Use Your Wisdom

With all the garbage politicians have to go through to win an election, doesn’t it stand to reason one would have to be nuts, egotistical or power hungry to even consider running?  Why pick them apart and act surprised to find any of these qualities?  I can’t imagine a fully sane and rational person with nothing more than a love of country and a will to serve going through the tabloid style nonsense.  Not to mention the expense of all the balm necessary to prevent chapped lips from excessive arse kissing.  Americans have created an environment where the type of individual we want sitting in the Oval Office likely has no interest in the dance involved.  We need to accept that fact and deal with the consequences appropriately.  We aren’t going to find a solution to all of our problems on a November ballot.  We are going to have to get more involved in the daily actions of our elected officials.  We’re going to have to do a better job of monitoring those who are supposed to be representing our interests to make sure that is what is indeed happening.

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Today we remember our nation’s darkest day. Like most Americans, my heart is heavy. In honor of those lost on 9/11 I am leaving the television off. The endless parade of the events that claimed their lives 7 years ago doesn’t leave me mentally in the right place to truly want their loss to make a difference in this world. Pictures and video from that terrible day stir feelings of anger and a thirst for revenge. I don’t want that in my heart because I know it serves no purpose. What I want for those lost is a desire to make a more positive, accepting and harmonious world for their surviving children. They were taken from us by hatred. Protecting those they left behind from the same fate is essential. Tanks and fighter planes may help destroy those who seek to destroy us, but words, open ears, extended hands, open minds, compassionate hearts and an understanding we are all human with a desire to protect our own from what we view as harmful are much more powerful weapons in this important fight.

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Marion Jones was released from prison today.  At least our tax dollars were able to keep this hardened criminal behind bars for a little while.  Too bad our nights of sleeping peacefully are over.

Seriously though, it would be great if our legal system could be revamped to use prison for those who are a physical danger to society and find alternate punishments for others.  I understand prison for rapists, murderers, drunk drivers and such.  These individuals have demonstrated they need to be contained.  Prison should not be the punishment for a crime but more a location for punishment to take place for those who warrant confinement.  Those who break the law must experience consequences and these consequences should reflect the seriousness of the crime.  Surely our society is wise and creative enough to come up with deterrents that don’t involve putting an able and harmless people in a box at the taxpayers’ expense.

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Since announcing Sarah Palin as his running mate, John McCain seems to have become largely irrelevant.  I’ve heard little analysis or commentary of the presumptive Republican nominee for president.  When his name is mentioned, it is usually tied to ‘one toe in the grave’ remarks.  I suspect McCain is going to live long enough for us to care about his position and policy plans.  Lord help me for agreeing with Lindsay Lohan, but she is right when she says all of this tabloid style journalism about Palin is distracting from analyzing the real issues.

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It seems world leaders are either full of (bleep) or have (bleep) for brains. As if all of the (bleep) we are sifting through in the Middle East isn’t enough to keep us all busy, now we all have to (bleep) bricks over Russia’s turn in the “I’m big, bad and full of mad” chair. I’m not talking about the Georgia/Russia mess. The (bleep) I’m referring to at the moment is Russia’s threat to nuke Poland over their cooperation in the United State’s Nuclear Shield program. Never mind the interceptor hasn’t demonstrated the ability to hit (bleep) anyway. I would equate it to spitting on a raging fire. Doesn’t matter. It’s a convenient opportunity to get pissy. Of course, Poland need only worry about an attack if Russia finds it necessary to launch against the US. Poland will be included as a target at that point. Considering we would all be up (bleep) creek the minute one Super Power decides to nuke another I think it is fair to say “who gives a (bleep) anyway.”

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Surprise, surprise, the Bigfoot reports were a hoax.  Yep, a frozen Halloween costume.  Why mainstream media even bothered to follow the story is beyond me.  Seems more like exploiting the mentally ill for a good laugh than reporting.  Yep, my guess is the men claiming to have found him are probably nuts, though I wouldn’t swear to it 100%.  It could be premeditated brilliance.  If they are planning a crime spree they have wisely laid the foundation for an insanity defense, our nation’s favorite hall pass for stupidity and cruelty.

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Isn’t it nice Donald Trump is rescuing Ed McMahon from the mortgage crisis. It wasn’t long ago when Mr. Moneybags was struggling with debt himself. It’s nice to know he has a long memory and is willing to help others as others helped him.

The Donald’s generosity couldn’t have come at a better time. My stomach was suffering the ills of watching Ed parade around in a neck brace while looking for someone to sue is troubles away. Such a shame. If news reports are to be believed, the 70-something entertainer’s financial woes were the result of a slip and fall injury that left him unable to work. A snotty person might mention someone of his age and with his past income should have had a financial plan that didn’t rely on him working at this point, but I’ll leave my snotty self out of this conversation and move on.

Now that Mr. McMahon’s crisis is over it is a lot less likely we will have to endure watching him as the poster boy for the mortgage crisis. I doubt he will fade from the spotlight completely. Aflac should do its level best to sign him on as their next spokesperson. Lord knows there had to of been days over the past year when ole Eddie boy wished he had listened to that damn duck.

