Razorwire

Snap them fingers you hipsters  you.

Pink shoes  

Yep, Barack reneged. And he's taking hits. But what would corporate media have written about Mr. Obama leadership skills if he had tossed aside the most obvious and important strategic asset: a possible three to one money advantage. The adage is a political campaign is war with out bloodshed.

Think of the GOP talking points. Just shows how impractical his thinking is and how the decision suggest he doesn't have the guts or commonsense to use all the tools available to be Commander-In- Chief. Being principled in a time of war is not what Presidents do. It would get far nastier than that. You think?

Mr. Obama was in a trick bag.

Go ahead, guys and gals. Push back from the computer and road trip to tip toe through cow pie and talk FISA with farmers. Pack a lunch because you're going to be doing a whole lot of back plotting there on the back forty. Spend some four buck plus gas to get ex-burbed and exhaust the downside of retroactive immunity for telecoms with adult patrons of Chuck-E Cheese. A little well-meaning progressivism with bad pizza is a sure fire way to set right the wrongs of the Bush administration, and hold accountable the likes of Barack Obama for backsliding to the center.

But in all your travels and tidbit talking, don't dare let anyone in on the dirty little secret. The hush-hush you know. Or should be privy to. That neither Senator, by their actions, or lack thereof, should be elevated to the high office of President of the United States. In fact, but with few exceptions, no current federally elected official, and those who served during the Bush administration in either branch of Congress, should ever be considered for future high office.

To sum up, the Bush administration legacy is simple enough. How in the hell did they get away with it?

In your heart, you know they were criminal, corrupt, and contemptuous of the Constitution. From torture, to no-bid contracts, to the negligence of the prosecution of the war on terror, to, OK, pissin' on FISA, there is an avalanche of evidence. So why didn't any impeachment groundbreaking take place?

Where was the Maverick McCain, a torture victim, who cobbled together legislation to bitch slap Bush, but backed off when the President neutered the effort with a signing statement? Where was Barack, who could have played Mr. Smith, but opted for Mr. Cool, noting the political lay and that change was going to come? Where in the hell was Hillary? And you know why I ask. I suggest there was not one Senator with guts enough to go after Bush's bastardization of American governance. But you know all that.

In the House (I know, it would all start there), there was Dennis, and subsequently dismissed. But what about Pelosi? Why was remedy removed from the table? You know why. The politics of impeachment trumps even the dirtiest of deeds, and the dumbing-down of political discourse makes policies mere pronouncements; just words without real world consequence.

Evidence, facts, are just the filigree of hyper-partisanship. The ship-of-state is piloted by spin, rumor and lie, twenty-four hour news cycles, and ever rowdy AM radio. Impeachment is reality-based, or should be; our current political landscape is not. But you know that.

So all is bad, but yes we can, or maybe not, and change that makes you blink. So we couldn't get Bush, let's beat the crap out of Barack. Let McCain's Attorney General investigate what happened at DOJ. Let Phil Graham supply side the shit out of Treasury. Let Duncan Hunter run the Pentagon, and we can live with another Bork clone on the bench. And what the hell, let's hang in Baghdad for a generation or two, while we're at it smart bomb Tehran.

So how are you coming with the folks? Those security moms understand FISA yet? Got those dairy farmers up to speed on stare decisis? Got those progressives understanding the process?

You can't govern if you can't win.

This nation hasn't purchased "Purple Hearts" since 1945. 450,000 ordered then for the invasion of Japan. Then the Bomb. Think about it.

It does take a toll, but a week long drunk is cathartic. The more you sip the more perspective shifts and events of the day move from high definition to rummy sepia. So those pictures of thousands of dead and dying in Asia appeared like old time news reels. And the gallons of liquor helped dull the shine of idiocy that highlighted our fearless leader's "victory lap" around the Near East. I heard, but could have cared less when the Saudis said no to opening the spigot, because, by then, I was at peak consumption.

On Saturday, Snz decided that I was in need of a personal drought.  Not just lovely and leggy, she has an eye for nous, so approached my xerotes counter-intuitively.  She suggested we go barhopping. And we did. For hours.

By early morning Sunday the bloom was off the bourbon rose. And now I'm back to steady sipping.

And then there was the kitten that got away.

During the summer of '04 Peter Hart held a focus group in Ohio to better understand voters concerns and preferences for that year's upcoming Presidential election. I watched it on C-Span. It went on for a hour and a half. There were twelve "average" folks equal by gender, and divvied up: four Democrats, four Republicans, and four independence.

It was more than interesting. Questions like; "Who would be more likely to  help you change a flat tire, Kerry or Bush?" "Who would you trust more to baby sit your children?" And of course questions on their concerns about the future and the policies needed to better it.

I was struck how down to earth, honest, and willing to exchange these people were.  Sure they had and spoke with some partisan bias and sometimes in party talking points. But I was proud of 'em.

Well, all but one. She was Ms. Republican template. Bush could do no wrong. Kerry could do no right. All Democrats where commie pussies, all Republicans God fearing whip ass crusaders. The GOP stands for Gods Own Posse . Kerry stands for wine and cheese being served as the United States surrenders to the Caliphate. Bush be John Wayne, Kerry be Ashley Wilkes. 

Then came the question. I paraphrase: "Your child is being held hostage along with her classmates in school. Of the two candidates, who would you prefer to handle  negotiations with the terrorist?" Write it down.

When Hart ask her who, Ms. Template sighed. John Kerry, she said. There was a gasp in the room. Her shoulders fell. She shrunk.

Why?

She had three children. President Bush was too aggressive, to quick, not careful enough. And, they were, her children.

What do ya think?

To Carolina beach music
I toasted your tan line
and had a fine time
at this or that place
your rhythm, my pace
to ebb tide with grace
and breakfast warmly

hiccups, warm beer
and a wide barmaid
serving

hey! wait
lets go liquor
more to my liking

and less money for
that bottom end
bruised abused
jukebox

baseball but minutes
away say hey
in last place anyway
hell we’re all cold

but the beer
and that wide eyed
lover boy

next to me
with the hiccups
and a hankerin’
for the barmaid

There's much talk about damage done to the Republican "Brand" by the current administration. Some, even a few in the GOP, suggest a generation or two could be lost to Republicans due to perceived ineptness, negligence, and hubris. The President has a seventy percent disapproval rating; the highest ever. And eight out of ten Americans think their country is on the wrong track. Again, a record high.

But what happen? What went so wrong? Was it a failure of people or policy?  Just a few idiots or Republican Ideology as a whole?

Was it the actors or the play?  Was the material just that bad, or were the players simple not up to their roles?

This is a really important question. What do ya think?