It Gets Better.

Bat Time... DING BATS!!

There are too many "What were they thinking?" candidates in this election. We'd have a shorter list if we named the sane ones. Did somebody put out a casting call for Women Wackos? Although there are some Democratic Ding Dongs in the mix, we must give the award for The Dingiest to the GOP--the Gals Of Palin.

Here's the thing: The earth's rotation cannot be reversed, no matter how much it's intimated, to a time where White is right... Guns are fun... Jesus is joy for every girl and boy... Business knows best... No to integration and immigration, yes to revisionist education... and, of course... We don't need no stinkin' health coverage.

Put your hand on the teevee and feel the power... plantations, Puritans, and a pistol in every purse. Praise the lord and piss on the unions. Amen.

I don't get it. Pardon me for talking like The Little Woman, but am I old-fashioned in saying that women spend much of their lives looking after their families... keeping them healthy and making sure they get a good education? Why is it unpopular to take those issues to Congress? And while we're taking things to Washington, if we teach our children to be civil and respect others, can't we expect Congress to behave similarly?

Businesses are already saying... to those lucky enough to have jobs... that employees will be paying a larger chunk for their health benefits. Millions are one pink slip away from no coverage in this shaky economy, yet you'd think that more accessible health coverage IS a disease! In Blue Cross/Blue Shield We Trust... until our COBRA expires.

Repeating the mantra, "the US has the best health care in the world" doesn't make it so. Even the WSJ couldn't figure out a way to muscle it up past No. 15 on their chart, while most studies put us around 37th. Guess what kind of coverage the 14 above us have.

If you've ever tangled over insurance approval of a medical procedure, you know that the argument about not wanting anyone between you and your doctor is a false one. The elephant in the room is exactly that and it's bloated.

CBS reports that here in NC, one man--Fred Eschelman-- has donated $3.37 million to defeat Democratic candidates. I've seen some of his group's TV ads--they're the weaselly, negative ones that whisper for you to vote against the Democratic candidate. They are targeting Democrats in other states, too. Fred is CEO of Pharmaceutical Product Development. Following the money is a very short trip.

We can also repeat until we're blue in the face that we have the best education system in the world, but it still won't be true. About three years ago, The Times-UK, listed world rankings in reading, math, science. Because they showed only the top 25, we can't tell where we stand; the US didn't make the list in even one of the fields. (Our universities are, however, still highly rated, which begs the question of why we sneer at Ivy League educations even as other countries prize them.)

If you want to see us atop a short list, here's one I heard Fareed Zakaria mention recently: The United States is one of only three countries which does not use the metric system. The other two are Liberia and Myanmar (formerly known as Burma.)

When Republican politicians extol the virtues of Sarah Palin as a possible Presidential candidate, their reasons are, exactly... what? Damned if I know.

Carly Fiorina (running for Congress herself) was quoted as saying that Sarah Palin couldn't do anything as complicated as running a corporation, but that running the country was different. Not to pick on Ms. Fiorina, but she was named by Conde Nast Portfolio as one of the 20 Worst American CEOs Ever after being forced to resign as head of Hewlett-Packard.

Too many of this group of candidates have little to offer except sneers. We wonder why kids don't value learning? Because WE don't. Intelligence? Who needs it? History? Yawn. World affairs? Only if intercourse is involved.

Have we watched so many episodes of Desperate Housewives that we want to send them to Washington? The Real Housewives of the U. S. Congress? Gag me. Hell, gag them!

The word statesmen has been collecting dust on the shelf for a long time now. They have been in short supply. The word needs to be redefined to include both sexes, but we need not bring out the Endust for this group of GOPs. Michelle Bachman a stateswoman? I don't think so.

I don't know how to start a groundswell, yet I think it can and must start with us. Our better selves. Not parroting the same old slop we've been hearing.

Our children, our country, and our world deserve better.

Frankly, Rhett, we do give a damn.

Well Met

Fair Bluff, NC

Yesterday, I was cheered by contact with actual, live, intelligent, engaged humans who reside in The South. Authentic Southerners who were born in the region, were educated here, and who live here to this day because it's beautiful, it has potential, and it's home.

Take a road trip with DH and me on a zig-zagging route past beautiful farms and unique Southern eccentricities, through a charming tiny town untouched by time, to the dear, dear home of my graduate alma mater, Chapel Hill, NC, to meet an old friend and a new one.

Meeting An Old Friend

Today I had lunch with fellow blogger Nance and her husband. Up until today, Nance and I had pursued our friendship via a joint blog post, emails, comments on each other's blog posts and membership in two blog coops--Swash Zone and Hen's Teeth. Come to think of it, I actually think that I have communicated more with Nance than with some people whom I see every day.

We met in Chapel Hill, a town that I lived in for 25 years. I currently live about 35 miles away in Raleigh. I suggested that we have lunch at a popular Chapel Hill Restaurant, Breadman's--not my best idea. Breadman's is a fixture in Chapel Hill; it was in existence when I came to town in 1973. It has a large menu but it seems that they don't serve all of the menu all the time. For some reason, there is nothing on their menu to indicate that certain items are not available except a few asterisks next to a list of vegetables. Neither Nance, nor I, nor her better half read asteriks (clearly a dead language) so when we innocently attempted to get cornbread and fried chicken we were told, "Sorry, but we don't serve either for lunch on the weekend but it's available after 5:00 o'clock." As you may have noted, neither cornbread nor fried chicken is a vegetable so we didn't even have the benefit of an asterisk to clue us in as to the unavailbility of these items. Nonetherless, we were able to find some tasty items on the menu that were being served for lunch.

There was so much conversation that I can no longer recall all the particulars of what we discussed, just that it was lively, and entertaining, and a totally delightful 2+ hours. I did share my fascination with the television show 24, a violent spy drama starring Kiefer Sutherland; however, I thought it best to save discussion of my other favorite shows for our next visit: Criminal Minds (about the FBI Behavorial Analysis Unit that profiles serial killers), and Dexter (about a serial killer who works for a police department but he only kills people who deserve it). Did I mention that I'm a pacifist; I just like to watch make-believe violence.

Just in case you're curious, Nance is a beautiful woman; her outside reflects her inner beauty. She is as interesting to chat with as her post are interesting to read. Her husband is also a charming conversationlist. I can't recall if Nance refers to him in her blog as DT, DH, or DJ. With my bad memory, the answer is probably none of the above.

P.S. Nance took pictures; I forgot my camera!

Chasing Bubbles With A Butterfly Net

For someone like me with a well-developed startle response and a self-imposed posting deadline, the last few days in the news have been exhausting. It's the silly season in America, of course, with just days to go until the mid-term elections and the culmination of all our anxious imaginings, regardless of our political starting points. But it isn't just any election and it isn't just an America in isolation; it's a globe in transition 'midst an era of revving change. Back peddle? Plunge forward? Stand up on the brake peddle or accelerate--with or without a prayer? Shit or go blind? (Do NOT fuss at me; that's a perfectly good Anglo-Saxon term with a rich, fertile history.)

The week's been either a blogger's dream or her worst nightmare: more material than I could ever want, flitting past me far too fast, and me with only a sieving mind to capture it. I wake up every morning to chase the tantalizing NYTimes headlines, browse among the big, syndicated blogs, and find it impossible to choose a spot on which to land--a hummingbird on a sugar high.

Should I go with the eerie tolling in my brain from Angela Merkel's "Multikulti has utterly failed" statement? No matter how the Germans are spinning that one today, my head still rings. I've finally gotten so old that a first-hand knowledge of history is more than just a Trivial Pursuit advantage. Swell.