Blogger overload

There's just so much to say, I can't possibly think of where to start. Actually, I already did start, on Bill's blog. But...

The Elephants have been dancing in New York this week, mostly on the graves of the victims of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, which happened while George W. Bush was on watch and asleep at his post, dreaming of isolationism and ways of buying future votes with tax rebates. And they're trying to spin this into a positive. Sadly, they are succeeding.

Meanwhile DICK! continues to change the tone by leading an extended Five Minutes Hate against Kerry during the convention. Well, DICK!, since you really don't have anything else to work with, you may as well attack, right? Hey, it worked in Iraq, right?

To the Bush twins: if you're not just joking about looking for something to do now that you've finished college, have you considered enlisting in the military? Your dad has fearlessly sent lots of other people's sons and daughters off to fight and die all over the world. Nothing would impress me more than if he were to put his own flesh and blood on the line. And not some serving-fake-turkeys -to-hungry-troops or hanging-out-under-unintentionally-ironic-signs-while-the-aircraft-carrier-does-lazy-circles-off-the-coast-of-San Diego sinecure. No, I mean risky, down-and-dirty front line stuff. Your dad didn't see any action during his stint in the National Guard, and even took time off to work on a political campaign. Maybe you could sort of make up for that. It would really help his image a lot.

To Norman Podhoretz, the "grandfather of neo-conservativism" who dismissed Matthew Brzezinski's charge that homeland security is seriously underfunded, especially when compared to U.S. spending in Iraq, by saying that the fact that there have been no major terrorist attacks in the U.S. since September 11, 2001 shows that somebody must be doing something right: Your response reminds me of the joke (unfunny since September 11, 2001) about the man who jumps off a 100-story building and, after falling 95 floors, says "So far, so good." Does that mean that we were doing a lot of things right in the interlude between the first World Trade Center bombing on February 26, 1993 and the attacks on September 11, 2001?

John Edwards was in town yesterday, and unlike DICK! last week, he wasn't afraid to mention the recent closure of Techneglas. Now if, as some of my conservative friends maintain, factory closings are due to the failures of the Clinton administration's economic policies, why was DICK! afraid to make this point? You can read about Edwards' visit here, and here.

Dubya is coming here tomorrow, so all will be chaos and confusion for a while - read about it here and here. I have some friends who work in a building that overlooks the stadium, so I expect that their day should be interesting. Especially for two of them who happen to have dark hair and beards. Since my daily highway commute takes me on a pass slightly above and only about half a mile from the stadium where Bush will be speaking, I expect that I may be delayed or detoured. Or possibly detained. We shall see.

If ever your pet should suddenly stop eating for a few days at a time, do not assume that he or she has simply decided to die. Take your pet to the vet, and have him (or her) check for tooth decay. It happens. It happened to me. A few more days and my cat might have gone into hepatic lipidosis, which can easily become an irreversible and fatal condition. But we acted quickly, and he's fine.

Finally, the sunrises have been absolutely gorgeous for the past two mornings - another benefit of taking your dog for an hour-and-a-half walk starting at 5:10 AM. Maybe I'll take a camera with me tomorrow and get some photos.

Oh, post-finally: my pictures from Stone Harbor are back. Some of them are quite nice. I'll have to post a few when I get a chance.

Sorry for having been away so long. Don't be a stranger, bubula. Stop by anytime!