BRONX CHEER

Well, I know what i'll be doing for the next month. Thanks for the warning. (not) See you in the funny papers. Actually I have a couple of experimental Blogger sites that I've played with over the years. See you in the funny papers.

FRUIT AND FLOWERS

We got this dahlia this spring and put it in a planter out front behind the Susans.

And the close up. Doesn't look quite real does it? We did peaches last weekend. And as we were sorting, blanching and peeling I realized just how much this bloom looks like a nice ripe Improved Elberta.

The peaches were wonderful this year. We had a couple of really hot days to get the ripening started and then a few cool showery days to build up the juice. But, these were so ready to go this year that just putting them in the boxes was bruising them. Didn't lost a one though. And they're safely tucked in their jars just waiting for winter to give up some of that sunshine.

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JUST A SUGGESTION

This is a lunch hour quickie.

I’m going to make a couple suggestions. First up I don’t equate political parties with the Sabbath. But, both were made for man, not the other way around.

So first up. If you don’t support the official candidate of either party, cast a write in ballot for the person you believe can do the job. I don’t care if it’s Ron Paul, Ralph Nader, Mitt Romney or Hillary Clinton. Follow your beliefs about who would be the best leader for the country. The candidate you believe in may not get elected but your vote still earns you right to holler about the outcome. Collect enough votes for the unofficial candidates and the parties will have to take notice.

Second, contact your local legislator and your representatives in congress. It’s way past time to amend the constitution to allow electoral votes to be allotted by proportional vote instead of the all or nothing system we have now.

I’m not sure how I feel about abolishing the Electoral College. The Founders weren’t too big on allowing the “mob” to have too large a voice in the government. Women and many men didn’t have the vote back in 1787 and it took the seventeenth amendment to the Constitution to allow the direct election of Senator. The first election took place in 1914 folks.

Any thoughts about allotting votes by proportion of popular votes vs. outright abolition of the Electoral College?

OREGONIAN CARTOON

For the record, I believe that politicians should be allowed to change their minds. New information comes in, people mature and what seemed like good policy five years ago isn't anymore.

But, I couldn't pass up this cartoon from Jack Ohman. I think Jack must have studied at the Mike Royko school of editorial comment.

And if you go to the Go Comics website, you'll find that he's pretty much an equal opportunity skewerer.

YOU DO BEGIN TO WONDER

I do wonder.

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I KEEP TRYING

I’ve done a tiny bit of asking around at work about the presidential campaign and……I’m not quite sure what to think. Several of my female co-workers think the ‘Pubs are just great. Obama’s education, legal work, organizational work, state legislature service and teaching are dismissed out of hand. Granted these gals are about my age, maybe a little younger. They’re at least high school graduates or maybe a little college. But, my cats are more curious about what’s going on in the world

A remark that the changes they’re promising could have been done already is also dismissed out of hand. It’s depressing to say the least. I suspect that the family that owns the company is of a more liberal bent and I have seen a few Obama bumper stickers in the employee lot. Fingers permanently crossed, at least in my mind. With luck, Libertarian Ron Paul may just bleed off enough Republicans who can’t bring themselves to vote for Obama, but can’t stomach the “pit bull with lipstick” either. A girl can hope can’t she?

Speaking of the “pit bull,” there was a letter in the Oregonian this morning from a gal who is a real life community organizer in the Portland metro area. She was not amused at Palin’s crack at Obama’s experience. She help folks with everything from keeping the power on to finding money to make the rent. And, as she put it, “I have to find real money to cover these things, I can’t just print more.” We’ve got a long road ahead of us folks.

I know who I’m voting for in the November but I don’t think I’ll have much luck changing any minds around here. Hell my eighty two year old mother is more up on political issues than this bunch. Lisa, I have to keep reminding myself that the situation at that little bakery in the mall was far more unique than I realized at the time.

In other election news here in Oregon, the ‘Pubs are so bankrupt they couldn’t even field a candidate to oppose Peter DeFazio in the fourth district. He isn’t totally unopposed; there are candidates from the Constitution and Green parties running. And that’s really sad. The system, such as it is only works when there are candidates running from all parties. Granted, if Saint Peter was running as a Republican I’d still think twice about voting for him; just because of the party label.

I think that’s what’s happened in Oregon. A lot of new voters are registering as Independents and I suspect that more than a few Republicans are simply leaving the party and doing the same thing.

FOUR MORE YEARS? NO!

I haven’t had a lot to say on the candidates so far this season. Mostly because while the names have changed I feel like I’m repeating myself. And to be honest I’ve had my nose stuck in a half dozen different books, none of them political

Wikipedia entries can hardly be called unbiased, but they do try and entries that sound too much like canned spiels get labeled as such.

These are links for the entries on Barack Obama and Sarah Palin. Ok, so Obama has spent two years in the Senate. He served in the state legislature longer than Palin has been governor. He not only has a doctorate in the law but he’s practiced the law and he’s taught the law.

Palin has a barely used journalism degree and a minor in political science. She tried to get her former brother in law fired from his state trooper position after the couple went through a divorce and when that didn’t work she fired the man who wouldn’t fire him. They’re trying to get an investigation started on that. It’s small potatoes but that’s how corruption gets started boys and girls. We’ve all seen how the current administration has misused, ignored and tried to corrupt our federal legal system. We can’t afford four more years of an administration that openly obeys the few laws it agrees with and treats the rest as optional.

After the crew of one or two term Republican (female) wonders we had in Oregon in the last decade, Palin would be hard put to be elected dog catcher let alone to the state legislature in this part of the Lower Forty Eight. And she sure as hell wouldn’t be elected to astate wide position; much less governor.

It’s past time for the Democratic candidates to take the gloves off and point out that while Barack Obama’s resume at the federal level may be a little thin, the rest of his experience is not.

I guess just good enough has finally made the big time. McCain and Palin are just good enough to run. I don’t buy just good enough at the store, I’m not buying it at the ballot box either.