Ol' Man River

Isn't it nice to settle down with a cold beverage after a hard day working on the yard and reflect on all the loveliness you're labors have created. The lawn so green and healthy, the bushes neat and trim, the rose blooms glowing iridescent under the light of the setting sun. And as the evening breeze cools off the stifling heat of the day isn't it comforting just to sit there feeling industrious and accomplished, and ....wait a minute! What's that? Over there. Is that a WEED! No, it can't be. I'm finished. I'm relaxing now. I'm enjoying my cold beverage. That can't be another weed.

Oh man I tell 'ya, isn't that the way it always is in life. You work, you sweat, you toil, and just when you think you're finished, just when you think that you've earned your hour of sweet repose, life comes along and throws another weed in your path. I swear I'm getting too old for this.

Of course, that's what's nice about having children - especially young children. You just sit there drinking from life's beverage and when a weed pops up you say "Junior, go pick that weed over there. Yeah the big one - over there. That's it, now throw it in the garbage can. That a' boy. That's the chip off the ol' block"

Yeah, when you get old and tired it's nice to have some kids around. I don't have any kids but I think I better go get some because this working for a living isn't cutting it anymore. Let the young folk fight those battles and let us old timers just sit here and relax in the shade awhile. Sounds good, but before I do that I guess I better go over there and pick that weed .

Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?

I try really hard not to be topical in this blog, but there's this big political convention going on in New York and I just have one little thought I'd like to share. This is not a knock against the Republican party, either, because the thought really first occurred to me when I was watching the Democratic convention last month.

Anyways, as I was looking at the convention on the TV it suddenly struck me how quaint and innocent the whole thing was. I mean there was the delegation from Maine, and Massachusetts, and South Carolina, all waiving their little signs and cheering and gushing over the goings on, and all the while seeming so oblivious to just how irrelevant they had become. And I hate to say it, and I know they mean well, but let's get real here. If the convention truly reflected the p0litical reality of the situation then you wouldn't see state delegations there at all, would you? No, you would see the real powers in American politics down on that floor instead.

For example, over there about 10 rows back would be the Halliburton delegation, and next to them would be GM or Exxon Mobil. Over on the other side you might see the NRA or the Sierra Club, or the tobacco lobbyists or the big agribusiness conglomerates. Way in the back you might even catch a glance of OPEC or a wealthy Asian investor or two. You certainly wouldn't see states or average citizens on the floor, only those who wield real political power in Washington would be allowed. I mean, it's nice that they let us have our election and all, but after the votes are counted and the politicians sworn in, that's when the real transfer of power takes place. And by that I mean the transfer of power from the office holders to the money men.

And on that bitter and cynical note I think I'll call it a night.