Well, duh. "Groundhog Day" was cute, but apart from that story, every day is a new day. New opportunities, new risks, new challenges, new surprises.
Yesterday was a biggie with President Obama's inauguration. Our 44th president, and the fifth to whom I've paid attention. Carter was my cusp -- I wasn't very political in the late '70's -- but starting with Reagan I have been, and yesterday was important to me for a couple reasons.
First, President Bush's approval rating yesterday was around 23%. Obama has a honeymoon because Bush has, in the parlance of our British friends, "assed it up" so very thoroughly.
It's difficult to think of the tremendous energy and time and money and apologies and court battles that lay ahead to mitigate or undo some of what Congress and the Bush/Cheney administration "achieved." I hope Obama, Congress, and most importantly, we the people, have the tenacity and long-range thinking to stick with it.
Second, Obama has stayed above the fray and seems like a good, normal guy.
ALERT! ALERT! Bush is the regular guy! Bush is the rancher who just wants to wear his cowboy hat and cut brush.
REALITY! REALITY! Yeah, not so much. The Crawford Ranch was purchased and the house built during the 2000 presidential campaign. It was, in nearly every way, a prop. A set-piece. He didn't live there before he became president, and he's not going back to it. 'Course, he is an ex-president, so if he wants to do some chainsawin' in the backyard of his new exclusive Dallas neighborhood, I don't expect too many folks will complain.
Obama seems like a good, normal, smart guy. When he's attacked, he keeps it civil and focuses on policy. Bush had a nasty team running his campaigns, and McCain hired most of them for his. As Clinton slid into the dregs with her campaign, Obama never really bit. So we really have Bush, and Cheney, and most especially Mr. Rove, to thank for the margin of victory and the sentiment that massive change was needed from the past eight years.
I didn't vote for Obama because he's black, or because he's a Democrat. Obama had the only sensible, radical campaign of change. How amazingly cool that George Bush and Dick Cheney brought our country to a place where the color of the candidate's skin was so far removed from so many voters' minds?
It's a ramble -- sorry. The new administration has an enormous set of challenges ahead, and I wish them (and us) lots of energy and enthusiasm. Many people (and a whole cable network) are attacking because he's not their guy, and that's fine. The issues to be faced and the damage to be undone are too big to be bothered by the small stuff.
Bush and his handlers were consistent in their arrogance and inflexibility; Obama has promised to listen to anyone with good ideas for the country, and has asked for help from all sides. Devolve into partisan politics as usual, Mr. New President Guy, and, well, 23% approval ratings will seem like the good old days.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
I Should Count to Ten...
...before writing this. One, two, three, four, screw it.
Of the many, many reasons we love living in rural Montana, an ironic sense of the quaint ranks high. For example, we have high-speed DSL access and it's less expensive than we paid for regular DSL in Seattle, but there isn't a whole lot of local info to access.
We want to attend a Christmas Eve service. Not in the online version of the Daily Interlake newspaper (oh, bastion of reasonable editorial!), not in the Flathead Beacon, not in the Bigfork Eagle is there a calendar listing service times. So, okay, I went to the website of the church we visited last year.
Here's their monthly calendar.
Surprisingly, frustratingly, agnostic-inducingly empty, doncha think?
And they're not alone in having nothing scheduled for Christmas Eve or Christmas. I don't care if they're not up to snuff with flash and animated GIF's and weekly messages from pastor/priest and staff; some content would be helpful. As much as I loved Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean," I don't think a church should take the Isla de Muerta approach, where a service can only be found by those who already know when it is.
Yes, yes, I'll call around tomorrow and find out whose service is when....
In other news, it's gorgeous here, I'm having tremendous fun reading the "What Global Warming?" articles on the web, and feeling quite meteorologically lucky, compared with Spokane, Seattle, the Midwest, the East, etc.
This photo shows two of our five outside trees with lights. There's been no wind here, so the very powdery snow is still in the branches.
