Huh?

Clever young woman, hurt
and trapped on ledge of rock,
uses bra to signal for help.

Headline on the front page of our local birdcage liner today: “Saudis will increase oil output if needed.” I love that, “if needed.” Would anyone not think the market “needed it,” now that gasoline is four dollars and more a gallon, people in the United States as well as the rest of the world are bitching and moaning and having to change their life styles, and even choose between fuel and food in order to get by, truckers are striking, the world economy is near chaos, and the Saudis think it is merely a question of “if needed?” To make things worse, their proposed increase is so slight it will most probably not even dent the market, just as offshore drilling is not going to bring down the price. One might well think that given the situation it probably is not too wise to just drill for more oil, or demand more oil from the Saudis, but to actually try to get by with less oil. But, no, that might require some common sense, planning, and sacrifice. How unthinkable for “the greatest nation on earth.”

Similarly, I saw today articles that proclaim that “it was all about oil, after all.” Were there really people who believed it was ever about anything else? Democracy? WMD’s? Women’s rights? Saving the heathens? Protecting the innocents? Of course it was about oil. It has always been about oil. It was and is perfectly obvious it was all about oil in one way or another, either stealing it, or controlling it to jack up the price, or whatever. But it was all about oil, nothing else. The people who don’t believe this (if there really are any) must be the same people who believe people and dinosaurs lived contemporaneously, or the moon is really made of green cheese, or the tooth fairy leaves money under your pillow, or, or, or…maybe most of the people who voted for Bush.

Our son, Julian, has been selected to be one of the two Pages who will travel with the Idaho delegates to the National Democratic Convention in Denver in August. He won against a strong field of contenders and we are enormously proud of him. He is ecstatic. In some ways it is better than being a delegate as he will be fully credentialed and able to move about the convention freely. Unfortunately, delegates and pages have to pay their own way to this event. To this end we have established The Julian Langness Fund for the National Convention (The Julian Fund, for short). If anyone wishes to contribute to this noble and useful enterprise, you may do so by sending a check to The Julian Fund, c/o Alice Hendrickson, P. O. Box 926, Bonners Ferry, Idaho 83805. Contributions will be gratefully acknowledged.

Apparently 3 out of 10 Americans admit to some form of racial prejudice. I am not sure just what this means. Does it mean 3 out of 10 will absolutely not vote for a black man? Does this include prejudice against any and all races or just against blacks? Be prepared for the most unpleasant campaign in a long time, one based largely on racial prejudice. It will not be blatant racism but, rather, subtle matters expressed as “we don’t really know him,” or “he’s too inexperienced,” or “he’s too far left liberal, or other excuses.” And of course they are already roviating his wife with their charges she is just “an angry black woman, who doesn’t love her country,” and blah, blah. If Obama’s blackness inhibits you I suggest you vote for his white half, good Midwestern genes. In fact, calling him black is no more accurate than calling him white. So why is he always described as black? Ah, in America we have this tradition, if anyone has even one percent of black blood in them they are black. You can’t get much more stupid or ridiculous than that. For me, personally, I worry much less about Obama’s blackness than I do about McCain’s incipient senility, to say nothing of his obvious dishonesty and opportunistic flip-flopping. Offshore drilling, for example, will not reduce the price of gasoline, no matter what Bush and McCain try to tell you.

I don’t know if it comes under the category of an “urban myth” or what, but I find it interesting that many people seem to believe that if there were another terrorist attack McCain would be better able to handle it. Why do they believe this, because he was in the military and Obama was not? It is true, of course, that he was in the military and Obama was not, but what experience did McCain have in fighting terrorists? In fact, as he has proven himself to be confused over who is a Shia and who is not, and who is training people and who are not, and as his only response to problems seems to be just more aggression and “war,” I think it is highly questionable whether he would be better at fighting terrorists than anyone else. His chief advisor, Charlie Black, has now come right out and said that another 9/11 would benefit McCain, a comment that makes me very nervous, aside from the fact that I don’t see why it should, except for some irrational idea that because he was in the military he is better equipped to fight terrorists. Is he going to fight them alone, hand to hand, without any advisors or military or police to help and advise him? He won’t have the FBI, CIA, and all armed forces to help him? If not, what’s the difference? Obama is unable to pick good people or listen to them? If it’s going to be hand to hand combat I’d rather have a really healthy 46 year old than a 72 year old semi-crippled ex fighter pilot. Given the Brafia’s dismal record on fighting terrorism so far (Osama, by the way, is still going, if he’s not dead), I have little confidence in their ability to do better than Obama. Furthermore, I think Obama and those who think terrorism is more of a police problem than a problem for all-out “war” are probably much more sensible than those who would fight terrorism by starting another unnecessary “war,” whether it be in Iran or elsewhere. Indeed, the Bush/McCain strategy has produced more terrorists than ever before. But terrorism is McCain’s only hope as his candidacy has no other issue to even try to stand on. I’m sick of all this “praise the lord and pass the ammunition” crap.

LKBIQ:
“Whatever a man prays for, he prays for a miracle. Every prayer reduces itself to this: ‘Great God, grant that two and two be not four.’”
Ivan Turgenev