Minding the Gap

Sunday, March 25, 2007

London West End Theatre Reviews

During the past fortnight Mrs. Dweet and 49er were pleased to be entertained by several London plays. For those visiting the UK soon and wondering what others think of the offered fare, herewith a short review on each.

The Lady from Dubuque. Starring Dame Maggie Smith. At the Haymarket. 2 Acts. ˜**** First act a little tense. Second act brilliantly funny and dramatic. Plot resolution a little weird. Good fun.

The History Boys. Large cast. At the Wyndhams. 3 Acts. * Don't waste your time/money. Exposes basic intellectual dishonesty and perverted mindset of elitist UK houses of higher education. 15% of the dialog in the first act rendered in French.

Boeing-Boeing. Cast of six. At the Comedy. 3 Acts. **** Classic comedy, very well done. Lots of fun and interesting plot twists.

The 39 Steps. Cast of 4 cover over a dozen roles. At the Criterion. 3 Acts. ***** Based on classic Hickcock movie. Comedic-drama! Exciting stagecraft and plot twists. Great fun!

Guys and Dolls. Starring Don Johnson. At the Piccadilly 3 Acts. **** Traditional version of classic musical, except with modern stagecraft. Very well done. Worth it. Closes April 14.

Treats. Starring Billy Piper. At the Garrick. 3 Acts. *** Classic love-triangle plot. Not very interesting and pretty predictable. Conclusion is muddy. Excellent set, though.

Hope some of this helps.

Cheers˜

Friday, March 23, 2007

WOW! What luck! We found a GOLD ring!

It seemed too good to be true. Just walking along midday in London's west-end theater district, minding our own business, a couple of tourists from stateside, and right there on the sidewalk of a quiet side street a young woman in front of us stopped, stooped over and picked up a huge gold wedding ring! What luck!

And of course she had to share her luck with us. Because we were just behind her, and looked so - I don't know - gullible? Imagine our shared joy at discovering the "18CT" stamp inside the band. And no other inscriptions indicating any method in which to trace ownership. What good fortune!

It turned out it was not really so fortunate for the young woman. She was homeless, jobless, in the country illegally and destitute - we soon discovered from her broken-but-understandable English. And on top of that she was "Muslim", and - of course (didn't see this coming) - was not permitted by her religious laws to wear jewelry. So she graciously gave us the ring.

(All this while 49er couldn't believe Mrs. Dweet was being so kind and believing - I did say "gullible" once before, didn't I? - and was looking around for the cohort to come up and continue the old "found fortune" scam - but that was not about to happen).

This was a new twist on an old scam. It was a one-person trying to play on the sympathies of visitors operation. It ended when Mrs. Dweet reached in her pocketbook and withdrew a crumpled bill to press into the hands of the kind and benevolent found-property-finder. What a crushed look of defeat sprang to her eyes when she unfolded the bill and discovered it was merely a £5 note. But how could she back down when Mrs. Dweet was being so kind, sympathetic and understanding? It probably only cost her 80p, but still an investment is an investment!

We now possess a slightly used size 9 highly polished brass ring with a faux 18 caret stamp inside the band. What luck? So how do we know it was a total fraud? Well, sir, since you asked, during the next week or so we were present when three other "gold" rings were discovered by other individuals - rings that were just quietly lying there on London sidewalks as we strolled in prominent but temporarily quiet sight-seeing areas. My conclusion is that either Londoners have become quite careless with their wedding rings, or there is an organized scam going on. You pays your money and you takes your choice.

And yes, the found ring turns your finger green when worn for a half-day or so.

Cheers

PS: While at Hampton Court a day or so later couldn't help noticing the large "gold" ring one tourist-type gent was wearing on his pinky as he walked past. I almost said something, but decided to be nice - instead - it was a challenge, though.

Monday, February 26, 2007

"Cowboys of the Sea"

For those interested, son of 49er has apparently been spotted in previews of an hour long National Geographic channel special scheduled to be broadcast tonight on the west coast at 6 and 9 PM. Check schedules in your area for details. Last summer BUMPER crewed for a few weeks on the "Ms. Liz" out of Naknek, Alaska, going after sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay. He will be the handsome one.

