Where's The Beef

When I was a kid, Wendy's had a great commercial featuring a little old lady questioning the burger content of her burger. She want's to know "Where's the Beef?". I mean, for Christs sake, she ordered a HAMBURGER so you would expect that the actual BURGER would make up the great majority of her HAMBURGER. I know how she feels. Its called truth in advertising.

Let me begin by defining myself politically, as if that is possible. Label me a Libertarian if you must, but let me state that I knew what that meant before it was little more than a fashion statement for "intelligent" social drop outs and hempfest trust fund babies. I vote primarily conservative fiscally and I vote primarily Liberal on social issues. That generally translates to voting for conservative politicians and voting liberal on most "issues". I believe in zero tolerance for government intrusion in my private life and have counted on liberals to protect my liberties when given the power to do so. I'm for small to nonexistent government and extremely low taxes and have counted on conservatives to shrink the federal government and its expenditures when given the power to do so. Translation: Hey Big Brother. Stay out of my wallet, my bedroom, & my children's heads. I agree to pay you to do one thing well and that is keep my country safe from aggression. Otherwise, stay away. We'll take care of the rest. Naive? Idealistic? Unrealistic you say. Perhaps, but not so unrealistic if our politicians would do what they say they will do. (Stop Laughing) But honestly, and I write this in as non-partisan a voice as I can muster, Where's The Beef?

Ok. I've exhausted that metaphor's usefulness. How about this one. If todays American politics were a school yard, the Republicans would be the simpering church nerds whining "Your not supposed to do that! If you don't stop that, God will get you and I'll help. But you still like me, right?" The Democrats on the other hand are some strange recombinant breed of know-it-all and bully, sneering "Fuck you and your morality. Now give me your money. I promise I'll share it. You can tell from my unnatural intelligence that you can trust me."

That leaves just us regular kids on the playground wondering what activities are still allowable, and if we'll have any after-tax money left to do those things. Sometimes I feel like our Federal Government views the populace as nothing more than a revenue generating commodity with an occasional vote. And they can buy that with a new social program. Wonderful. Spend more of my money. Hell yeah I'll vote for you!

I could go on. But suffice it to say that I'm somewhat concerned with some of the decisions made by our current President. And guess what, I voted for him twice and probably would again, given the same choices. Consider that we now have the biggest, most expensive government of all time, with the highest level of government intrusion in American history, all under a Fed that is literally controlled by Republicans. Hey guys, thanks for keeping your promise to shrink government and lower taxes. While your at it, how about writing a blank check to Louisiana to fix the recent hurricane damage. We all know how well they managed the money we sent them to PREPARE for one. But we as taxpayers understand that you REALLY CARE. Here's a vote. All the while, the Dems can only sit around and bitch and moan and sink into ineffectiveness. That is unless you equate obstructionism with effectiveness. But considering the alternative....

But I don't think this is a new thing. Our last President (and congress) was just as bad. We can thank the Clinton years for singlehandedly rendering our country vulnerable to outside aggressors (In my mind, resulting in 911) and at the same time confounding our collective national morality to the point that the question of right or wrong hinges on ones definition of the word "is". But there are a lot of women out there that must be very grateful because their husbands are no longer having "sexual relations" with other women. (You'll have to over look the lipstick rings ladies) All the while, the Republicans could only bitch and moan and sink into ineffectiveness and obstructionism. Do I sound jaded. Good. But disgusted is more like it. What happened to the American Utopian dream? Where are our liberties? They were hijacked by the politicians. Thanks fuckers.

That brings me to my final point. Abolish the two party system. Now. When one is forced to choose between two piece of shit parties, we will inevitably end up with a piece of shit government. And like I've always said, you can't polish a turd. We all get so caught up in which way our powerful government will decide on each and every polarizing issue that we forget to ask the real questions. How much power should we bestow upon our Fed? How much should we keep at state and local levels? What parts of American life should be completely outside the realm of any level of governance and what should be left to free market and individual choice? Our congress and president have concerned themselves with whether a person dying of cancer should smoke marijuana (Nope. That would be unhealthy.) They've agonized over such things as Baseball and gay love. Why? Because, like my mom always used to tell me, they've "gotten too big for their britches and need to be knocked down a peg or two."

This call goes out to all Americans.

Break the current system. Force change to happen. Deny the two parties their monopoly. Vote for anyone else! Fire the Fed! VOTE OUTSIDE THE BOX!

I'm out.

Coffee & Mist

Grey mornings and coffee, a few of my favorite things. This is the kind of late October morning that I find sort of sad and exhilarating at the same time, a chilly misty dreary day that foretells of winter on its way and reminds me of my ocean youth, the kind of morning that is rare in the high desert. I like it.

Mornings like this must appeal to some forgotten primal simian in me. An ancient paint-faced inhabitant of Wales or Scotland or some other cold dreary foggy place might feel right at home in Moses Lake on a morning like this. Well, except for the cars and stuff.

There is definitely a mystery behind the mist, especially on cold mornings and especially in October. Its like forgotten gods and monsters do battle behind the veil of fog, a swirling dampness pregnant with danger and excitement and the unknown. Everything is hinted at and nothing is quite real, faded to near white and just beyond our grasp. I am just a glorified cave man on days like this, suspicious of the gray outside but safe in my cave. With coffee.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. My little brother is visiting from Portland and we always have a great time together. I miss him all the time, so it will be good to see him. Plus I will be taking him to our local Haunted House to scare hell out of him Saturday night. They do a good job every year. If I'm lucky, he will crap himself so I can make fun. Brothers are great for humiliation. I miss him all the time.