A True Statesman is Gone

Senator Kennedy left us last night and the last true Statesman in our country left us with a dream to carry on. He may have been frail in the flesh, but he was strong in the spirit. goodbye Senator, well done.

I am personally sorry to see the Senator gone without completing his mission for healthcare reform, but for a selfish reason, I am sorry to see him gone because of his brain cancer. The
Senator and I have the same diagnosis, Glioblastoma Multiforme, a stage 4 brain tumor. I had my surgery in March of this year, he had his in May of '08. He was my gauge. He had his surgery at Duke, I am in a clinical trial at Duke. I feel good about my progess. I am saddened about his death. It just reinforces our own mortality and begs the question of whether we will be remembered for what we did or what we didn't do. There is still life to live. Peace. Dog

Making a Comeback

If anyone is still out there, my apologies for the absence and the promise to come back gone unfulfilled. I will explain more in later posts. Just take it from Red Dog that major life changes have occurred that put this blog on a low priority.

That being said, do you really think I would have missed an election without a good reason?

I will still be offering the same type of commentary on some of the issues. The added feature will be.... health, both mine and the country's.

On a short note, Dog and Senator Kennedy have something in common, but I'll post more on that later.

Dog's Baaaack!!!!!!!!

Stay tuned......testing, testing..."Beam me up Scotty, no sign of intelligent life."

But Then Again......

"North Korea is firing missiles. Iran is going nuclear. Somalia is controlled by radical Islamists. Iraq isn't getting better, and Afghanistan is getting worse," said William Kristol, editor of the Weekly Standard and a leading conservative commentator.

This is a fine mess you've gotten us into, Georgie

When a Conservative Shill like Kristol wipes the "zip-a-dee-doo-dah smile" off his face, you know it's getting bad. The sad fact is that we are not in control of crap, the incompetence of this administration in international affairs is beyond belief. The only foreign policy this group ever had was attack Iraq. With the world with us on 9/11 and the overwhelming support we had when we went after the bastards in Afghanistan, McFlightsuit squanders all that to the point the "Coalition of the Willing" is now the "Coalition of the Diminshing."

Where were those WMD's in Iraq? Well, it turns out they are in Iran and North Korea and Pakistan. So why did we invade Iraq? It's the oil, stupid. North Korea has the stuff we were after in Iraq, so why haven't we invaded them? The short answer is there is nothing there for us, only a bunch of starving people with nothing to offer the world, except weapons and some of them may even be WMD's.

As Dog pointed out several posts back, we are no longer able to influence any country outside of this hemisphere from the "bully pulpit" and I argue there are fewer and fewer in this hemisphere we can influence. Isn't it choice when Bozo Snow has to ask the press who won the Mexican election? Shouldn't the NSA or CIA or one of those "Top Secret" alphabets, be able to tell us? No, but they know your phone number and how many times you called your bookie last month. So wasting money, squandering resources and making enemies are the trademarks of this administration.

There may not be an iota of difference in politicians in Washington, but I, for one, want those in charge now to not be in charge in January 2007. And I would like to see impeachment proceedings for "high crimes and misdemeanors" brought against the current Executive Branch of government. Just remember, 9/11 happened on Bush's watch, despite warnings in the PDB that Osama bin Laden was planning an attack with airplanes. That will be the legacy of George W. Bush.

"If You're Gonna Play In Texas.....

Ya gotta have a fiddle in the band."

Local Reflector adds.........

Don't get distracted by the election year "heat-generating" issues dominating Capitol Hill.I've not read that Social Security Reform will return, but, honestly, that's a legitimate issue to discuss without demogogery. I don't think the issue can survive without demagogery, the Republicans want to make it a class struggle, young vs. old, etc.
The public's perception is different than what the mission of Social Security outlines. The program's supposed to set a floor in living standards in old age, NOT as a investment tool. Actually, the public fully understands that it is a retirement check. I paid a lot of money into the plan, I want something back. Yes, it's a lousy investment, but it should be safe. If I want more money then I have to do something else.

I see so many prime opportunities for Democrats to gain ground politically, but they cannot drop a growing socialistic lean which doesn't resonate in America. Disagree and agree. The Dems have blown opportunity after opportunity to gain ground, but refuse to take the stand to offer alternatives. They are all "Republican Lite." Witness the turmoil over the Leiberman election campaign. What will resonate in America is the same rhetoric that Bush used in 2000. Bring Integrity to the White House.

If Dems would embrace a new income tax scheme and honestly embrace looking at American retirement, they could make in-roads.Top that with true border security proposals, separating it from the immigrant issue, and they can a further foothold. It's hard to get a line on immigration since the President is pulling a "flip-flop" on guest workers and hard line border security. But have you considered the magnitude of deporting 12 Million illegal immigrants?

But, RD, I don't think you'd see much difference should Congress switch parties. I totally agree!!!!!!I think we could substitute the gay marriage amendment with a gay rights platform and endure posturing over the minimum wage. It will be interesting to see how the Dems force the Republicans hand on voting their own pay raise. $5.15 an hour is criminal.

Boy oh boy, I hear lots of fiddling and the Other Guy say, "No, I don't fiddle. I play the violin." "That lead guitar is hot but not for a Louisiana man."

The "real" issues.

• Strategy for withdrawal from Iraq. "Stay the Course" is a slogan, not a strategy.
• Balance the Budget, without decimating education, medicare, medicaid, and assistance for Veterans
• An immigration policy that includes some credit for time already here and stiff prison sentences for companies that hire illegal immigrants.
• Affordable Healthcare
• An Energy Policy that considers alternative fuels and higher standards for fuel consumption in new automobiles and trucks.
• Limiting the power of the Executive Branch of government with a review of the War Powers provision.
• A public works plan (not pork) that upgrades the infrastructure (Roads, dams, bridges)
• Protection of all worker pension plans.
• A public (local, state, Federal) transportation system.
• A voting rights act that insures all can vote and all votes can be counted accurately (electronically or manually) but verification is the key.

Just a few issues that are on my mind, I'm sure there are more.

Hope you had a great Fouth. Try the Malbec, any Malbec, just so that it's from Argentina. The Chilean was not as good.