Drive-By Thinking.

sixty years old, but still relevant

Hat tip to StrikeSlip. It might have been made in '48, but that doesn't change the message.

i gave it the finger.

Or a finger, anyway.

 

we're number one.

I think it looks pretty good so far. I took Turtlegirl's advice and talked to Glenna about using her Podster Gloves pattern for an upcoming class. She graciously gave her permission and blessing, and I'm having fun working it up. (I'm eyeing her Viper Pilots socks, myself.)

I'm using Dream In Color Smooshy (In Vino Veritas) on size 1 needles. So far the only thing I've changed is using a twisted rib for the cuff instead of a regular 1x1. I just like the way it looks. The pattern is quite straightforward – good for my addled brain.

so you do still knit.

Have to. Got to stay warm somehow. Worrying about the cost of heating oil isn't going to heat the house. No, a nice pair of socks and some fingerless gloves will nicely do the trick. That, and keeping the thermostat around 62.

 

Yeah, I know. The dog's not too impressed with that plan, either.

and it doesn't even have a happy ending.

But let me have my Congressman sum that up for you:

Nothing supportable in this bill, folks. I can't get up to DC tomorrow (even though there are two buses running from here) because I have to work. If you can be there, do it. It'll so be worth it.

I have been reading it. And I understand fully why LollaPelosi is rushing the vote through on this. It's so indigestible that if one were given time to fully devour it, it would be forcibly vomited back onto her immaculate suits and designer shoes. Then we'd demand our money back. (Which we should be doing, anyway, but that's another post.)

Some points I found…

• Did you know that you can be 27 years old and still considered a child? Though I'm thinking if you're nearly 30 and still dependent on Mommy and Daddy to pay for your essentials (and aren't permanently disabled from say, birth or something), you deserve the label.
• Page 27 says that the Secretary himself, with nobody's help, establishes what a fair value for services rendered is. Isn't that lovely?
• There's whole sections devoted to the establishment of agencies and committees, each with their own Kommissar to head them. They don't necessarily have to be medical experts.

Look… I've waded through this legalese, circular talk, and restatement of ridiculous points. There is still no mistaking that this stack of stuff, the same stack sitting on the Congressman's table in the above video, should more closely resemble something soft, brown, and steaming gently in my backyard.

If you can't make it to DC, call your congressman. Call your senator. Call, write, email… kick a door or two in at your local representative's office. Even if you believe that there needs to be reform in the system (and I'll allow that change – real change – could be a good thing), this isn't it. This is purely and simply a takeover of private industry, by the government and that's it. It isn't working in the auto industry, it's not working in the banking industry, and it will be the death knell of the medical insurance industry as well.

It could well be the death knell for a lot of innocent people, too. Think about that before you stick your head in the Anointed One's yoke.

__________

On the same line of discussion, if you need to be reminded of what a country looks like when private industry falls under the watchful eye of the state, read through this article from Life Magazine, circa 1938. The article in question begins on page 31 (though the rest of the magazine is worth thumbing through for lots of reasons).

ahhh…

I'm starting the week slowly. I was supposed to teach the last class of three today, starting with the morning session. My students didn't show, but two of the ladies from the evening session did, with fires to put out. I was happy to be able to help them solve their problems.

That's what I've generally done for my professional existence: solve other people's problems. I used to joke that all I did was fix other people's mistakes; this might have been a slight exaggeration in answering the question, "So what do you do?" (Not by much, though.) Now, it's more and more of what I do.

Oddly enough, I'm happy doing it. Before, it was an annoyance. An imposition. Getting files from people who claimed they knew what they were doing – claimed they knew more than me, in some cases – and finding them useless for the purpose they were intended for was the thumbtack on my chair most days. Mainly because God forbid you call them and tell them to fix it/supply the missing parts/answer a stupid freaking question.

Now, I get people who are more than capable of doing the work themselves, yet they realize when they're beat. When they don't have the answer. When they're confused about something, and when they need help, lest they frog the whole mess back and throw it in a corner. It's sometimes stretching it to think I've got the answer they need, but I give it my best shot. I fix; I show them how to fix; I hopefully give them the confidence to fix.

I think it's their honesty that makes the difference.

Before, it was, "No, my file's fine. It's your people who don't know what they're doing." (Yeah, right.) Now, it's, "I did something and it's not right." These people admit to making a mistake. And most of them want to know how to fix it and prevent it from happening again. (Note that I said "most.") They aren't huffy when I point out the dropped stitch or the botched pattern repeat. They patiently try again. (Or at least humor me in the store and go home to stuff it in a drawer.)