Sunday, February 18, 2007

He's slogging his way back!

In spite of a couple of weeks of struggling through this mucky swamp-like morass of California mud for way too long, 49er is finally about back to normal. Posting should resume soon. Thanks for checking in.

Cheers

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Light posting next five weeks

Due to 49er's involvement in an annual charity event, coupled with the reluctance of the National Standards and Times Commission to add six more hours to the length of each day.

Cheers

Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Fallacies and wishful thinking

The following is a sad posting, and in no way is meant to imply "justice was done". It was and is a public tragedy. Instead, it is mentioned here to demonstrate the widespread dispersion of public silliness and illogical thought processes.

Last Friday night a 16 year old youth was tragically shot and killed by police after a car chase and attempted arrest in East Palo Alto when the juvenile allegedly pulled a gun on arresting officers. A second person, an 18 year old cousin, was arrested at the scene.

"The two are suspected of robbing and shooting a man earlier that night (in the same general area)."

The San Jose Mercury News story linked above goes on to quote friends and family of the young man making ridiculous statements.

"`They shot him like he was a grown man,' said Fou Malimali, 25, a close friend of Longi's. "It's going to fall right back on them,'' she said. "Now it's going to be like, `They're dirty cops.' ''

There is more tragedy to the story. The young man may have had "mental" or "developmental" problems. Read the whole thing. There are even more examples of illogical, twisted thinking, if not outright denial of reality.

Hello! It was night time when this occurred. He was a person suspected of robbing and shooting somebody just a short time earlier, and was apparently in the act of "pulling" a gun from his waist. Does anybody actually expect peace officers to allow themselves to be shot at until they are able to make a confirmed age determination? That's wishful thinking. The two officers themselves are definitely not 'dirty cops'. Instead, they are a credit to their departments and assets to their communities. A conclusion like that quoted in the story is a logical fallacy.

It is interesting to note the Mercury News frequently allows "comments" to its on-line stories. Since this particular entry seems so blatantly an attempt to curry favor with the area's Polynesian community, the editorial staff apparently wisely decided to disallow on-line comments this time. Good thinking.

It's sad to see so-called 'jounalists' prostituting themselves with wishful thinking pieces like this one.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Illegal Immigration Issues

There are too many assumptions being bandied about by well meaning folk over what the "average" conservative US voter 'thinks' about illegal immigrants, etc.

If I may speak for a large number of fellow conservatives, what frosts our backsides is the "illegal" part of the situation. Our answer: If it's agin' the law, just don't do it! The US's entire national immigration program responds so slowly as to place folks who follow the 'rules' in a diminished or inferior position when it comes to obtaining entry permission, etc., etc. That's not fair!

And it very unfortunately financially 'rewards' those who take the law into their own hands, ignoring the proscribed process. That's just not right! That part needs to be fixed before we start talking about more and more programs designed to 'fast-track' the application system for those that are already here and want to "legalize" themselves.

This ties in with the post below to the extent that most liberals (democrats) seem to want to excuse the "claim jumper's" lawlessness (or to be more charitable "forgetfulness") on humanitarian grounds. And while that is quite tempting to do, it's also a 'feel good' solution that unfortunately teaches the wrong lesson concerning US culture and the responsibilities of US citizenship.

Somehow we need to quickly re-establish fairness in the system and then solve the extremely human problem of families divided by distance or living while eternally keeping an eye looking over their shoulder, ever watching for 'la migra'. For the most part these persons are happy to be here, consider the US their adopted country, and after a few years will never, ever 'go back home' unless to visit loved ones. They consider themselves to have become "Americans", regardless of their official status.

The phrase "Borders, language and culture" is more than a conservative creed. It is an essential foundation for nation building. A society ignoring those words is living in anarchy. Living with them encourages genuine and humane societal progress.