I hope to post again tomorrow and Christmas, but if I don't, peace and joy, Merry Christmas, safe travel, and blessings to you and yours. --Bob
Of the many, many reasons we love living in rural Montana, an ironic sense of the quaint ranks high. For example, we have high-speed DSL access and it's less expensive than we paid for regular DSL in Seattle, but there isn't a whole lot of local info to access.
We want to attend a Christmas Eve service. Not in the online version of the Daily Interlake newspaper (oh, bastion of reasonable editorial!), not in the Flathead Beacon, not in the Bigfork Eagle is there a calendar listing service times. So, okay, I went to the website of the church we visited last year.
Here's their monthly calendar.
Surprisingly, frustratingly, agnostic-inducingly empty, doncha think?
And they're not alone in having nothing scheduled for Christmas Eve or Christmas. I don't care if they're not up to snuff with flash and animated GIF's and weekly messages from pastor/priest and staff; some content would be helpful. As much as I loved Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean," I don't think a church should take the Isla de Muerta approach, where a service can only be found by those who already know when it is.
Yes, yes, I'll call around tomorrow and find out whose service is when....
In other news, it's gorgeous here, I'm having tremendous fun reading the "What Global Warming?" articles on the web, and feeling quite meteorologically lucky, compared with Spokane, Seattle, the Midwest, the East, etc.
This photo shows two of our five outside trees with lights. There's been no wind here, so the very powdery snow is still in the branches.
I hope to post again tomorrow and Christmas, but if I don't, peace and joy, Merry Christmas, safe travel, and blessings to you and yours. --Bob
Sunday, December 21, 2008
A Winter Wonderland
Monique and I are back from Helena and a visit with my cousin Lynn and her family, and Hall with a visit to Monique's parents. A busy, fun weekend.
Along the way we stopped twice for eats, and in the spirit of Christmas, I'll be generous with the first review.
1. Safeway Deli, Polson. Oh my dear good god this was bad. You know the taste when you nibble a piece of synthetic leather utterly devoid of moisture? Warm it up and you got their fried chicken.
2. No Sweat Cafe, Helena. A Hippie hangout, with anti-social tendencies like a no cell phone rule, fair-trade coffee, and other weird stuff. Great food, the service is, shall we say, "casual", and lingering is encouraged. Buncha non fast-food hippies....
3. Muralt's Cafe, I-90 and Exit 96, Missoula. Outstanding. Good food, excellent fries (and I'm not a big fries guy), and friendly service.
Okay, enough with the silliness. Visiting the Bubbs was a blast, and seeing their spastic black lab Scout made it that much more fun. Very much in the "It's a Small World" vein, as we were just about to leave, the couple that occasionally helps clean Lynn & Shawn's house came over, and voila, it was Monique's music director from Flathead High. My dad and his Two Degrees of Separation theory would've loved it.
Hall was wonderful, and the food there is always good :). Not really having gotten into Montana college football too much (either for the Griz or the 'Cats), I was still interested in watching the National Championship game between Montana and Richmond. We all watched, and just like all those actors who don't win the award, "it's an honor just to be nominated." Well, the Griz should be proud they made it to the championship game... literally. Finding the stadium and getting their uniforms on was the high point of the evening. Richmond quickly, decisively, and inarguably destroyed them. It was over way before halftime, and Montana had no idea what was going on.
Unlike Seattle and Spokane, we've gotten moderate snow this weekend. On the left is a shot of steam coming off Flathead Lake, and on the right, our backyard with 7" of snow perched everywhere.
Along the way we stopped twice for eats, and in the spirit of Christmas, I'll be generous with the first review.
1. Safeway Deli, Polson. Oh my dear good god this was bad. You know the taste when you nibble a piece of synthetic leather utterly devoid of moisture? Warm it up and you got their fried chicken.
2. No Sweat Cafe, Helena. A Hippie hangout, with anti-social tendencies like a no cell phone rule, fair-trade coffee, and other weird stuff. Great food, the service is, shall we say, "casual", and lingering is encouraged. Buncha non fast-food hippies....
3. Muralt's Cafe, I-90 and Exit 96, Missoula. Outstanding. Good food, excellent fries (and I'm not a big fries guy), and friendly service.