A little honesty goes a long way. In this case, it makes me feel better. And more willing to help people who need it – and want to be helped.

__________

I was listening to the radio on my way home from the class this morning, with a belly full of sushi (eel roll) and a fresh diet Coke in the cupholder. Rush mentioned something that caught my ear, and many thanks to him for putting the link to the original back up so I could quote from it.

I pondered it in my head on the rest of the drive. I read about what's happening in certain election races around the country (*coughNY23cough*) and I have to shake my head. How is the message still being so misunderstood by so many?

what message?

The same message that the TEA partiers have been blasting. The same message that hundreds thousands brought to town hall meetings this summer. The message that's hitting regional candidates in districts across the country. 

We're sick of the status quo as it's evolved, and we want it changed.

i thought you didn't like change.

I don't like "change" as it was perverted during the presidential campaign. All that hopeychangey mess, just so much bullshit for votes. 

Example: Scozzafava was running as a "Republican" candidate. (Now, set aside the fact that a New York Republican is a liberal Democrat in other areas of the country.) She didn't support anything that the national party stands for. She was blatantly, unapologetically liberal. Her nearest opposition, Conservative Mr. Hoffman, more closely identified with the official party line.

People have been standing up and rejecting liberal politics as usual. They've protested in the hundreds of thousands on the Mall in DC. They've held TEA parties all over the country. They've written letters, visited offices, called into talk shows. They've stormed town hall meetings, confronted their elected representives, and been unafraid of any repercussions.

You'd think that people would stand up and take notice. Maybe even adapt their stance in this new light. But no. Ms. Scozzafava endorsed the Democrat candidate when she withdrew from the race. Now some say that this is just as it should be; after all, her values more closely identify with the liberal than the conservative. Fair enough.

But it's still arrogance as usual. It's still dismissing what the people clearly want as inconsequential and remaining with the party line irregardless. And that's what people want to change.

Need another example? PelosiCare. The new House health care bill. I've been slogging through it, and not only is it the same thing that was shoved at us before the summer break – and the contentious town hall meetings – but it's more of it. (I'm taking copious notes and will cite chapter and verse at a later date.)

If it wasn't true arrogance as usual, then our representatives would have said, "Whoa. Got to start over. It's obvious that this doesn't have any support." But they aren't interested in what the people think. They believe they're omnipotent. They believe they're appointed for life, not elected every couple of years, because people have been too complacent and not paying enough attention to what they've been doing.

They think you're stupid. They think you can be swept under the rug. That's why the most haughty, pompous, and overbearing among them weren't afraid to yell back at people – to belittle them in front of the crowd, or to hire thugs to pull out the detractors from the crowd and either have them forcibly expelled or shut out in the first place.

But thanks to talk shows, bloggers (heh), alternative media and social networking sites in general, the lack of a wardrobe on the buttocks of the big-headed is becoming easier to spot. It's why Hoffman in up in the polls in NY23. It's why Christie still has a slight edge over Corzine in New Jersey. (I'd love to see that come off…) It's why McDonnell is up so high here in Virginia. (Well, that, and the fact that Deeds is an all-too-visible do-nothing, empty-headed prop for the DNC.)

Look, I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Go out tomorrow and vote your conscience. I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. (Well, I will, but you're going to do what you want to anyway.) But just remember what's been going down since this time last year. Ask yourself if you want to perpetuate the cycle of belittlement, arrogance, and general ineptitude, or if you really, honestly want to effect change in our world. The country is at a breaking point. Most of the elections at stake tomorrow are local, but that's where it all starts and generally affects the most people. It's also where the message of real change can start and be sent from.

________

Oh, and that bit I wanted to quote? Rush, as written in the Wall Street Journal in 2005:

"I love being a conservative. We conservatives are proud of our philosophy. Unlike our liberal friends, who are constantly looking for new words to conceal their true beliefs and are in a perpetual state of reinvention, we conservatives are unapologetic about our ideals. We are confident in our principles and energetic about openly advancing them. We believe in individual liberty, limited government, capitalism, the rule of law, faith, a color-blind society and national security. We support school choice, enterprise zones, tax cuts, welfare reform, faith-based initiatives, political speech, homeowner rights and the war on terrorism. And at our core we embrace and celebrate the most magnificent governing document ever ratified by any nation – the U.S. Constitution. Along with the Declaration of Independence, which recognizes our God-given natural right to be free, it is the foundation on which our government is built and has enabled us to flourish as a people."