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Am I the only one with an Olympic hangover? For a girl who likes to be in bed by 10:00, these late nights are killing me. My Olympic rings aren’t a cute assortment of vibrant colors, but dark blue and purple lovelies under my droopy eyeballs. Dang. I don’t look much different than the football players who smear on black goop to cut down on glare. You’d think I’d at least get that benefit, glare reduction. Not so, not so. My face greeted the sun today with its normal squints, those adorable facial contortions that leave me looking every bit my 36 years.

I did a bit of math this evening. I’m losing about 3 hours of sleep every night because of the Games. I know the Games run 16 days, but I’ll likely only be glued to about 14 of them. So, 3 times 14 equals 42. When all is said and done I’ll be just shy of 2 full days short on sleep. There was a time when my life was such I could spend a weekend on the couch. Problem solved. These days I’ll be lucky if I’ve caught up on sleep by the time the Winter Olympics roll around in 2010. Unless, of course, I’m as close to death as I feel some days. If that’s the case, I’ll catch up on the missed time without batting an eye.

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So John Edwards admitted to an affair today. He made a “serious error in judgment”. And error, eh? I think not. John Edwards made a CHOICE that was not a good one. He consciously violated the vows he made to a woman who hauled herself all around the country on a brutal schedule to promote his candidacy while battling a horrible disease. Granted, now they are reporting this affair occurred before Elizabeth’s cancer diagnosis and he confessed the indiscretion 2 years ago. That’s all well and good, but we’d still be in the dark had he not been caught visiting this woman’s hotel in the wee hours of the morning a few weeks ago. How he could think for one moment a person in the spotlight of a presidential / vice presidential campaign could have an affair and keep it under wraps is beyond me. If Mrs. Edwards has any strength at the moment, I hope she uses it to beat him silly. She’s likely too classy for that, but sometimes class is overrated.

The woman at the center of all of this has a love child Edwards is denying any link to. This child, you see, is the product of this woman’s relationship with another staffer of his. Are you kidding me? Who was this woman? The pincushion for the Edward’s campaign? He made a bad choice for what? Love? Nope, he said he didn’t love the woman. I’m sure it will be of great consolation to his wife that he shattered their marriage over someone who wasn’t even all that special.

John Edwards, your good name is soiled. At least that good hair you are so proud of is still treating you well. You might need it to hide under for a while.

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I’m frustrated today. There are times when I am sincerely scared and disappointed over the direction my country is going. Before having kids it was easier to shrug off. Now I have a greater concern over the future, their future.

Most have heard of the execution of the Texas immigrant who murdered and raped 2 girls 15 years ago. It’s created a big mess for the US that could have been avoided, yet arrogance overruled common sense. I’ve heard and read many comments from citizens applauding Texas’ courage for going ahead with the execution. The comments are laced with blood lust and anti-illegal alien sentiment. I do understand wanting justice for the victims. I also understand the frustrations surrounding the growing problem of illegal immigration. This issue really isn’t about either, however. It is about honoring our word and protecting our credibility when it comes to international agreements.

Many of those giving Texas a standing ovation clearly don’t understand the objective of the Vienna Convention or comprehend what the real complaint is against how things were handled. They think it is some sort of ‘get out of jail free’ card. As if involving the Mexican Consulate in this gentleman’s prosecution would have some how compromised justice or changed the outcome. It wouldn’t have. It’s not designed to hand citizens over to their home countries for punishment. It’s not diplomatic immunity. It is simply an agreement that Consulates are notified when their citizens are charged with a crime on foreign soil and that their citizens have a right to seek their assistance in navigating/understanding that country’s legal system. I know if I were ever charged with a crime on foreign soil the American Consulate would be the first call I’d want to make. It would be my right under the terms of the Vienna Convention. Now there is no guarantee a foreign country would feel obligated to extend that right to me since the US has shown international agreements and codes of conduct need only apply when convenient.

To those who are celebrating this man’s execution, just know it comes with a price. We could have had the exact same outcome by following proper channels and not have put our citizens’ rights to assistance abroad in jeopardy. Joke all you like about how making Mexico mad is no big deal. One person said “what do they have, like 2 tanks to come get us with.” This isn’t just about fear of military retaliation. This is about opening the door for any other country who wishes to ignore agreements they’ve made by citing our actions as justification. To those who feel this gentleman was not Mexico’s concern because he illegally entered the US as a young child, I say get consistent. He is either a citizen of our country or he is a citizen of another. If the US isn’t willing to claim him as one of us, then they can’t turn around and say he doesn’t belong to Mexico either.

This whole ordeal has given me one thing to kind of sort of compliment George Bush on. As clueless as I’ve felt him to be he did recognize the scope of the problem and opposed this man’s execution without righting the wrong that was committed 15 years ago. So 2 points to Georgie Boy there. He actually took a moment to think about how our actions might compromise our ability to be effective in international circles. He isn’t completely golden in my eyes though. There is little doubt in my mind he was aware of this issue when he occupied the Governor’s Office in Texas. So many years have passed where this man could have been retried under the appropriate conditions. He was guilty as sin. There is no changing that. Short of inventing an effective mechanism for time travel, there is nothing his Consulate could have done to rewrite history and make him be or appear innocent. Justice was going to be achieved. It would have been a lot wiser to get to that point without turning a blind eye to promises and ethics.

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