The US corporate and agricultural world has paid too little lip service to this issue for far too long, riding cheaply and virtually painlessly on the coat-tails of tax-paying citizens and anxious illegal immigrants alike. It's now time for them to step up to the plate and take responsibility for themsevles, and disgard their self-imposed "blinders" when it comes time to verify employee's employment eligibility. It's only the fair thing for them to do.

Cheers

On Good Intentions and Belittlement

This will likely be a two-parter, the second addressing (in a day or so) what 49er perceives to be a typical US attitude towards illegal immigration - and illegal immigrants. (Trust him, the two subjects are related).

For now, however, one can't help but observe once more a dichodomy between what most of the world expects in the way of societal behaviour from leaders of the US and what they accept from the secretariat of the UN. 49er holds that GWB and KA are almost universally held to significanty different standards of personal integrity and job performance.

If a fair-minded reader can't see at least a modicum of truth in that assertion, then all the linkage in the world will not improve on our mutual intercommunication and understanding. So I now bid those individual readers good-bye! You will benefit from nothing further here.

For the rest of us, however, IMHO there is something much more sinister at play here. For I consider that KA has been held to a much softer world-wide standard than GWB. And if that is true, then it almost certainly reflects a personal bias on the part of the viewer. Further, this has become a destructive bias that significantly lowers world-wide expectations of the retiring UN secretary general's job performance and leadership ability. A bias that in effect says, "We recognize that KA simply can't do as competent a job at the UN as we expect GWB to do in the US."

49er further maintains that most of the world doesn't support that point of view with 'evil intentions'. Instead, the universal world has encouragingly wished to frequently give KA the 'benefit of the doubt', even when faced with conflicting information. There is nothing "wrong" with this mindset, unless it repeatedly gives the object of attention a virtual "pass" on maintaining any objective level of personal integrity. Which it eventually has done.

49er regards the repeated good intentions of the liberal world toward Mr. Annan to have in effect belittled him, saying further, "Since you don't have the ability to do the same job, nor have the same integrity, as we expect of Mr. Bush, we will accept whatever you do as being 'OK'." And that, dear readers, is a deadly, deadly, and self-fulfilling bias.

Be honest about the double-standard, or in the interest of fairness eliminate it. The leader of the UN should be held to the same standards as the leader of the US, or any other nation. IMO.

Cheers btw, Nothing here is intended to be defending the record of GWB.

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

"World History - As it Really Happened"

The following is compiled from several sources, including varied iterations from at least my friend JAMES JOHNSON (12/13/06), Ran at DAIMNATION (10/27/06),and Dawg at TechRepublic (3/9/06). There may have been others. Whoever originated it is pretty much a genius, IMHO.

Humans originally existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters/gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and *lobster in the winter. [*Note: only the unorthodox.]

The two most important events in all of history were the inventionof beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundations of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into two distinct subgroups:

... Liberals and Conservatives.

Once beer was discovered, it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early humans were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That's how villages were formed.

Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to BBQ at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as the Conservative movement.

Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly BBQ's and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women.

The rest became known as girliemen.

Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy and group hugs and the concept of Democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided.

Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant . Liberals are symbolized by the jackass.

Most modern liberals like gourmet* imported beer (with lime added), but many prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are also standard liberal fare. (*weak or watery)

Interestingly enough, one sub-set of liberals has been identified which claim to prefer the lustier beers and ales originally brewed in England or Australia. There is some DNA evidence to suggest these "liberals" are actually misguided "closet conservatives" attempting to retain some level of societal security by appearing to 'blend in' with their 'neighbours'.

Another interesting evolutionary side note: most of Liberals' women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn't fair to make the pitcher also bat.

Conservatives drink domestic* beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, athletes, Marines, and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living. (*stronger flavor)

Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to govern the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. [Does 'enlightened' refer to the nightly bonfires in Vénisseux and Grigny?]

That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were taming America . Afterwards, when it was safe to do so, they crept in after the Wild West was "civilised" and created businesses dedicated to getting more for doing nothing.

Here ends today's lesson in world history: It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to angrily respond to this historic recollection before forwarding it. [Don't know why... They got it for nothing.]

