Soapbox

Wish that I was on old Rocky Top,
down in the Tennessee hills.
Ain’t no smokey smog on Rocky Top,
Ain’t no telephone bills.

Well, I survived the great assault on Mt. LeConte, but only just. I am hobbling today because my calf muscles are so tight I can hardly walk.

Ted and I left Friday to climb Mt. LeConte, Tennessee with a group of 13 other great people from the Westerville Bike Club, most of whom I know from our fateful trip to Colorado in July when the plumbing flooded our house while we were away. We spent Friday night in a hotel in Gatlinburg and then climbed the mountain Saturday, spent the night at a primitive lodge on the top and came down the next morning. Other than lingering apprehension at what might happen to the house this time when we left the state, I was really looking forward to this trip.
The group I went with are, by and large, very different hikers than I am. They are destination hikers: the purpose of the trip is to get somewhere. For me, the point has always been an enjoyable journey. The trail we took up was not that hard, and not that long (8 miles) but I forgot I was with people who climb mountains on bikes all the time and compete to see who can get to the top first!

These folks shouldered their packs and headed up. No stopping to enjoy the scenery (what we could see through the dense fog), to take pictures or notice the flora and fauna, or the wonderful smells…no no, there was a mountain to climb!
For the first 2 miles we went mostly up, and I’m embarrassed to admit, I thought I was gonna die. My legs were Ok but I was gasping like a fish out of water! I kept dropping to the back of the line and then falling behind the group. I don’t think it was the climb itself but I just wasn’t up to the pace they set. They’d stop after a while for water and snacks and by the time I caught up, they were about ready to go again, so I didn’t get much chance to sit and rest. Ted loyally stayed with me to keep me company and said encouraging things.
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After yesterday’s entry, Ted suggested that I create a ranting category. I resisted, thinking I shouldn’t encourage myself to run off at the mouth. Then I read the front page of today’s paper.
I still think I shouldn’t encourage myself…but the flesh is weak.

So I see from the headlines that yesterday our president kinda sorta almost admitted the administration may have perpetuated an eensie teensie lie. What he said was that there is no evidence that Iraq had any ties to the 9/11 attack, and there never was. The administration pretty well knew all along that Sadaam had nothing to do with the bombing, other than probably laughing like crazy when he watched it on CNN.

Yet a majority of americans think that Sadaam was involved in 9/11. Why? Well Ok, partly its because a distressing proportion of Americans have their head up their a**, but it’s also because the Bush administration has been trying like heck to make the rest of us believe that he was!

Striking Iraq, they have told us, is striking a blow against the terrorism of 9/11. As recently as Sunday, the evil puppetmaster Dick Cheney was on the TV saying that they didn’t really know if Sadaam had a hand in 9/11 or not, but assuring us that Iraq and al Qaida were definitely in bed together.

Today the shrubs (Bush staff) assures us that, despite all evidence to the contrary, these statements don’t contradict each other, and no one lied or deliberately misled the American public to whip up support for a stupid war that we’re soon going to wish like hell we’d never started.

Right. And Sadaam really was about to use those invisible weapons of mass destruction on us , and of course the Iraqi people feel very grateful now for all we’ve done: why, just look at how much better things are in Afghanistan! And tax cuts for the rich actually help the poor, and the air at ground zero was perfectly safe to breath all along, and global warming is caused by marmosets, and…

Here is my advise to our president, for all future endeavors:
IF YOU CAN’T LIE NO BETTER THAN THAT, YOU MIGHT AS WELL TELL THE TRUTH!!
*Delbert McClintock

Boy, we Americans sure can pick ’em, can’t we? For eight years we had a president with an Oxford education who didn’t know the definition of “is”. Now we have a cowboy president who is too stupid to keep his own lies straight and wouldn’t know the truth if it came up and… gave him a campaign contribution.

But think for a moment about the specifics of their lies.

Clinton lied about cheating on his wife. What he did was wrong, and he was impeached for it, and he squandered his “legacy” in pursuit of a quickie.
Bush lied about…well, nearly everything as far as we can tell. The final tally won’t be in for years. As a result of his lies, thousands of people are dead, and more are dieing every day.
And it looks like he may be re-elected for it.

Holy smokes; guess I’d better take back my advice. If it ain’t broke, pal, don’t fix it!

Last week President Bush told us that the war in Iraq and its $87 billion price tag was going to require some sacrifice. Now we’re getting an idea whose sacrifice he was referring to.

Well, we all knew it wasn’t going to be HIS sacrifice. He’s not putting his life on the line, and he’s not putting his paycheck on the line, and he’s not even willing to put his “No Billionaire Left Behind” tax cut, or any other part of his punishing domestic policy on the line. Bush will sacrifice the lives of U.S. soldiers (as all presidents must) whom he pays an appallingly low wage for their sacrifice. He has already sacrificed the reputation and respectability of America as a nation with his hideous “shoot from the hip” foreign policy. The nation’s economic problems are causing the sacrifice of more and more jobs, but Bush wants us to stay the course. And now, along with the fiscal security of future generations, he wants to sacrifice day-care for low-income mothers.
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So I’ve got this kid….and she has a real dare-devil streak in her. She must get it from her father (who did sky-diving back in college) because she certainly didn’t get it from her mother. I get nervous if I drive over 65 on the freeway. I don’t even like to go fast on a bicycle, ever since I left a hefty DNA sample on the street by Tina Dunlap’s house in 4th grade.

Yesterday I played hookie from church and we all drove to Cedar Point. As we had hoped, the crowds were small, and after paying extortionist’s prices to get into the place, the kids announced that they were heading straight to the biggest coaster in the park, Millennium Force.
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I wrote this back in March, before the war started. Everything old is new again.

I am Sam.
Uncle Sam I am.
Would you fight Iraq’s Sadaam?
Would you fight him in the sand?
Send children to a foreign land?

I do not like this man Sadaam,
But will not fight him, Uncle Sam.

Will you blow up schools and banks
Along with bridges, roads and tanks?
Would you, could you fight this war?

You have not told me what it’s for.

Will you bomb him from all sides,
Make the people run and hide?
Would you fight him if I said
You’d be safer with him dead?

I’m not convinced he’d end up dead:
We’ve yet to see Osama’s head.

If I said we must act first
Before the situation can get worse?

Worse than war? Sadaam is not.
He has not fired a single shot.
I won’t shoot first- that’s how I am.
i will not fight now, Uncle Sam.

Would you, could you if I showed
Where he has his missles stowed?
Would you fight if you could see
He treats his people cruelly?

I guess he might have missles stowed.
He squats there like a poison toad
And rules with an iron hand,
But war might just make things worse, Sam!

Listen, listen: he is bad!
He makes the people very sad!
He wants everyone to see
The US as their enemy.

But if we bomb them, won’t we seem
As bad as old Hussein has been?
Won’t it cause dissent and strife
If we try to run the people’s life?
We need to watch this man Sadaam,
But not to fight him, Sam I am.

Have you heard nothing I"ve said?
I’ll take us to Condition Red!
I"ll tell you what you need to hear
To fill your heart with fear, fear fear!

We may find, in this strange land
Dangers worse than old Sadaam.
This is a risky game you play.
Once we get in there, we’ll have to stay!

Then you’re no patroit, I say.
I"ll start a war there anyway!
It isn’t wrong to shoot him first.
The world will thank us: he’s the worst!
His poison chemicals are bad-
And he tried to kill my dear old dad!

I’m sorry, George, about your Dad
But things at home are awfully bad.
Your tax rebates are far from fair
And unemployment, medicare…
He’s not a cause worth dieing for!

At least I voted for Al Gore.