Okay, enough with the silliness. Visiting the Bubbs was a blast, and seeing their spastic black lab Scout made it that much more fun. Very much in the "It's a Small World" vein, as we were just about to leave, the couple that occasionally helps clean Lynn & Shawn's house came over, and voila, it was Monique's music director from Flathead High. My dad and his Two Degrees of Separation theory would've loved it.
Hall was wonderful, and the food there is always good :). Not really having gotten into Montana college football too much (either for the Griz or the 'Cats), I was still interested in watching the National Championship game between Montana and Richmond. We all watched, and just like all those actors who don't win the award, "it's an honor just to be nominated." Well, the Griz should be proud they made it to the championship game... literally. Finding the stadium and getting their uniforms on was the high point of the evening. Richmond quickly, decisively, and inarguably destroyed them. It was over way before halftime, and Montana had no idea what was going on.
Unlike Seattle and Spokane, we've gotten moderate snow this weekend. On the left is a shot of steam coming off Flathead Lake, and on the right, our backyard with 7" of snow perched everywhere.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
A Season of Plenty
Thanksgiving was, as is usual for the Blazek clan, plentiful. Carla had a dozen people for dinner, and everything was delicious. It was a good trip, and Spokane provided lots of snow!Monique and I hadn't intended to do much Black Friday shopping, but maybe because we didn't feel pressure to be there right when stores opened, that's why we were out as long as we were. Yes it was nuts, but so am I, so it's a wash.
The lovely family pictured is enjoying a deer block from our local ranch supply store. After putting a couple treats right in front of the house, we decided to move them into the trees so the deer can feel more protected. They have nothing to fear from us (unless they go for buried bulbs and whatnot), but it's a bit disconcerting at night hearing animals pawing and chewing just outside the bedroom window. And since raccoons found and destroyed one of our bird feeders, it's just better to be a little more conscious of our outdoor food supplies.
Decorations are going up, the wood stove is running nearly every day, and this weekend we'll go tree hunting. I'm very nearly done shopping, so it's just down to cards and/or the Christmas/Epiphany/President's Day letter.
Given how little I've blogged about stuff this year, it should be a doozy.
Here's to warmth, love, security, deep sighs of contentment, and the settling in for winter. Peace!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Yesterday
One of the things that amazed me most about the election yesterday was how little we heard about Barack Obama being black. In some circles I'm sure that was the main subject, but not from where I sat. For me, I was impressed how this was about new vs. old, change vs. status quo, anybody vs. President Bush.
Just for grits and shiggles I went to Fox News this morning, and saw two of the comment areas: Why Did John McCain Lose? and Why Did Barack Obama Win?
I went into both, and unfortunately read some incredibly ignorant, frightened, and racist comments. Hopefully Fox has either taken them down, or handed them over to the Secret Service.
A friend on Facebook wrote she was wondering where we go from here. My answer was, I dunno, but a lot of people would have to work VERY hard to do more damage to the country and the world than has been done in the past eight years.
I'm not much of a figurative Kool-Aid drinker (literally, however, I love the stuff), so my expectations for President Obama are realistic. Part of me wants him to use the executive signing statement as much as President Bush has, except to use it within the law and for good purposes. But really, instead of tit for tat, I think America needs a steady hand, an articulate voice, and a less petulant personality in our leader.
As usual, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert provided brilliant insight and analysis, while CNN premiered their holographic analyst. That's a head-shaker, that one.
Winter is approaching quickly, the wood pile needs a little more attention, and there are many rocks left to skip before the snow covers them. Now is not the time to just sit back and coast. The bloviators are catching their breath and regrouping, and the Republicans are still stunned. Gotta keep working, people.
Just for grits and shiggles I went to Fox News this morning, and saw two of the comment areas: Why Did John McCain Lose? and Why Did Barack Obama Win?
I went into both, and unfortunately read some incredibly ignorant, frightened, and racist comments. Hopefully Fox has either taken them down, or handed them over to the Secret Service.
