Could it be that I'm...
Jumping on the POLITICAL BANDWAGON?
...of course not. Don't be silly. The elections are over. For now, anyway.

I'm not a real political person, not really. I've never been to a campaign rally; and no matter what side o' the fence a politician may be on, after a while, I find that what they're saying is just about as boring (if not more) than yer average church sermon, and believe me, I've heard just about every sermon there is to hear. But, I do think political races bear at least one thing out; that no what the problems are that must be addressed, it's always all about the MONEY when you break things down to the lowest common denominator. Especially where taxes are concerned. And from what I've read, our just-concluded primary elections were directly affected by the high amount of property taxes which have been levied on Kootenai County residents in recent years. And, politicians around the area have felt the number-crunch which has resulted from increased taxes, like the guy below...


This example of shameless picture captioning originated from a foto posted at www.spokesmanreview.com/blogs/hbo.

Mr. Johnson (above) was a Kootenai County Commissioner. He's a likeable guy, very affable; he's a former high school classmate of mine. And he wasn't the only person holding political office who felt the effect of increasing property taxes upon the average taxpayer around here. But I couldn't resist this photo; the captions pretty much wrote themselves. Life, as well as politics, is a learning process; folks muddle thru it and do their best; sometimes the results are satisfactory, sometimes they're not. I'm sure we haven't seen the last of ol' Gus. In fact, I wish him well.
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I guess we need 'em after all dept.: In the past, I have ceaselessly and ruthlessly maligned the presence of Coeur d'Alene's bicycle cops, saying there's too much law enforcement, that overbearing police presence is oppressive, yadda yadda yadda. But after my experience with a rabid foaming-at-the-mouth tweaking teenager last week, I'm rethinking my position on all of this. Again, life is a learning process, and even someone with my crainal density can learn things. Anyhow, the bicycle cops were in the park today (I believe this is the first day they were out), and I told them about what I experienced last week, and the chief bike cop said they'd be a presence in the City Park, and sadly, I guess they are needed, aren't they? If this was a perfect world and people could police themselves, I guess the bicycle cops wouldn't have a job. Ah, the world is full of necessary evils, ain't it? So what, am I next going to say we need the presence of the "parking Nazi in his little tin cart"? If it comes to THAT, I'm gonna get my head RE-examined.
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Well, that's it. Short and sweet. I'm done with this post. "Always leave 'em wanting more", right? Of course, I'm not sure if anyone who reads this blog wants more. Quite a chance I'm taking here! Before I exit, I saw a bumpersticker which echoes how I've felt for ages: "I support the troops but not the Prezzident". Nice to know there's some rational souls out there!