Conservatives will simply laugh and be so convinced of the absolute truth of this historical essay that they will link to it immediately and pass it on to other true believers. And also on to other liberals just to [goad] them.

Greetings of the "Season"

For my Democrat friends:

"Please accept with no obligation, implied or explicit, my best wishes for an environmentally sensitive, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, or with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or your choice to not practice religious or secular traditions at all, if you so choose.

I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the generally accepted calendar year 2007, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. This is not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And is further offered without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee(s).

By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable without alteration of the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes by himself or others, is void where prohibited or regulated by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher.

This wish is warranted to perform as expected as a commerically acceptable expectation of good tidings for a period of no more than one year or until the issuance of a subsequent or replacement holiday greeting, whichever occurs first. Your only right under this warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher."

For the rest of my friends:

"Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year"

Holiday Cheers and a h/t to JAMES JOHNSON

Friday, December 08, 2006

The Eagle has landed

And the gap between the platform of expectations and the floor of reality is once again under close observation. Cheers.

Saturday, December 02, 2006

A brief recess

The Dweet's will be in Arizona from the 3rd until the 7th representing a whole bunch of volunteers at an annual convention. Its rough duty, folks, but somebody has to 'bite the bullet' for the troops. Posting will resume afterwards.

Saturday, November 25, 2006

Fun with Canadians

Last week 49er had a great time volunteering most of the week as a courtesy car driver at the Pebble Beach Invitational, or as we call it around here, "The Callaway".

Carried lots of interesting golfers and family members between the courses, etc., but had a particularly rewarding time one afternoon with a trio of what turned out to be Canadian amateurs. As they were joking around while loading up the car after their round, they exchanged a few "ehs" and "abouuts". So as things quieted down when we reached the highway I asked, "What part of Toronto are you from?" They laughed and laughed. Turned out all three worked as stock brokers in the city now, but only one was a native Ontarian. Another was originally from Vancouver, and the third was Albertan, from Calgary.

They seemed tickled that an old geezer Yank could 'spot them', because - as they said - most often they're able to fly under average US radar. After exchanging pleasantries and being invited to "come visit them", I couldn't resist ranting a little bit concerning my last posting re: Calgary, just below. I told them that right now Calgary was not on my good list, and then explained why - after they'd asked. They said they hadn't heard of the issue, but agreed it stunk, too.

At trips end they came around to my side of the car to shake hand,s saying something to the effect that "Wow! A Yank who knows more about what's going on at home than we do". They were good guys, and had fun. So did I.

Wondered if bill and stephen might enjoy hearing this tale, too.

Cheers

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Canada, Oh Canada! Where hast thou gone?

If this story from August is accurate, the US's northern neighbors went to sleep recently and some other beings woke in their place. How else to explain the dyfunctional disconnect with Calgary, Alberta's, police between freedom and chicanery? Reported at the time in the Calgary Sun, and Bene Diction's blog, since then the story's drawn little notice around the net.

Recently 49er commented in Outside The Box on another matter in Calgary thusly:

Calgary’s reputation as the last of CA’s ‘wild west frontiers’ has finally caught up with itself. Thus comes ‘civilisation’. Probably overdue. The cusp period will probably last another generation, but afterwards the city and province will likely become an even much more pleasant place in which to visit or live. Congrats on maturing."

That comment was wrong. If Calgarians - and Canadians in general - support the actions of their LEOs in situations similar to the story above, IMO they are not MORE civilized than others, but less. Shame on them for trading freedom for mindless and short-lived "comfort".

And here's another tip: What you think you have now ain't gonna last. The monkeys are now running your zoo, and you're about to run into a terrible shortage of bananas.

Wake up!

Saturday, November 11, 2006

The Day God Spilled the Paint

This is not 49er's photo. Nor his honey's. She did have it emailed to her today, and thought it too breathtaking to not share. So a little further expanation.

