Georgie, Porgie, Puddin' & Pie

War-lover George The Second is out there trying to pump up his legacy after leaving office as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. Does he think that we've all contracted amnesia?

I read about Georgie Boy BEFORE he ran for president. In one book he is quoted as saying that if he ever had the chance, he would go back into Iraq to complete the job he thought his daddy left unfinished in the first Gulf war. He said the worst day in his life -- up to that point -- was the day his daddy said he wouldn't go into Baghdad because it would mire down U.S. forces. Bush had plans to go into Iraq long before September 11, 2001. (For those who have lost all reasoning, no one from Iraq had anything to do with the September 11 attacks.)

On a tour to promote his new book, W tells a different story about why he sent troops to die and be maimed in Iraq. None of it makes any sense, of course, but that's never bothered the boy born and raised in New England and who pretends to be a Texan. Everything is a fantasy world to Bush. That's not surprising because drunks and dry drunks rarely tell the truth. Lying is part of their day-to-day life. He looks so honest when he's talking about plain old dog shit, doesn't he? Wouldn't you like to share a Texas-sized burrito with him? He's just like you, right?

Needless to say, I won't be buying such a book of fiction. And anyone who does has the memory of a gnat.

Let's Get It Right: Libertarians and War

"With your strict Libertarian ideals and values, where you are against all foreign wars, I await your actions in the Senate ..."

Let's get it right, Cassandra. There is no Libertarian tenet against "all foreign wars." You have mischaracterized Libertarianism. There is a fundamental Libertarian tenet against initiating force -- which applies to both individuals and nations -- but clearly that wouldn't affect a person's or a country's legitimate right to self-defense.

Rand Paul said that invading Iraq was the "wrong thing to do" not because it was a foreign war but because it was, in his view, an initiation of force. Paul did support the initial attack on Afghanistan, believing it was a legitimate use of force as a response to an attack on American soil.

In the eight or nine years since the invasion of Afghanistan, Paul, like so many other Americans, thinks that the Afghan War has turned into a policing and nation-building mire. Paul's views on the wars in no way contradict classic Libertarian politics.

Countin' On You, Rand Paul

I can't wait.

Mr. Rand Paul, you will be sworn in as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky in January. With your strict Libertarian ideals and values, where you are against all foreign wars, I await your actions in the Senate where you will do everything you can to block funding for the two wars now being conducted by the current president. With the crazy Senate rules, where one senator can block any bill (even anonymously), you will have an opportunity to stop providing billions of dollars for the no-end-in-sight wars in the Middle East.

Oh, and Mr. Paul, I understand you are against agriculture subsidies. I await your action to stop all such subsidies and giveaways to big business.

If you work things right, you may be the best person to fight the corruption in D.C. I'll reserve judgment about other issues in our nation's capitol and how you fit into the equation. Good luck.

I'll Trade Ya

Gee, look at all the great contracts being inked between U.S. and Indian companies.

www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/11/06/india.obama.trip/index.html?hpt=T2

Does anyone really believe that increased trade will benefit American workers? (It may benefit American consumers, but even they don't much like trying to understand the impenetrably thick accents of the phone operators in the overseas call centers.) These overseas presidential junkets cost U.S. taxpayers a lot of money. That's a scandalous injustice because these trips are almost always intended to negotiate trade deals in foreign countries, which, as everyone knows, result in MORE offshoring and MORE layoffs here at home.

Since the big honcho CEOs in the story support this trade trip, let THEM pay for it.

Heal Thyself

Friends ask me why I don't go to doctors. I do have osteoarthritis in my knees, which prompts the next question about why I don't have replacement surgery. My answer to both questions is that I want to give my body the chance to take me as far as it will without all the prodding, pills and punctures.

I enjoy a wonderful quality of life, rarely if ever thinking about my health. Except for the knees, I'm amazingly healthy with only an occasional cold. My thinking on the subject is this: If I were to discover some disease or major illness, the rest of my days would be spent fretting and dealing with such a diagnosis (or misdiagnosis). And even if it were real, I find letting things be gets me from day to day with a great outlook on life and a feeling of peace.

It's not that I've never gone to physicians or that I have a phobia about seeing them. After all, I've had five major surgeries, the latest almost 30 years ago. And the last time I went to see a doctor, almost four years ago, I had a suspicious mole, which my GP removed. (Biopsy showed it was benign.) What I don't do are the yearly checkup and the tests that include blood work, blood pressure check and the like. I wait for something specific to occur before I make an appointment.

To set the record straight about my medical preferences, I do think that psychiatrists and chiropractors are quacks. Close family members have been treated by both and I believe the methods of such doctors are suspect at the very least. GPs are my favorite doctors, especially those who actually listen to patients. Beyond that, the more basic medical treatments the better for me. I grew up going to country doctors only for such things as pneumonia or a deep cut from barbed wire. Too many tests these days. Too many procedures.

For many years, I said that if I were to reach a certain age -- no, I won't say what age -- that everything after that would be gravy. I reached that age three years ago. We'll see what the future brings.

Growing the State

Yet another Liberal has put himself in hot water, and by doing so has betrayed the ideals of his political philosophy.

Charlie Rangel's been busy, by all accounts: failing to declare hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, shadily raising money to build a private center named after him, taking expensive trips to the Caribbean on the public dime.

Liberals obviously don't believe in liberty. They believe in control. And to increase control, they favor the exponential growth of the State. It amazes me that people I know--including our very own Cassandra--rail against the corruption of the government in one sentence, but in the very next, advocate the increased growth of the State by every possible means, including the centralizing of huge industries and the raising of taxes.

