Florida and Graciousness

Mitt won Florida, not surprisingly after his debate performances (thanks to a new debate coach).  And, notably, Newt didn't call to congratulate him.  This is the Newt we know - personal, bitter, angry.  The guy just doesn't get it.  What happens if, God forbid, he becomes president and feels slighted by a the leader of a hostile country?

This is the guy who forced the shut down of the federal government when he had to sit in the back of Air Force One after traveling with the Clinton camp to the funeral of a foreign leader.   No kidding.  he had to take an exit that was not the same as Clinton's and, in his fury, he orchestrated the stalling of a bill that would have kept the government 'open for business', and all government offices and activities stopped for two days.  Talk about a prima donna.  When denied the hosanna's he feels are his due, he pouts.  This is not a mature man, this is not a stable man.

This is a guy who has gone on record stating that he would not debate president Obama within the presence of a media moderator.  Pardon my naivete, but doesn't he have to win the nomination first?

Newt is the only person I know who uses the word 'elite' as an epithet.

Where Has He Been????

i liked the state of the union speech.  i thought "that's a guy i would vote for!".  then i realized i did vote for him - but where has he been?  he was confrontive, assertive/aggressive, master of his facts....he spoke as a leader.  where has he been?

it seems there's a difference between president obama and candidate obama, and the latter can kick ass far better than the former.  oh, don't get me wrong, i don't want my president to go around kicking ass all day, but i do want him to be confrontive and in-your-face when it comes to the important issues of the day.  the president doesn't do this near enough.

last night he talked about taking executive action - issuing a law by decree if it fails to get through congress.  bushco did this frequently.  as long as the powers of the presidency have been expanded, i want my president to take advantage of these new powers.  the approval rating for congress ranks in the teens - let the president enact some new programs by signing them into law, without waiting for all the watered down versions of whatever programs to eke out of a stalemated, broken congress!

the man who spoke last night had fire in his belly.  i want the occupant of the oval office to have some as well.

Newt Takes It

looks like newt won south carolina, which is kinda fascinating in a train wreck kinda way.  the whole character issue came into sharp relief earlier in the week when his ex-wife marianne gave an interview describing some of newt's despicable behavior - but it didn't seem to cause a ripple of distress in the gingrich campaign.  in fact, when john king brought it up during the last debate, it was king who got booed.  this in holier-than-thou south carolina.

one thing these results do is stop the march of romney inevitability.  mitt lost two primaries this week, what with the iowa caucus results being changed, in favor of santorum.

so we have three election contests and three winners.  does the momentum swing to newt in any lasting way?  he seems utterly unelectable to me.  he's been surging ever since he bared his claws and started full throttle after romney.  could it be that the nastier he gets, the more attractive he is to voters?

santorum's got to be feeling low.  after much public angst, the evangelical coalition decided to endorse rick - and it's had no effect whatsoever.  which holds some joy for me - that the endorsement of a large group of homophobic, essentially judgmental and hateful people means zip.

romney is the biggest loser tonite.  the guy can't buy a break.  and i dread hearing newt tonight. on a bad day his ego is all-invasive, but on a day when he actually wins a primary, and an important one...

Three Years

It's been three years since my father was rendered helpless by a massive stroke.  It was either his third or fourth stroke.  Unlike the others, this one wiped his cognitive skills, and all but the most rudimentary awareness.  I don't think he would want to be like this.

It struck 16 months after my mother's death.  I've read this is not unusual, for one spouse to suffer a traumatic illness after the other dies.  He was distraught all during those 16 months, as anyone would be.  My mother's death was fast - five weeks from diagnosis to death.  During those 16 months, he said many times he'd always thought he'd go first.  I think his stroke was the result of a broken heart.

I pray he's experiencing some peace these days.

Republicans and Hypocrisy

A recent Republican debate featured a question about gays and lesbians, focused on marriage.  Each person stated that g/l marriage was not a 'right', was somehow threatening, shouldn't be OK.  The subtext was "these people are bad, I feel threatened".".

these same people, the debaters, would swear on a stack of bibles that they are God-fearing Christians.  (I never understood why it was important to fear God.  Isn't God supposed to be all-loving and forgiving.  never mind, that's for another post). 

I'm a lesbian.  I'm not a threat to anyone.  My marriage is good, solid, not legal.  As we near the 28 year mark, I can't help but remember that 1 out of 2 marriages - the legal ones - end in divorce.  What is so sacrosanct?  How is my marriage a threat?  How are two people living in suburban America in love, sharing a house and so forth, undermining the happiness of anyone else?

I felt sad listening to the debate, sad that somehow there remains a percentage of people whose prejudice causes them to think negatively of people like me.  I have a brother who feels the same way.  How sad is that?!  Fortunately, the rest of my family don't share his prejudice.

Gays and lesbians want the same thing everyone else wants - to live in peace, to pursue love and happiness, to find a special someone with whom to share the days, years, decades.  If that somehow causes Rick Santorum to lose some sleep, well, frankly, he's the one with the problem.

New Year

happy new year to my small but devoted following.  it's been awhile between posts.  the holidays got life busy in the usual way - and i am so happy it's time to turn the page.

2011 is best left to the history books, my personal one and that of the world.  two surgeries for me, and medical complications for my spouse.  she had a bone marrow biopsy last month and recouped slowly but surely.  and what do we know now that we didn't know then?  not much, but an appointment with her hemotologist to come.

which brings me to doctors and the medical world.  the only way to be a happy medical patient is to be empowered.  i fired one of her doc's (with her blessing) and changed another - and we are still in medical mystery-land.  he blood either clots in the wrong places (like her lungs), or takes on the exhaustion of anemia.  for no known reason.  five years since the first blood clot. 

it's time for a consult, and we have a doctor friend who is finding us a good doc for a consult.

more will be revealed.................