

(That's all I'm going to say on that subject. With the sinus trouble I've had for the past week, I don't need to be crying.)

I sort of watched the coverage of the Iowa caucus. I have to confess that I don't really remember much of it. I had a bad prescription drug reaction that evening. When you couple that with my sugar being too high for too long and harsh words with my husband (who didn't at all understand what was going on and how bad off I was)... why, by the time I was done with crying and trying to kill myself, the night was nearly over. I can joke about it now, but while it was happening it wasn't funny in the least. I kissed my son and hugged him, told him I loved him and walked off down the street. I still don't know if I would have actually taken that last step, if Pete hadn't come after me, but it was in my mind that there was absolutely nothing to live for. I felt such pain and confusion... It was awful. I hope to never go thru that again.

Now, before you all start to think I'm a real flake...

SHE WON!!! SHE WON!!! WOO HOO! YIPPEE! HURRAH! Billary, I mean, Hillary Clinton is the projected winner of the New Hampshire primary! I'm so happy. Jeez, I must really be a Clinton supporter in my heart, eh? I mean, I like Obama. I like his wife, she's really smart, nearly as good on the stump as her husband. I was planning to blog about my impressions of all the candidates, and I might still do that, but this is HUGE! Every pundit, every media personality in the world has been talking all day about how Obama had this all sewn up. That Hillary had to win New Hampshire or she was out of it and that Obama was polling so high that she couldn't win, so it was all over for her already. And now she's won! She's won! She's won! (yes, I am doing a classic Saturday Night Live/Dana Carvey/Church Lady 'Superior' dance in honor of her victory) Who knew I felt that strongly about Hillary Clinton? Oh foo-ey! You guys probably really think I'm a flake now, eh?

As I was saying... I was going to give a big dissertation on all the remaining candidates. I had planned to say something about how if you thought you didn't like Barrack Obama and you were certain that you wouldn't vote for him, you'd better not watch his stump speech. He is very good on the stump, very inspiring. And his wife is too. She's so personable, smart, witty, cute, a 'real' person. She seems more like a regular person you can relate to than he does. His personality is just too large for me to get my mind around. I can't explain it any better than that. He speaks in such large, grandiose terms. He does embody hope, encouragement, confidence. But, perhaps as his wife says, I am too cynical to believe. Anyway... I know I've said it before on this blog but I'm always leery of following the herd. So many times the herd ends up stampeding off a very high cliff. I like Obama, as I've said, but I'm not jumping off a cliff for anyone for any reason (at least as long as I don't get ahold of any bad drugs). After having listened to him more closely I'm more likely to be able to support him whole-heartedly if he gets the nomination, but I was already pretty sure of that.

I'm still not quite sure if Hillary will do the job she knows she has to do, or will she break the other way just because she doesn't want to do what everyone says Bill would do in any given situation; will she do something wrong just because Bill advises her to do one thing and she wants to prove she can do things her own way. Know what I mean?

Anyway... after all this soul searching, debate watching, researching of the candidates, I've finally reached a conclusion. When the primary comes I am going to go into my polling place, proudly ask for a Democratic ballot and I'm going to vote for Hillary Clinton. Not because I'm sure she can or will do the job. Not because she's Bill Clinton's wife. Not because I think she's the best candidate, yadda yadda yadda... I'm going to vote for Hillary Clinton because she is a woman. It's that simple. Perhaps that's being shallow, or silly or whatever, but when it comes right down to it, what's to stop me? Can she do a worse job than that chimp-face we've got right now? Puh-leeze. Kucinich could do a better job than him. Hell, Gravel might be able to do a better job than Mr. Walks-like-a-baby-with-a-full-diaper.

So that's the long and the short of it. I didn't come to this conclusion until just now, but that's what I'm going to do. Who knows when or if I will get another opportunity to vote for a woman for President? A woman who is a bonafide, certified viable candidate for President, anyway.