A friend on Facebook wrote she was wondering where we go from here. My answer was, I dunno, but a lot of people would have to work VERY hard to do more damage to the country and the world than has been done in the past eight years.
I'm not much of a figurative Kool-Aid drinker (literally, however, I love the stuff), so my expectations for President Obama are realistic. Part of me wants him to use the executive signing statement as much as President Bush has, except to use it within the law and for good purposes. But really, instead of tit for tat, I think America needs a steady hand, an articulate voice, and a less petulant personality in our leader.
As usual, Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert provided brilliant insight and analysis, while CNN premiered their holographic analyst. That's a head-shaker, that one.
Winter is approaching quickly, the wood pile needs a little more attention, and there are many rocks left to skip before the snow covers them. Now is not the time to just sit back and coast. The bloviators are catching their breath and regrouping, and the Republicans are still stunned. Gotta keep working, people.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Tomorrow
Tomorrow is Election Day in the U.S.
I can't comprehend how the presidential candidates sustain their schedules. Recently I was in San Jose for five intense days of meetings, and I was exhausted for two days when I got home. The pace, the demands, the energy required to do what they've done is remarkable.
In 2000, I voted for Nader. Governor Bush's primary campaign against Senator McCain -- really, a foretaste of his presidency -- was nasty, deceitful, and brutally effective. I didn't believe Al Gore best represented my interests, and I thought George Bush was a political aberration.
Senator McCain employs many who got George Bush elected in the anti-Clinton wave, but McCain's caught in a torrent of anti-Bush sentiment. He's been grabbed by a thresher, with blades named Bush, Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz, Bremer, Perle, Rumsfeld, Rove, Miers, Gonzales, Feith, Ridge, Brown, Chertoff, Ashcroft... (and that's without using The Google!). Even Governor Palin, undoubtedly picked for her uncanny resemblance to President Bush in mentality, philosophy, experience and vocabulary, hasn't seemed to help the McCain campaign much.
Should Barack Obama win, he will not (cannot) save the nation. The debt, the wars, the economy, the culutre of corruption, the propaganda, the unitary executive, the mistrust, the bold and bald admitted lies; these are why George Bush's approval ratings are in the low 20's, and no one can easily or quickly confront (much less overcome) obstacles that large.
But tomorrow morning I'll gladly, proudly vote at the Swan River Elementary School (Go Warriors!). I hope you all do the same, whomever your candidates are.
Oh. Except, don't all show up at Swan River Elementary (Go Warriors!). That wouldn't work.
I can't comprehend how the presidential candidates sustain their schedules. Recently I was in San Jose for five intense days of meetings, and I was exhausted for two days when I got home. The pace, the demands, the energy required to do what they've done is remarkable.
In 2000, I voted for Nader. Governor Bush's primary campaign against Senator McCain -- really, a foretaste of his presidency -- was nasty, deceitful, and brutally effective. I didn't believe Al Gore best represented my interests, and I thought George Bush was a political aberration.
Senator McCain employs many who got George Bush elected in the anti-Clinton wave, but McCain's caught in a torrent of anti-Bush sentiment. He's been grabbed by a thresher, with blades named Bush, Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz, Bremer, Perle, Rumsfeld, Rove, Miers, Gonzales, Feith, Ridge, Brown, Chertoff, Ashcroft... (and that's without using The Google!). Even Governor Palin, undoubtedly picked for her uncanny resemblance to President Bush in mentality, philosophy, experience and vocabulary, hasn't seemed to help the McCain campaign much.
Should Barack Obama win, he will not (cannot) save the nation. The debt, the wars, the economy, the culutre of corruption, the propaganda, the unitary executive, the mistrust, the bold and bald admitted lies; these are why George Bush's approval ratings are in the low 20's, and no one can easily or quickly confront (much less overcome) obstacles that large.
But tomorrow morning I'll gladly, proudly vote at the Swan River Elementary School (Go Warriors!). I hope you all do the same, whomever your candidates are.
Oh. Except, don't all show up at Swan River Elementary (Go Warriors!). That wouldn't work.
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