Party politics is just that. Republican or Democrat – it's a party affiliation. Totally different from one's ideology. I am not a Republican. I don't believe in those sorts of affiliations. They are too narrow, and too often require one to compromise one's principles for the sake of getting along. I am a Conservative. It is what I believe, not who I sit with.

That's honesty.

flash forward

…and listen to the future.

(hat tip: Hot Air)

There's a series of 'em. Give them a good listen. My guess is that it's not too far off base.

the best thing that happened this weekend was

… that Hizzoner implied that it would be okay with him if I entered into an illicit affair with Peyton Manning.

Mind, he unequivocally denies this. But he brought it up, and although he claims to be misquoted, I should like to point out that he's the one who was trying to calculate the age difference, and whether or not I would then be considered a "cougar."

This is all important just in case Mr. Manning ever … oh, I dunno… loses his senses completely and develops a sudden urge for a middle-aged, portly Italian broad housewife with a 35-piece matched set of emotional baggage.

really? the best thing?

Yeah. Really. It was quite entertaining.

umm… yeah. so how was the festival?

I don't know.

that good, eh?

No. I'm sure it was fine. Unless you were outside on Friday, where at least 1.5" of rain fell.

you act like you weren't even there.

I wasn't.

–blink– then why did you even go?

*sigh* Good question. You may remember that I had some misgivings about going in the first place. By Thursday it had gone into full-blown black funk and it was only a stern look from the boss that kept me from volunteering for a Saturday fill-in at the store.

We left here early Friday morning. The trip was fine. HSH talked us to death. It started raining shortly after we arrived in Asheville and was all-out pouring by the time we pulled into my in-laws' driveway. They were happy to see us and the evening went well.

Saturday is when things went downhill.We opted to spend the day together. HSH had asked to go to the toy store downtown, and I wanted to go to the yarn store. That was fine. Then, over a nice fish taco, I got into it with a wandering elderly hippie who wanted me to sign a petition of hers supporting national health care.

"So," sez me, "do you support tort reform as a part of any comprehensive reform package?" 

"Um, yeah," she said.

"Really? Well. Interesting." I took another bite. (It really was good. The pico had a great kick.) "I won't sign your petition. Thanks."

"Why not? Don't you think it important that we all take care of each other?"

"No. It's not my responsibility to take care of you."

She became indignant. "Oh yes it IS. We all need to care for each other!"

"No. If you're foolish enough not to have provided for yourself at your obviously advanced age, it's not my problem. Besides, under your… leader's… health care plan, you'll be phased out soon enough."

At this point, my mother-in-law saved the old hippie from her sputtering anger by offering to sign her petition. "It's important that we do something," she said scoldingly.

"So you'd rather pass a faulty bill that has nothing to do with health care than to actually focus on the problems that really are the root cause?" I asked, astounded. "No. I will not support that bullshit. It's absolutely ridiculous that you want to destroy everything we have for no good reason than this touchy-feely kumbaya baloney of yours."

You can imagine that this did not go over well. The hippie, glad that she had found a kindred spirit at the table, handed my MIL a small sheet that "outlined the points." 

"Wait a minute," I said, glancing at the flyer. "Have you read the bills?"

"Of course not," she said dismissively. "No one has."

"Oh, but yet you want to pass them. That makes perfect sense. I have read them. Those talking points of yours aren't in there."

"Yes, they are." 

"No they aren't. I've read the bill; you haven't."

"Well," she said, tucking them away, "it doesn't matter. It's a moral issue."

"Moral? MORAL? I'll give you moral. It's immoral of you to be foisting off your irresponsibility into a trillion-dollar bill just so you don't have to lift a god-damned finger for yourself. It's immoral to make my daughter and her generation pay for this nonsense. I'm not responsible for you, and I'll be damned if I pay for you or any of your kind."

The hippie shuffled off in search of easier targets. My MIL turned to me and said, "Well. I had no idea you felt so strongly about this." 

By this time I was in my black rage, a dangerous place as anyone who has experienced it will tell you. My hands were shaking and I could barely see. I turned to her and said, as calmly as possible, "I will not stand for this. I will not stand idly by and let this kind of thinking destroy my country. I will not allow you to mortgage my daughter's future on this nonsense, and I WILL NOT be quiet nor allow anyone to silence me when I know I am in the right."

"I think this goes deeper than that," she said.

At this point, the rage broke and I burst into hysterical sobbing. I looked across the table at a very confused HSH, and said, "I'm sorry. I never would have brought you into this world if I thought the adults in it would leave you this sort of mess."

Hizzoner finally recovered his powers of speech and calmed me down enough for me to finish my nachos. (Hey, they were good.)