All I'm going to say about the Repugnicants tonight is this: have they even talked to a real person lately?! I watched them on the ABC debate after Iowa, and they just sounded like the same old debates they've been having for all of my life. They didn't sound excited, they didn't sound hopeful. They sounded blah, ho-hum, dull... and they look so plastic. (See my previous post on evil news puppets.) That Willard "Mitt" Romney is so plastic, I bet he'd melt if he stood too close to the heater vent. I like John McCain, I respect him, but... he's 71 years old! No, no, no! I don't mean it like that! You all know my husband is 25 years older than me. It's just that, this is the office of President! It's too risky, too chancy that we will be stuck with whomever he chooses as his running mate then we'll have a President that we didn't actually elect. Who (besides me) ever stops to think whether or not the person our candidate chooses for a running mate is a person we would vote for for the office? John McCain is just too risky because of his age. Sorry, but there it is. That's how I feel. The job is just too important. Besides, I just will not vote for a Republican for any major elected office ever again in this lifetime. I won't, won't, won't! Never say never, but still... I just don't see myself ever doing it, and that's just because of the job that evil monkey has done over the last 7 years.

Well, it's late and I'm tired and sleepy, so I'll say G'nite for now. Perhaps I will break down my opinion of the rest of the candidates tomorrow. Perhaps, perhaps not. My sister-in-law told Pete while he was in Las Cruces that she wants to come for a visit next month. I'm delighted. I love Sara. She's a wonderful person, but... she has a professional maid who comes and cleans her house twice a week. I don't have a maid, professional or otherwise, and I hate cleaning house. My house isn't filthy, but it's packed to the rafters with stuff. I have dust-bunnies under my bed and behind the couch, etc., etc. And I don't want to feel embarrassed. So Thomas and I will begin some intensive house cleaning. Pete's friend Lee is also talking about coming for a visit. Again, I'm delighted. I like Lee, and even if I didn't, he's Pete's oldest friend, how could I not make him welcome?

So... nite, nite, sleep tight, Everybody,
hh

Neither fish nor fowl...

How exciting! Just 3 weeks before the Iowa caucus. Who will win? Will it be Obama, or Hillary, or Edwards? Or will we get a surprise? I gotta tell ya: something smells a little fishy, to me, about John Edwards. The more I watch him speak and move and interact with the media, the smellier he gets. The man speaks out of the side of his mouth, for goodness sakes! A sure sign he can't be trusted. His smile is too smarmy, and the way he squinches (is that a word?) his eyes when he smiles or when he wants to look as if he's 'really' listening to you or being sincere, just really gives me the creeps. He looks like a certain televangelist whom I don't know the name of, but who really gives me the heebiejeebies. If he should get the democratic nomination I'm going to pray real hard for a viable third party candidate. If he does and there isn't, I will just have to hold my nose and vote for him in the general because the only repukelican I could possibly vote for would be Ron Paul and he's not got a snowball's chance in hell of getting his party's nomination. (can you believe that statement came from me? I can't. Until I listened to the man, I would have never thought that I would have ever again in this lifetime voted for a person who professes to belong to that particular political party.)

Right now it's looking like it's going to come down to a choice between Hillary and Obama. A tough old bird or a tender, young chick? If I'm frying chicken, of course I want the nice, young, tender bird. But if I'm choosing who I want to run this country, I think the tough, stringy, old bird. The one who's managed to keep from getting her neck wrung long enough to not have to worry about being some one's dinner any more.

But what I really want... what I'm really starving for... is neither fish nor fowl. What I'm really craving... is a nice, juicy, well aged, judiciously seasoned beefsteak (with a dollop of sinus-searing horseradish sauce). What I'm craving is... Joe Biden. The more I listen to him, the more I watch him, the better I like him. I wish with all my heart that he would get the nomination, but he won't. He's smart, honest (as honest as a politician, and a man, can afford to be), experienced, he knows everybody, and he knows what needs to be done, as well as what can and cannot be done.

Oh well... useless to wish for something that I know I'll never get. Time's wasting and what I need to do is decide who I'm going to vote for in the primary between Hillary and Obama. I pretty much think it will be Hillary. By a simple process of elimination. Hillary is smart, experienced, quick on her feet, she knows everyone and everyone knows her, she can do the job, and she's got Bill. I love Bill. He's my hero (next to Makoto Nagano, that is).

