it all depends on what “middle” is

Two of my coworkers took a look at my blog this morning. Comments:
“I liked the stuff about your kids.“
“You have a certain leaning, don’t you?“

Thank you; and yes, I do.

Funny thing though; I think I’m a centrist. Slightly to the right, to be sure, but still towards the middle.

The leaning comment was an eye opener.

Wherever you are, that’s the middle

Hillary is quite sure she’s a centrist. Ted Kennedy believes the center is dead-on with his way of thinking.

Newt Gingrich is a centrist as well, as is David Duke.

Most people believe they are at dead center, or darn close, and that the rest of the planet falls off the extremes around them. Who is the last person you heard who would say, “I define the Left/Right“? When was the last time someone in the public view said, “Anybody further out this direction than me is a (whatever)-wing nut job“?

Truth is, if you agree with one of the two major parties more often than not, you lean. You may not lean far, but lean you do.

That last statement is pretty funny if you say it like Yoda.

oh the outrage

Ann Coulter is being lambasted by pretty much everybody for applying a politically-incorrect phrase sometimes applied to gay people to Dem-Pres-Wannabe John Edwards.

Three thoughts here:
- The Edwards people have to privately be thanking their deities for some free coverage
- Ann Coulter is a private individual; punish her at the polls when she runs for something
- Yeh, she was wrong; let’s hang her, AND people who use race, age, or other baiting terms

Edwards’ camp quietly jubilant. Oh, I know they are displaying a face of outrage; but privately, they have to be thrilled to see his name on the media outlets near the headlines about the dynamic duo duking it out in Selma. Edwards has about as much chance of being elected Pres as I have, and I haven’t (yet) announced my candidacy. This will probably gain him a short gain in polls due to sympathy. If I were head of his campaign, I’d be fuming that this didn’t happen about a week before the first primaries.

Who elected her? She isn’t in office. Private individuals can say all sorts of things in this wacky country of ours. Not everything said is helpful, and most of what people say is not terribly meaningful; but when she puts her name on the ballot somewhere, that’s where vengeance is appropriate. Ann Coulter is a muckraker. She makes a living inflaming people. In the fine tradition of Rush Limbaugh, she is an entertainer with a political slant. It is inappropriate to transfer her statement onto the party she supports…see the next point for more.

String ‘er up. Doh! Mentioning “stringing someone up” is also offensive, so now I guess the PC police can hang me high, too. But serially, if this is worthy of condemnation from so many sources, how about politicos who make “Oreo” references to any black politician who is (*gasp*) a Republican? Wasn’t it Maryland’s gubernatorial race last time around where one of the Demo operatives referred to the black Repub candidate as “slavishly beholden” to his white “masters?” Where was the outrage? Only on the Right. Nobody on the Left saw the problem. Let’s either all turn down the sensitivity meter a few notches (my preference), or let’s punish anyone who uses loaded words to inflame. Oh, but then the candidates would mostly have to speak for themselves.

To my mind, this is more about Ann Coulter raising book sales than it is about some deeply held belief or hatred. But righties aren’t allowed expression without it being hate. Only the lefties have that privilege.

social medicine…how about a round of antibiotics at the country club?

Britain has been playing with socialized medicine for decades. Finally, the British medical association is saying, “The system has gone horribly wrong.”

I don’t have the posting yet – was on Morning Edition today – just the kind of story that gives NPR some credibility in my mind.

Hillary, take note: Socialism doesn’t work. You can’t successfully socialize medicine, you can’t claim the revenues of the oil companies and do anything positive with them…government does very few things well. Build roads, raise a military, help people become independent business owners with minimal government influence. These are things the government can do well.

But let’s see a show of hands from those who are lining up to get health care in the UK.

Thanks for playing.

insults vs. criticism

One of the news items of the last week that went largely undiscussed was an exchange between Queen Nancy and Dick “Mr. Potter” Cheney, the Veep.

Hizonor said that heronor’s vision of foreign policy would encourage America’s enemies. She accused him of saying she was unpatriotic. He replied that he was questioning her judgment.

I think this exchange is a microcosm of much of the debate between the two sides. The GOP’ers say, “It’s not personal; it’s politics.” The Demos say, “You’re mean. You suck. Bush lied.”

How is anything positive supposed to get done when the people in control are more focused on personalities and personal gain than serving the people to whom they supposedly report?

don’t blink

My beloved went on a retreat this weekend, leaving me with the little people in the house. I haven’t really had that much extended time with the kids for a while, if ever.

Let me clarify and say that I do take the kids one weekend a month for “Mommy Day;” but that is just a day, and she still sees us at meals and is there to tuck one of the munchkins in at night.

But she was out at a church camp, getting all spiritual on me. Or maybe she was out drinking and partying the whole weekend; how would I know? But back to the kids.

The young one (often referred to as Mini-Me on these pages)  decided, completely on his own, to use the potty this weekend. Not just the easy lay-up, mind you – the three-pointer (that’s a more polite way of saying he did #1 and #2). Not only did he do this on his own, he did it in the face of major adversity. I hear Mini-She (the 3-year-old) saying, “No, ‘Lijah; wait for Mommy and Daddy” over and over. But he did it.

He then took off all of his clothes and spent the next half hour sitting all over the room, not having wiped.

But still,  there is something kinda cool about how he just does stuff.

The kids are a study in contrasts, much of the time. She is so careful about everything (in fact, “Be careful” is her phrase of the month) , and he just charges right into things. Hard to know how much of the difference is gender, basic personality, or the adoption thing; but they are such opposites in so many ways.

New feature, the cute kids counter: I heard some version of “they are so cute” twice Friday night, four times on Saturday, and three times on Sunday. And we weren’t out much on Sunday, due to runny noses and coughing.

Hey, if potty stories don’t do much for you, sorry. At least I didn’t post a picture.