Musings January 26-28

Obama helps the economy, increases sales:

·         Sales of Al Green’s songs shot up 490% after the President sang four lines from one of his songs

·         Sales of Gov Jan Brewer’s book “Scorpions for Breakfast” shot up over 150,000%, moving from 250,000 place to #7 on Amazon after the President had a little “dust up” with her, so I guess it pays off to shake your finger in the President’s face.  And she says she felt threatened?

 Walt Kelley, quoted in J.L.H seed catalog:  “Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not; either way, it’s a mighty sobering thought.”

On foreign policy, President Obama is accused of appeasement, and warned that “you don’t negotiate with the enemy.”
On dealing with congress, President Obama could be accused of appeasement, he just  didn’t understand that “you can’t negotiate with the enemy.”     
It may be that the President has learned something:  he would be more successful negotiating with Ahmadinajad than with Mitch McConnell or Eric Cantor.

Nancy Pelosi had better be careful about saying that she knew something that would bring Gingrich down.  Marianne Gingich thought the same thing, and instead, Gingrich took the opportunity to smear the press and accuse Marianne of lying, the audience gave him a standing ovation, and voted for him in the primary.

J. L. Hudson, seedsman and avowed anarchist:  “You’ve got to read between the lies.”

The Republican presidential candidates seem determined to prove that if there is such a thing as intelligent design, some creatures fell off the drawing board at a crucial moment.

Still, there were a couple of light Romney touché moments in the latest debate:

·         Romney seemed unsure when asked about an ad of his in which Gingrich was accused of saying that Spanish was a ghetto language.  When assured that it was his ad, he then turned to Gingrich and said, “Well, did you say it?” and when Gingrich said, “It was taken out of context,” Romney turned back to the audience and quipped, “He said it.”

·         Gingrich assails Romney for his investments in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Romney attempts to explain that away, then turns to Gingrich and points out that he, himself, has investments n Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and Gingrich lamely says, “Right.”

A Gingrich ad, speaking of Romney:  “What kind of man would mislead, distort, and deceive just to win an election?  This man would.”  Snort!  Snicker, snigger!  Good thing I wasn’t drinking coffee when I heard that.

 Wallace Stegner: “ As long as you are going to get old, you might as well get as old as you can.”

One of the candidates suggested that Ron Paul, because of his age, should produce his medical records.  Ron Paul offered to challenge any of the candidates to a 25-mile bike ride.  He says they better be careful or he may accuse them of age discrimination.
My favorite sweatshirt logo, which I got when I turned 70: Over what hill? Where? When? I don’t remember any hill.

Outraged at their outrage

I am “appalled” that voters can be persuaded to vote for a candidate who engages in a “destructive, vicious, negative” attack on a moderator in a debate and, by extension, on all media.  It is “despicable” that Gingrich and his ilk have done much to make it “harder to govern this country,” given their continual attacks on President Obama.  And “harder to attract decent people to run for public office,” of whom, I suppose, Gingrich is a prime example.  [Okay, you may have noticed that those words in quotes are the ones used by Gingrich in his unwarranted attack on John King.]

So there they are on stage, four of them now, three of them “decent people” who have been married 43 years, 54 years, 21 years, to their first wives, with a total of 17 children among them, exemplars of family values.  And there is Gingrich, married three times in 50 years and a serial adulterer.  Divorcing each wife after she was diagnosed with serious illness.  And there those four men stand, on stage, in noble debate, before a sanctimonious, family-values, DOMA-supporting audience, who cheer Gingrich wildly for his defense of his blatantly adulterous life, (as they did in a previous debate when he "put Juan Williams in his place") and go on to vote for him in the primary over those other three “decent people.”

Go figure.