Obama is also smart, quick on his feet, and I think he can do the job. His wife would make a wonderful First Lady, he has good ideas. On the other hand... he has no experience, nobody knows him (other world leaders), and he doesn't have Bill. Just kidding about that last part (I think). But seriously... I don't like his body language, sometimes. And the way he does that fake gimpy shuffle walk sometimes. I don't like it. Can you see the President of the United States walking across the rotunda with a visiting head of state and he's doing that shuffle, limp, shuffle, limp kind of walk? How's that gonna look, I ask you? Not that I think people should go around worrying about what others think about them, but... fortunately for me, I don't have to worry about what others think of me. I am not the President of the United States of America. If he does get elected to the office, I hope he can stand up straight and walk like a man. If that sounds racist, I'm sorry. No... I'm not. It's the truth (or my truthful opinion, anyway). I am not racist. I just want my President, the person who represents me to the world, to look good, sound smart, and be someone I, and the world, can respect.


On a lighter note: I finally made the chicken curry and roti that I'd been craving for so long. It was, quite possibly, the best I have ever made. It was delicious, and HOT! Boy, oh boy, was it ever hot. Just the way I like it. I usually try to tone it down a bit so Thomas can eat it, too. But I didn't this time. He had to put a big dollop of sour cream in his just to get it so he could stand it. It still made his nose run, poor child. But he didn't have to eat it. He chose to eat it instead of the chicken soup I made as an alternative to the curry. Pete ate that. He won't even try curry. Not that it bothers me, just means more for me if I don't have to share with both of them, HA!

Finally got the shipping box and label from Microsoft to ship the Xbox 360 to them for repair. (Red Ring of Death Syndrome, you know.) Took a week to get that from them. Had to drive up to the UPS store to ship it off today. I hate, hate, hate driving in the rain! Simply detest it! Wouldn't have done it, except that I promised Thomas I would take it up there today, so... I did it. It's done. And yes, I still have the headache that driving in the rain gave me. But anyway... I was in the UPS store, with my box on the counter, waiting for the young man to scan it and give me a receipt. He was ringing up the lady in front of me, and he looks at my box and raises an eyebrow and says, "Xbox?", so I smile and say, "yeah". A few seconds later a young man walks in and plops his box up on the counter... AND IT'S THE SAME EXACT BOX AS MINE!!! I look at him and I say, "Yours too, eh?". He looks at my box and grimaces and says, "yeah, mine too." Sad story, ain't it? All of you who are thinking about getting one of these new, high dollar, game consoles, keep this in mind: we've had our Xbox 360 since late June of 2007 and it already needs to be repaired. We've had the PS2 for about 4 years and it had to be sent away for repair after we'd had it about a year and a half. The Nintendo GameCube is at least 6 years old and it still works like new. The Nintendo N64 that we have was bought in November of 1996, AND IT STILL WORKS LIKE NEW!!! Wish like hell I'd bought Thomas a Nintendo Wii instead of the Xbox 360. And the Wii plays all the old GameCube games too. A real plus, considering how much the stupid games cost all by themselves.

So there you have it. I think I'm going to go to bed now and snuggle with my man.
G'nite All!
Peace.

Scanning postcards and thinking

So if my thoughts seem a bit scattered or incoherent, you will know. I am writing this while my scanner is doing it's thing. Then I stop and do my bit on the cards and save them, then I write some more while the scanner is doing a couple more.

The Georgia primaries are going to be held on February 5, 2008. The Super Duper Tuesday as some are calling it now. This whole primary uproar has got me thinking:


Remember way back after the 2000 election when every body was getting up in arms about the Electoral College and many were wanting to change the way Presidents are elected and do away with the College? One of the big excuses for the continuation of the Electoral College was some drivel about that being the only way to ensure that no region was made any more or less important than any other. I still don't see how or why that matters. If we went by the popular vote, then every one's vote would matter equally. Why are 'regions' more important than individuals? Are we not all Americans? Should we not, each one of us, be just as important as the next one? Anyway... the point of this is this: Why do the state's get to say when they hold Presidential preference primaries? And why are the national parties so concerned with protecting Iowa and New Hampshire? Doesn't that give them undue influence over who gets the nomination? It does, and everyone knows it. It's a rare candidate that gets the nomination without having first won at least one of those. So... how does that square with the reason given to keep the Electoral College? It doesn't, does it?