The photo was apparently taken by a lady named Barbara Mathews, on May 14, 2005. It was said to have been taken in central California on the east side of the Carrizo plain, in the Temblor Range, about 50 miles due west of Bakersfield, California. Most of the year this country is bleak, barren, brush-covered and good for little else than cattle browsing or sheep-herding. Running through or near this range are several active earthquake faults, including the dread San Andreas. Further north about an hour is the most active earthquake zone in the North American continent, Parkfield.

Many of 49er's internet friends are from beautiful parts of the world. He generally agrees with and accepts their local self-assessments. The point to this photo is simply that God is able to bring beauty to anything, no matter how fleetingly.

Cheers

Two Year Tactical Plan

Thanks to Bob Orr of either orr, who has suggested seven strategies conservatives should be considering putting into effect the next two years. They are, briefly

Challenge demos to come up with a real plan.
Encourage repubs to return to their basics.
Expose real demo weaknesses.
Waken the rearguard to search for closet skeletons.
Develop a knowledgable 'shadow' government.
Encourage and develop viable 08 candidates.
Don't fear intraparty disagreements.

49er is adding an eighth tactic to that list.

Encourage newly elected demos who might be a tad less liberal than old-guard "Pelosi-ites" to think and act for themselves. To not become dhimmocratic zombies.

Stretching opposing party discipline has always been a rewarding tactic. We conservatives should not be adverse to politely practicing this ancient artform. The results to our nation could be well worth it!

Cheers.

Friday, November 10, 2006

A Brit "gets it"!

Interesting commentary by Gerard Baker in the Times on line in the UK concerning US election results. Read the entire thing for the full flavor of his reasoning, but IMO he's pretty spot on. Which is nice to see. Here is a sample . . .

As the only living Englishman who doesn’t regard the modern Republican party as the Devil’s Spawn, I might be expected to be in mourning today. On the contrary. This was mostly a good week.

The first and most obvious reason for optimism is the confirmation of Tuesday’s elections that democracy works. Republicans lost not because the American people have suddenly seen the wisdom of the collective leadership of the European Union or the editorial pages of the world’s press but because they deserved to lose

Good intellectual analysis is really fun to consider. Thanks, Gerard Baker, for bringing back a little joy this week.

Cheers

Term Limits

OK, is it just me? Or does our recent experience with GWB, WJC, the defunct "republicats" and now the new and improved "dhimmocrats" situation the US is going through, not point out the wisdom of somehow evolving [note use of 'code' word] our form of government into one that uniformly enforces national term limits?

Isn't one term enough for ANY citizen politician? And wouldn't that pretty well rule out or nullify most activities of professional [spit, spit] politicians?

While we're looking at the federal government, why do we still need two houses? Lets combine them all into one house, elect them to a single four year term, half elected during presidential election years and the others two years later. Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Go back to the idea of a concerned citizen contributing her/his efforts for one term to the process of representing one's neighbors in the nation's capitol. It would no longer be one's lifeswork. Worthwhile to do well, yes, and great on the resume, but not a long-term career thing. Think of the pork-barrel money this could save!

As an added relief to the federal budget the single term idea could be used for congressional (and presidential) entitlement reform. Pay them a good wage, sure, but nothing close to the regal structure we currently have in place. Give them a good retirement benefit, pay all reasonable living expenses, but put the onus on them to go back to honest work afterwards and reenter the private sector if they wanted to improve their eventual retirement nest eggs.

No, it won't work. Too many oxen would be gored. And it could place the burden on voters to actually be responsible for tough decisions at election-time. No, that won't do. We would rather drink our kool-aid, roll over and go back to sleep. Too bad. Snooze, snooze, snooze.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

Bush's third bi-annual report card

From the perspective of a republican who voted for him twice, here is an up-to-date report card for the 2005-06 mid-term.

Domestic policies D; Foreign policies B+; Staffing appointments D-; Legislative liason D; Military leadership D-; Political skills F; Public Speaking skills D-; Personal ethics B.

Overall grade: D+

Discussion:

Bush completely went against his base by blocking any meaningful improvement of our border control and the flagrant illegal immigration crisis he not only ignored, but helped flaunt. That alone sank any other domestic policy gains into a vast morass of ineptitude.

