FOUR MORE YEARS!!!
...or, am I jumping the gun just a bit here?

It's in the Left Margin...a little clock which marks time until President Obama is re-elected, and it's not by coincidence that the clock is RED, which represents this country's economy right now, which is finding itself 'in the red', whirling down the drain, sinking fast, unless something is done. The President said today in a news conference that he wasn't counting on a big MESS being dumped on his desk, but it's a mess indeed, and something's got to be done fairly quickly, if not REALLY quickly...

The naysayers are out in force these days, and they're all over the news media, preaching that Obama is over-reaching, having to make concessions, that his "new" approach to things isn't really that "new" at all, and on and on, blah-blah-blahhhhh..... First of all, Getting Stuff Passed is NOT easy, especially when The President is a relative Newcomer to the scene. Secondly, there are still quite a few politicians of the 'other' party (the color that's 'not red'), who are gonna fight him tooth and nail, all the way; why? First, because Obama is Young and, second, he's a member of the party whose symbolic color IS Red. The old guys don't wanna be told what to do by a young guy. Believe me, that sentiment exists, tho no one in Politics will admit it. And the Other Party, most of it, anyway, is committed to Fighting Obama All The Way. They think it's fun to filibuster. (A 'filibuster' is basically a Congressional Session 'on steroids'.) This is the way politics work, and this is the way Politics ARE. I don't think there is any sort of "political honeymoon" for President Obama. He refused to take one. He was in Washington, D.C., a-wheelin' and a-dealin', two weeks BEFORE he became President. Which was Marvelous.

All right, okay, well, things could "tank" for Mr. Obama. If you look several months ahead on your 2009 calendar, can you really know what ANYTHING will be like a few months from now? Sorry, the Desk of the President doesn't come equipped with a Crystal Ball. But, I'm so glad we're not doing the "Republican" thing at this point in time. Honestly, We've All Had Enough Of That. And I like the way Obama is facing down the opposition. I don't want to hear the same old tired arguments, I want plain-talk, I want things to be done, and SO WHAT if we're taking a chance of failing? We were FAILING long before Prezzident George W. Bush hi-tailed it back to the Lone Star State. I listen to politicians run down Obama's ideas, and I'm just SICK and TIRED of all that crap. I WANT Obama to shake things up just a bit. So far, I'm Really Happy with our new Chief Executive. If he doesn't get everything he wants, at least DISCOURSE and EXCHANGE OF IDEAS are part of the scene, and for that, I'm enthused. Give 'em hell, Mr. President.


It'll take a superhuman effort to improve things 'cos Republicans are out there, armed with Kryptonite ...

Speaking of Politix, The DVD release of "W." (The George Bush Story), is this week and I'm tempted to get myself a copy. Although, it might have been more economical in the long run, to see it Once at a movie-house and then try to forget it. The DVD will probably cost upwards of twenty bucks, and I'll probably be able to bear seeing it only once. And, it does cost less to see a Movie at a Theater than the price of a DVD. So far, that is...
___________________________________

Pass The Steroids...er, Cheerios: A-ROD, Alex Rodriguez, one of the most powerful hitters in history who hasn't been on a World Series Winning Team, says he took steroids as recently as 2003. Previously, he'd said he never took steroids. Remember Rafael Palmeiro of the Baltimore Orioles? He lied in similar fashion a few years back. And as a result, he ain't in baseball no more. Palmeiro was shunned in much the same way Barry Bonds was shunned last year. And we all know Barry Bonds ate Steroids the way most of us eat Cheerios. Back to A-Rod, though: Alex Rodriguez is basically the closest thing to a Human Robot I've ever seen. He's got a great swing, he's a good fielder, but he's never been able to Put It All Together And Be Any Kind of a Hero. In that regard, at least, he's (painfully) human.

Now, 'cos of Steroids, A-Rod faces the prospect of getting boo'ed everywhere he goes this year, and if you're a human being, which I assume he is, the negativity is gonna affect him. It's bad enough that A-Rod makes so much money that he could personally pay off our National debt (boo)..it's bad enough that he tanks whenever he's been involved in Post-Season play, (boo...) but now, we find out he's taken drugs. Boo. He's taken Steroids. Boo. He LIED about taking drugs. BOOOOOOO!!! Alex Rodriguez has Officially Set A Record for World's Most Overpaid Yet Still Unhappy Baseball Player In The History Of The Whole Wide World. Or, he will be, by the end of the Upcoming Baseball Season.)
___________________________________

Back To The Real World For A While: Today, while driving around town, I saw a banged-up, but still-running Old Pickup Truck stopped at an intersection; I was right behind, and thru my windshield, I saw a bumper sticker which read, "MY KIDS THINK I'M AN ATM." Gosh. If kids go thru cash that fast, I Think I'll Just Stay Single.

Now, THAT'S a Whirly-Bird: Near the Dental Clinic, on the north side of Coos Bay (yep, the one that's taken All My Money), sits a little airport, and as I pulled in the clinic's parking lot, there it was, up in the sky, coming down for a landing and making a TON of noise. It was one of those huge orange-reddish Coast Guard Helicopters, the kind you see occasionally on CSI: Miami, and it was a Thing To Behold. Wow. That machine commands so much respect that I thought about Saluting as it flew by overhead. Those choppers are always going up and down the coast, looking for boats/ships in distress, and sometimes, they conduct training missions in the area. And they can really go FAST. I'd swear that one of those choppers is bigger than my HOUSE. And louder than Led Zeppelin. How about that...A chopper on steroids...

Infinite Peace In Rhythm: (That's the title to a song on a Carlos Santana Solo Album, I think...) I haven't been getting out on a regular basis for ages. One of the things I have done, though, is bring my acoustic guitar to a Drum Circle at a nearby Coffee Shop and strum chords while the drummers played their drums. A couple of drummers who showed up invited me to another drum circle, at a coffeeshop a little farther away, so I went tonite, with guitar in hand. Only, I didn't play guitar, instead spending the whole time drumming, mostly trying to hold a firm backbeat so as to let everyone else explore the rhythms; I have drum kit experience, so hand-drumming comes pretty easy.

People of all ages showed up, even some people older than me, which was comforting. It's a bummer to Always Be The Oldest Person at an event. One guy knew all sorts of technical terms for various African-rhythm time signatures, but no matter what, the rhythms always come back down to the backbeat. Two people brought Didgeridoos to the drum circle...Didgeridoos are long, tubular wood instruments, that when blown through, make a low, ominous droning sound, and they're easily 3 or 4 feet long...so could a Didgeridoo be thought of as a wood flute on steroids?
___________________________________

Okay, folks, that's about it...this is one of those postings that just grew and grew, ending up a lot longer than I thought it would be, sort-of like a blogpost on steroids...