And since the GA primary is in early February, I should really get a better handle on who I'm going to vote for, shouldn't I? I watched part of the Democratic debate on MSNBC the other night. Moderated by Brian Williams and Tim Russert. Once again Mr. Russert asked foolish, hypothetical questions and Mr. Williams asked all the smart questions. I haven't figured out yet why Tim Russert has been asking such stupid questions. I've seen him moderate in two Democratic debates so far this season and both times he asked the stupidest questions. Questions that were so hypothetical that it would have been foolish in the extreme for any of the candidates to answer them. Wonder what's up with him? I always kinda liked him. I watch his show sometimes and I thought he was smarter than he's proved to be on the debate stage thus far.


Like I said, I watched part of it, about half. To be truthful, I changed the channel when Ninja Warrior came on. But, honestly, I don't know how much more of Mr. Russert I could have taken. Barak Obama said some things that made me think harder on exactly how truthful he is. He was chastising Clinton and the rest (but especially Clinton) about needing change in Washington and them (her) being part of the Washington 'business as usual' crowd. But when he plays the campaign game the same as everyone else, attacking other candidates, saying what his 'handlers' tell him to say, etc., how is that change? He vowed to run a clean campaign, to not attack his fellow democrats, to not go around smearing anyone he was running against. And he's not kept that vow, that promise. So, how is he any different than any one else who is running? It sort of turned me off.


And John Edwards is looking more and more like a smooth talking, say anything to get you to buy, used-car salesman. His smile is too slick, his body language is too smooth, if you know what I mean. I like his wife better than I like him, but his wife isn't running, he is. And I don't think I'll be voting for him. At least that narrows the field, eh?


I know I won't be voting for Dennis Kucinch, either. So that's two out right there. Not that Kucinich doesn't speak truthfully and say some things that make sense, sometimes, but he doesn't have a chance in hell of getting the nomination, so... why waste my vote? I know John Edwards could possibly, maybe, perhaps get the nomination, but I'm still not voting for him. That would require me to set all my scruples aside, and I'm not willing to do that in the primary. If, by some chance, he gets the Democratic nomination I would vote for him in the general election. But only because I will not under any circumstances, vote for a repugnicant, sorry, Republican, for President. To vote for a Repukelican would require me to set aside all my scruples and all my morals. And I just don't see myself doing that. To vote for one of them would be plain wrong, bad, bad, bad. I can't foresee, at this point in time, anything that would make me vote for one.


Enough of that... back to the debate. I like Bill Richardson, but he doesn't seem to be a very good public speaker. He's getting better, but I don't think it's in time to really catch fire, so to speak. He's a smart man and whoever does get the nomination, if they win the general, should look into appointing him to a cabinet post or something like that. Not sure if he's forceful enough to be President.

Chris Dodd is also a very smart man. He knows the ins and outs of Washington and of holding public office, but... that's one big problem with him, right there. He seems a good, decent, intelligent man. However, he himself brought up another issue I have with him: electability. He was speaking of Hillary Clinton and her electability, saying that she was not electable because polls indicated that fully 50% of Americans would not vote for her. What he did not mention was that more than that would not vote for him. Not because they don't like him, but because they don't know him. Most Americans don't have a clue who he is. To be fair, most Americans don't know who any of them are, except Clinton and Obama, perhaps.

Joe Biden is also a very smart man, but he has a lot of the same issues as Chris Dodd. Plus, he has the long history of gaffs and blunders that most people know him for, if they know of him at all. He's shown to good effect in these debates. But he'll never get the nomination and I doubt seriously if he'll be called on to fill the number two spot by whomever does get the nomination. He just has too much baggage. He speaks sense, a lot of the time, but so do many of the others.

I guess that leaves Hillary, she looks good on paper, but I don't like the way she talks around the issues sometimes and downright refuses to answer certain questions. She's far too evasive to suit me, at times. I love Bill, but Bill isn't running, Hillary is. That is a problem. If I vote for her, will I be casting a vote for Bill or Hillary, in my heart? I don't know. I think, in many ways, she is a Washington insider, too. But in some respects, it takes one to know how to deal with one, right? And if she does become our President, she will have to deal with them. She also has an arrogant look on her face that I don't like. It could be that my sub-conscious is doing that old double standard thing, but I don't know. I don't like anyone who wears a habitual smug or arrogant look on their face. Neither male nor female. She's smart, tho, unbelievably smart. She can do the job, I think. But so could many of the others. Biden could, Richardson, Dodd, perhaps even Obama.