By the way, the bottom of the hippie's petition had www.barackobama.com on it. Campaigning still?

The rest of the day was tentative at best. I refused to offer apology for my bit of drama, and none was offered to me. We took HSH to the wildlife refuge and fish hatchery (yeah, I know) where she got to feed the trout (oddly entertaining) and walk through a nature trail. I did make the effort to sit and be civil through supper, and my MIL furthered the rift between us by proceeding to psychoanalyze me through polite conversation, gently pronouncing me an "angry person who doesn't take joy from anything in life." I could also benefit, in her opinion, from some medication.

To be fair, my MIL is a former social worker. It's an occupational hazard, this mental screening thing. Whatever. She's probably right in some ways. I certainly wasn't pleased with her.

so you got out of the house on sunday.

That was the plan. I was sniffling a bit on Saturday night, and Sunday morning woke up to a head full of concrete. The pain from the pressure in my sinuses was blinding, and all I could do was lie there and moan. And not in a good way. Although my MIL did bring me hot tea, which I thought was nice.

Hizzoner took HSH – and the car – up onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for a little hiking. I didn't get out of bed until noon. (My class started at 9.) After a generous handful of ibuprofen and a hot-water blast from the shower directly on the face, I felt sufficiently revived and needed to get out of the house. The in-laws had gone for a walk and I followed suit. I decided to walk downtown (a half-mile at the max) and get something caffeinated, then walk home.

I walked further than I intended, got winded, then had to rest at a number of park benches while making my way back. I drank about half my diet Coke before I even got home. I was sporting a bit of a fever by then, my lungs were on fire from the exertion and the mouth-breathing (nose still fully blocked), and all I wanted was to crawl back into bed.

I settled for a little knitting, a bit of football, and falling asleep on the futon before Hizzoner returned.

wow.

Yeah. Enough already. I knew we should have stayed home.

I'm feeling better today. A little. Hizzoner drove the whole way home, which meant that HSH was free to talk non-stop, kick the back of my seat, and proclaim a need for a potty stop every thirty miles or so. But we're home. The dog's a little freaked out – so stressed from her stay at the vet's that she's gotten all gassy. Which is pleasant. Not. Four loads of laundry, added with cleaning up the house, answering all the mail and email, getting HSH together for school tomorrow, and trying to figure out what I need for work in the morning – I'm beat.

At least I know better than to leave the house from now on. 

today's wtf moment is sponsored by

The 1776 Project.

I'm just going to give you the link and ask you to go over and watch the video.

And then tell me that I'm the wingnut headcase.

hoped for change? heh.

Oh, it's change, all right. Amazing change. Whoooooooole lotta change.

Or not.

The headline from the Washington Times says: Justice concludes black voters need Democratic Party.

As if that weren't condescending enough, it adds insult to injury by sub-heading it with: US blocks NC city's nonpartisan vote.

So not only do we have a case of the Justice Department – the non-elected, accountable to no one federal Justice Department – making an insulting, condescending, public statement that an entire race of people are too stupid to know who to vote for and that they need to stay on the plantation, we compound that wrong by issuing an unConstitutional edict that overrules what an individual community overwhelmingly decrees by rule of its own law-making process.

Howzat hopeychangey stuff working out for ya? 

For all you administration apologists out there who think that I'm a trifle alarmist about government overreaching itself with health care and taxes and whatnot, 

do you get it yet?

Do you really think this is an anomaly? A one-off? Really?

The Justice Department's ruling, which affects races for City Council and mayor, went so far as to say partisan elections are needed so that black voters can elect their "candidates of choice" – identified by the department as those who are Democrats and almost exclusively black.

The department ruled that white voters in Kinston will vote for blacks only if they are Democrats and that therefore the city cannot get rid of party affiliations for local elections because that would violate black voter's right to elect the candidates they want.

I don't know how else you translate that except to say that the Justice Department thinks the black folks in Kinston are too stupid to know what's good for them, and that the white folks are still stereotypical good ol' boys who hate de darkies.

Yes, I'm using some strong, slightly disturbing language here. So is the Justice Department. They're just a little more flowery about it.

"To begin with, 'nonpartisan elections' is a misconceived and deceiving statement because even no party affiliation shows up on a ballot form, candidates still adhere to certain ideologies and people understand that, and are going to identify with who they feel has their best interest at heart," said William Cooke, president of the local NAACP branch.

I don't know – if the area NAACP seems to think that the residents of the area are smart enough to know the candidates and their stand on the issues, and vote for a person regardless of race, then I think that should be good enough for the Justice Department.