Still Life

"There are two kinds of people in this world; those who think there are two kinds of people and those who are smart enough to know better"

- Tom Robbins, "Still Life with Woodpecker"

Many moons ago while walking in New Hope with Shiloh; I was recommended this book on the basic principal that it was about a pack of Camel cigarettes. I immediately walked across the street to the book shop (one of my all time favorites) and got it. And by golly got it…I like to think Got it. If not immediately…sometime thereafter.

I have two books that predominately mention Camel cigarettes… the other is Norman Mailer’s “Tough Guys Don’t Dance”.

I don’t mention this because I quit smoking recently. I mention this because well… I have yet to mention it. So whoop de do….

…..tha’s what I’m talkin’ about…

I want to say congratulation to Stansfield. I’m glad your back brother…

and we’ll give ole Heimdall a nod for bringing up Robbins tonight. It’s good to have you back too. Hopefully we’ll get Heimdall’s opinions walking these floors as well.

…yes… this is saddled with the past. The old Jersey days… the old smoking days… even the last time mentioned the old drinking days… as Willie once sang it…funny how time slips away… but I don’t bring it up for those reasons. Nope. Not at all…

I bring it up because well… the past is important to getting to the future. We cannot have a future without it…can we?

I say this because well… we have grand irritations, America does. Grand irritations indeed. Them Russians, Them Iranians and Them Koreans…and prob’ly Them Chinamen… they want to take away our color TVs…

Today Crazy Legs was telling me that I’m an Isolationalist and that a tyrant is a tyrant. I don’t argue with the latter. And Crazy Legs… I’m not an Isolationalist…okay?

so That being said….

Iran is dangerous. Iran is very dangerous, but only as dangerous as we let them become. We have gone around kicking the bear for five years. We have managed to overturn all the damn goodwill that we garnished. …and when it’s all said and done??? What in Sam Hill have we accomplished?

I can give this much to the administration… Iraq was a course correction. It should have happened a long time ago. Bush I is to blame and Clinton well, if they had let him conduct policy instead of worry where his pecker had been… he might have beaten the hell out of Saddam twelve years ago and a generation wouldn’t have grown up hating America.

But we have what we have. Now… we’re getting ready to go to Iran. Bush wants to be able to say that “diplomacy didn’t work”.

Karl Rove is going to paint the world black with his Doom and Gloom “what if the Democrat’s win?” philosophy.

We need to worry about What if they don’t win???

…but don’t talk about it on your phone…

and really…for crying out loud… please please please…understand that if we go into Iran to save Iraq… we will end up like some Three Stooges caricature…

Yes ~ Iran = Crazy. Yes ~ G.W. Bush = Crazy.

But as the Wiseman once said…two wrongs don’t make a right…

George W. Bush is a B-U-M – BUM.

Dick Cheney is a Woos-ee.

Donald Rumsfield is a Paranoid Schizophrenic.

Condoleezza Rice is a Push Over.

We Need New Blood.

We need to apply some lessons of the past. The Cold War/Cuban Missle Crisis and exactly what has this country/Iran done… so far? Are they trying to recreate the Persian Empire? …THINK…

I have these links from BullMooseBlog

With All Our Might

PPI

Stansfield returns…

…and champions the cause of – internet poker?!?

Let’s play a game. List the current issues in the world that you feel need addressed. You might have included the following:

1) Terrorism
2) Poor relations with the global market
3) Rising gas prices
4) Disaster planning and preparation
5) The ballooning deficit

We could go on and on. Now, would it shock you to know that certain members of Congress think that all those issues take a back seat to the issues created by internet poker?

I wish I were kidding. Senator Jon Kyl (R-Arizona) calls internet poker a ‘social pathology.’. Virginia Rep. Bob Goodlatte has sponsored legislation aimed at curing the world of this problem. In fact, this bill just made it out of subcommittee and is headed to the floor.

Several big name poker players went to Washington to propose alternative legislation that taxed gambling sites, but still allowed people to play. The taxes from such could be used to do such novel works as helping Katrina victims or funding research for new fuel alternatives.

No, Senator Kyl and Rep Goodlatte would rather ban the blight than control and tax it. Boy, does this sound like anything else in our history? Seems like the Prohibition Amendment worked like a charm, did it not?

How about the fact that these Congressmen would rather work on this portion of the internet than address the child exploitation that occurs daily? Child molestors can rest easy; Senator Kyl would rather deal with the Texas Hold’em problem.

And don’t give me this crap that these Congressmen also support anti-terrorism bills, and other pertinent issues. These men are voted into office to ‘represent’ their constituent’s views. Instead of spending all their time doing that job, they have championed causes that are important to them personally.

This was the final straw for me, America. I nearly lost my mind when I read about this, and not just because I love poker. I am simply amazed that our current leaders would rather debate the merits of a game that 70 million Americans play than address the actual issues of the world.

I was formerly a member of the Republican party. No more. I will not vote for anyone – anyone - who is not dedicated to the true issues of the world. In fact, I will actively campaign against those who waste the blessing and responsibility they have been given by being a member of Congress.

It is time we as Americans stood up and called this Congress – nay, this Administration – to the carpet.

Stop wasting my tax money and time on issues that do not immediately matter!

Senator Kyl wants to address poker rather than address Iran? Vote him out.

As Sisyphus is so fond of saying, wake up America. Our leaders are letting us down on a daily basis.

And if you see someone picketing Capitol Hill when the poker bill comes up, know that Stansfield had some vacation time he needed to use.

Write your Congressmen and –women. Tell them what’s important. Don’t let Congress waste our time.

And, if you happen to be a poker player who thinks this is as ludicrous as I do, check out the Poker Player's Alliance. The very fact that there even needs to be such a group tells you how pitiful our Congress has become.