I know that most Americans don't think the way I do. Or at least it doesn't seem like they do. And I understand that the candidates have to do what they have to do to get their names out there to the masses. Still, I find it all somewhat repugnant (okay, more than somewhat). The whole process is just bad; filthy, fraudulent, flawed. There has to be a better way, doesn't there?

And Hillary is ticking me off a little bit. She's starting to act like she thinks she is the nominee already. Again, it may be that double standard thing, again, I don't know. Things that we take for granted in men, we tend to look askance at in a woman. And I especially don't like to see a woman behaving in a manner that is distasteful, if typical, in a man. Perhaps inside I feel a woman should know better or behave better. But why should a woman be held to a different standard than a man who runs for office? I suppose I am as guilty as the next person of having that perception. I shall try harder beginning immediately.

And I have just one thing to say to Mr. Mukasey: Waterboarding is TORTURE. Simulated drowning of a person is torture. It was torture yesterday, it's torture today, and it will be torture tomorrow. It is wrong. It was wrong for the Nazis to do it, it was wrong for the Russians to do it, it was wrong for the Vietnamese to do it. It's wrong for us to do it. It's wrong. Why is that so hard for grown men and women to understand? I can't even believe they are debating it. What is there to debate? How could anyone in our government think that torturing people is a good idea? It boggles the mind, it truly, truly does.

Enough, this has become a novel.
More later, I'm sure.

Random thoughts

I used to think that if NASA or some scientist, somewhere would go ahead and find proof of life on other planets that maybe, just maybe it might make us (here on Earth) think twice about whether or not we are so different from one another after all. Now... I don't think that way anymore. If alien creatures from the stars landed en mass all over this planet, it wouldn't stop the anger, the hatred, the killing... we humans would still be prejudiced against one another for one reason or another, color, sex, religion, ethnicity, whatever. If alien creatures did ever land on this planet, why, it would just give us another being to hold up as 'different' and therefore to be despised. Why do people need to hate other people? Why does what religion someone practices make them better or worse than their neighbors? I can read the Bible just as well as the priests and preachers and I don't believe I have ever found any where therein that Jesus said we should despise or hate another being for any reason. But it seems to me that organized "Christian" churches teach nothing but hate. Homosexuality is a sin; women should be subservient to their husband; if you don't take a particular church's word for how things are and how you are supposed to live then you are damned; go into almost any so called Christian church and you will hear that they alone know what God means for us to do and if we don't believe as they do then we are going straight to hell; do not pass go, do not collect $200, go directly to hell.

I am so disgusted by everything that's been going on. The war, this president going on with his little "I am the King" mentality and Congress just going along with it. The new thing that pissed me off was the thing with the CDC testimony before Congress. The White House diced, sliced and julienned the testimony that the CDC lady was supposed to give. I did not realize that they could do that. I thought that when someone or some department got called in to testify before Congress they were supposed to tell the truth, the whole truth, etc. Not tell what the White House says they can tell and nothing beyond that. The whole system is so out of whack. I feel like I'm in a Twilight Zone episode. I have real bouts of actual vertigo sometimes just watching the news. Nothing seems real. And people seem to be fine with just going on about their lives and ignoring the situation.

And the Democrats are really pissing me off. They are just going on like it's all business as usual. And it's not! Nothing is 'as usual'. Why can't they see that? I don't think that a Democrat will win the White House in '08. They are doing all the wrong things and nothing right. And that damned Nancy Pelosi. She is really getting off with me something fierce! If I have to see her stupid smile one more time I may actually throw something heavy at my television. (I need a new one, anyway) She and Harry Reid have made a real dog's dinner of the whole thing. Well, I can't just lay all the blame on them, I guess. To be fair, I need to spread the blame around to the whole Democratic party. They are loosing the '08 election and they all seem to not realize the fact. They are beginning to all look like grinning idiots. Pisses me off something awful!

And to think that the religious conservatives may well be the one's who bring a viable third party to our nation!? How incredible is that? Just what we need, a conservative Christian political party. Can you imagine what life would be like if that took over the government? No better than the Taliban, eh? The skinheads and the KKK and the neo-nazis and others like them would just love that. Give them the right to burn crosses, lynch anyone who isn't a "true believer". Encouraging hate, fostering strife between the sexes, between races, ethnicities, other forms of religion. Ugh! What a nightmare!

I'm pretty sure this isn't what my ancestors fought and died for.