The only way to control the corruption that is inherent in the State is to control the size of the State. How many times does that need to be said before benighted Liberals get it?

Wrong Is Wrong, But Wright Is Right

That abrasive jackass Jeremiah Wright is in the news again for spewing racist cant from the podium a week or two ago.

That's not surprising, of course, but the accuracy of one of his statements actually is.

Wright apparently said that the American education system is built to poorly educate black students "by malignant intent."

Well, he's half right. As everyone knows, the education system is built to poorly educate ALL students by malignant intent.

Washington: Stop Centralizing!

Joe Barton and Michele Bachmann both made excellent points during last week's Congressional shakedown of BP. Barton's forced apology was hollow and pointless. Washington is supremely incompetent, intrusive, and deleteriously antagonistic toward private business and the free market, and the Feds have no business administering a $20 billion escrow fund for the victims of the oil spill. The fund, as Bill O'Reilly and Laura Ingraham noted, should be overseen by the state governments directly involved, including Louisiana and Florida.

The Obama Administration always jumps at the chance to move in on the private sector, sacking the free market and saddling it with choking regulation and bureaucratic red tape, whether it's banks, investment firms, health insurance companies, or family-owned small businesses.

The last thing the oil spill disaster needs, now or ever, is an escrow fund "czar." Hundreds of fishing and tourism businesses in the Gulf have complained, practically in tears, about the interference that results when their requests for aid have to be cleared through dozens of federal agencies, each with its endless rules and forms. The federal government had the same problems getting decisions made quickly and aid sent on time during the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

So back off, Obama & Co., and let the locals deal directly with BP without having to obtain clearance from the EPA or other federal agencies first.

Movie of the Week: 'Iris'

Getting old ain't fun. In addition to the physical changes that come about for even the most ardent exercisers, there's always the worry about the mind going, Alzheimer's settling in. The dreaded disease is the theme for "Iris," which is based on the life of British writer Iris Murdoch and stars Judy Dench and Kate Winslet.

Iris was a free spirit, bedding numerous men in the Oxford area of England. She wrote more than 20 novels with the theme being sexual discovery and relationships. As she aged, maybe in her late 60s, she had what she thought was writer's block. Of course, it was the early signs of Alzheimer's. Neither she nor her husband, professor John Bayley, put any importance on cleanliness and organization when she was well. As the disease set in, their house became a shambles with garbage and collections of all types building up around them.

My grandmother had Alzheimer's, and I believe the movie captures the hell both the victim and those who love them go through as the days and years become grayer, more fearful and less connected for the ill one. I recommend "Iris" for anyone who likes good acting and substance in a movie.

Catching Up

First, it was my rotator cuff out of whack. Second, it was my husband's surgery. And third, it was my baby cat's illness after her dental surgery. All good reasons why I haven't posted anything for so long. So here goes with a few short thoughts.

1. Why would anyone marry Rush Limbaugh, he of Viagra and Oxycontin abuse? Oh, right, the bucks. She will earn them.

2. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues and the animals and birds keep dying. Obama says he has ordered 17,000 National Guard troops to the Gulf. Where are they? Where is the oversight of Big Oil? Republicans, Libertarians and, yes, Democrats have gutted regulations in recent years, regulations being a big, bad word much like liberal. Speaking of big and bad, where is Dick Cheney these days? He's usually out in front of cameras bashing Obama. Like his slick, slimy, fellow politico Sarah Palin, he looks like a complete fool and traitor when he has chosen to side with Big Oil over America's interests. Does he hate America? Does Palin hate America?

3. It didn't take long for those who hate big government to come running for handouts, did it? Folks like little Bobby Jindal, for example. And even run-at-the-mouth Michele Bachmann has asked where the government is down in Louisiana, why didn't Obama commandeer boats to help with the spill. Commandeer boats? Well, isn't that government takeover? Whose boats would she commandeer? Another loony who speaks before she thinks. Oh, yes, I forgot. She can't think.

4. Why are so many men puffing up their military history? One guy running in Connecticut, another in Illinois, both of whom were actually in the service but didn't do what they said they did. No doubt they're trying to draw in the fruit loop voters who never served but who promote veterans as heroes so they can keep wars going for nefarious reasons. Those of us who had loved ones in the service -- many in my immediate family -- know that they did their duty because they were forced to by the draft. They never considered themselves to be heroes and wanted to get the hell out as fast as they could. They don't hate those lying these days about their military service. They hate those who lie to get us into wars and those who never served but call for more wars.

5. What's with idiot Rand Paul? He had it made, winning the primary in Kentucky. He had the teapot crowd backing him and all he had to do is sit back and win in November. He may win in November -- it is the south, after all -- but now everyone knows what he really thinks. In a way I feel like a fool because I agreed with about 80 percent of what Libertarians espoused. Now I know they're just racists, bigots and haters like the Limbaughs, Becks and others. Paul never saw the time when someone couldn't get a sandwich at a lunch counter because they were born with a certain skin color. The Whites and Colored drinking fountains at county fairs and parks. He never saw the time when a black man and his wife couldn't get a room at a motel for the night. Paul doesn't care about those times. He cares only about businesses and what they want, no matter how discriminatory all of it might be. I hope he loses, but as I said, it's the south.

Enough for now. Time to get back to the book I'm reading, "The End of the Free Market" by Ian Bremmer. I usually have my nose in an English mystery, but this one caught my eye because of the way world economies are crumbling. Will let you know how it ends.