Foreign policies were hit and miss, with no obvious failures in 49er's POV. Just because the rest of the world hates him is virtually irrelevant, IMHO. Because they don't vote, they don't count. Sorry. 49er doesn't always agree with their leaders, either. Tough.

Allowing Rove to stay on after the 2004 election was stupid, stupid, stupid. Weirdly brilliant - or maybe brilliantly weird - his brainpower was long ago overcome with dogmatic egomania - all to Bush's harm, but GWB seemed not to care.
Rummy should have been gone almost a year ago. His brilliance in 2003 faded to stubborn resolve by 2005, and his worth tumbled to nothing long ago. That GWB failed to understand this contributes to his "bumbling, stumbling" reputation. Totally unnecessary. Blind leading the blind.
Tony Snow's appointment was brilliant, though. Regardless of who brought it about.

Bush should have recognized how far left his majority party legislators had strayed in 2002, and by the 2004 elections dealt with it. He didn't. They didn't. The "republicats" ran amuck. And they blew it for 2006. Serves them right! Only saving grace was his ability to reach out to some elected democrats and build a few wobbly bridges during this current mid-term.

War is brutal. It breaks things and people. In 2003 the war was well fought. In 2004 it began slipping into a "rules of engagement" mindset. Stupid. War is best fought hard, fast, ugly, brutal and over! Too many post 2003 opportunities unrecognized and forever lost. Also, "rules of engagement" slowly evolve until they become counter-intuitive to the actual waging of a war. So from mid 2004 on we have been more in a WOC (criminals) situation, not WOT (terrorists). Unnecessary and costly in lives and assets.

GWB's seen as politically fiddling while Rome’s been burning for more than two years. He’s failed to either see it, or else to respond. Can anyone identify “a river in Egypt”? He apparently can’t.

Almost anyone today can learn through coaching and training to become articulate. If they want to. He apparently doesn’t care enough to do so. Shame on him. His speech and grammar reflect poorly on his ivy-league MBA. Somebody should be looking into rescinding his diploma, because the skills acquisition it seems to suggest certainly didn’t stick around very long.

49er thinks he’s probably a nice guy. Would probably make a fairly good neighbor, except for a classic lack of introspect ional skills, there are no known major gaffes.

49er is ready now to respond to instructions and corrections from other interested (and semi-interested) parties.

Cheers

Why 49er's happy his team lost - if you care

Possibly its a reflection of his own personal political death wish, but when the national republican party morphed itself (in less than a decade) into some kind of a "republicat" party, it brings glee to him now to see so many of his like-kind shot in the foot - and elsewhere - and thrown out of office by so many national voters! Good show! Spot on!

If the people wanted unethical slime balls in office they've always been able to vote for democrats. As in the old Bop Hope movie, democrats have been shown to stand around, idly, like zombies not knowing what to say or do very well, and they've done an excellent job of capturing that particular share of the market. For so many elected republicats to think they could simply take democrats' places in that environment was not only foolish and short-sighted, but incredibly stupid. Since big government doesn't work very well, why continue to "grow" a larger - but still dyfunctional - government. Dumb!

For over two decades now republicans have been being elected by voters to "govern", but in the past twelve years too many of them have only found time to prove they are as slimy as democrats, some even more so. We don't need two slimy parties. So the nation has now chozen to return to the original, patented-protected slime balls. Well done! Good choice.

The party that represents every weird and short-sighted agenda in the world has proven in the interval since the Truman years that it can't govern. So democrats now have a short window of opportunity to somehow show they've changed. News flash! They have, but not for the better! The next two years will bring us even more political disasters.

49er's prediction is the surviving republicans will shortly winnow out republicats from places of responsibility within their midst, retake the party helm, and prepare to resume "governing" in two years when voters have grows bored with weirdness, etc. per se, and throw those bums out - again. Let's hope the surviving and newly chosen republicans have learned to appreciate their roots a little more than has been recently shown. Repeat after me, "Less government is better government". Now go write it on the board 100 times. And relearn the humility rule. One is never as good or as smart as one thinks. No matter what one's mother says.

Cheers